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The study examines consumer expertise for services and its measurement. Specifically, measures of subjective expertise or confidence, experience or frequency of usage, and two measures of objective expertise are used for two services varying in degree of tangibility. As hypothesised, positive relationships between the different types of expertise do not always exist, particularly as intangibility of the service increases.

“A man becomes a professional, a cynic once observed, by doubling his prices, calling them fees and referring to his customers as clients. He might have added that the real professional gent doesn't advertise his services either” (OPINION from Accountancy Age, 13 August 1976.)

The development of the public accountancy profession in the last 200 years has increased the demand for the labor of professional accountants and enhanced the role and status of the professional public account. This increase in both the demand for the labor of professional accountants and for the professional services, which professional accountants provide, has resulted from the growth of capitalist enterprises, as well as institutional work on the part of members of the organized public accountancy profession. The objective of this chapter is to trace the historical development of the public accountancy professions in the United Kingdom and in France in response to contrasting institutional logics in these two countries. While legal requirements for external audits of company financial statements provided the basis for the development of the public accountancy profession as early as the end of the eighteenth century, differences in institutional logics, including differing conceptions of the relationship between individuals and the state, led to differences in the development of the public accountancy professions in the two countries. The primary argument of this chapter is that contrasting institutional logics have influenced the history of the public accountancy profession, which has evolved into one of the key regulatory structures of modern capitalism.

In the present study a model based on trust relations and transaction cost analysis has been applied to explain the make‐or‐buy decision for accounting services. The present model of efficient boundaries, which combines the focus on trust relations with the transactional focus on frequency and asset specificity, has predictive power of the governance of accounting services. The effects of asset specificity on the make‐or‐buy decision of accounting services were substantially overshadowed by the relational attribute of trust and the transactional attribute of frequency. The study reveals strong support for the hypothesized positive link between trust and the buy alternative and the negative association between frequency of accounting transactions and the buy alternative. The present model has predictive power for an overall correct classification of the make‐or‐buy decision for accounting services.

This paper explores the role of accountants as part of the necessary infrastructure in rural community development providing specialised knowledge and skills to business owners who may lack the expertise required to ensure successful business operations.

Perceptions of seven rural development officers from separate Rural Development Boards and two local governments in South Australia are canvassed through a set of interviews.

Findings challenge the notion that use of modern communication technology, which allows for accountants and their accountancy practices to be located anywhere in the world, is sufficient to fulfil their role in rural communities. Instead, a critical dual role for accountants is identified which includes a community development function.

The research is limited by the geographic area from which the participants were selected. While this controlled for any possible jurisdictional differences between states in Australia, the participants targeted comprise only a relatively small group.

The paper identifies an important role for accountants in rural communities hitherto unidentified. Accountant contributions to rural development and the sustainability of rural communities is highlighted.

The paper aims to examine the involvement of global accountancy firms in devising and selling tax avoidance schemes euphemistically marketed as “tax planning”.

The study draws upon a range of secondary sources, including legal cases and government reports, to demonstrate how “tax planning” involves “wilful blindness” to complicity in dubious and sometimes fraudulent activity.

The study reveals in detail the construction and promotion of elaborate tax avoidance schemes by big accounting firms. It casts doubt upon the “business culture” that has become established in these firms.

The study relies upon secondary sources. Subject to gaining adequate access to the big accounting firms, research based upon close-up investigation of “tax planning” would further illuminate such practices.

The study shows how normalised and institutionalised “tax planning” schemes have become in the big four accounting firms. It suggests that such schemes require closer scrutiny if payments of tax are to be made as intended, and thereby provide the revenues required to maintain public services such as education, health and pensions.

The study informs a debate about the payment of taxes and the role of big accounting firms in creating aggressive tax avoidance schemes. It questions the appropriateness and adequacy of private regulation of these firms and so contributes to a public debate on the tax contribution of comparatively powerful and privileged parties.

The study “blows the whistle” on the role of big accounting firms in devising schemes that reduce the “tax take” on business and thereby reduces the revenues required to provide and maintain public services.

Some background to the removal of advertising restrictions in the accounting profession are provided and the literature on accountants′ attitudes to advertising reviewed. The findings of a survey among UK chartered accountancy firms on their promotional practices following the removal of restrictions are presented. Firm size was found to have a significant effect on advertising activities, with larger firms more likely to advertise, employ the services of advertising agencies, devote greater resources to advertising and to evaluate its effectiveness. Personal service emerged as important both as a criterion in the selection of advertising agencies and as an ingredient in the advertising messages developed, which tended to have a high informational content. Finally, a heavy reliance on print media was found to exist.

The six largest international accounting firms in the world offer a variety of business services ranging from the traditional areas of audit and tax to the newer areas of retail consulting, salary surveys, project management for information systems and psychological profiling of staff, managers and prospective employees. Uses factor analysis to examine the dimensions on which local (host country) clients of such firms base their assessments when evaluating and selecting the service provider for these services. The factors identified as being important for selection of a firm differed from those traditionally accepted as being used to assess service quality. In addition, an image‐related factor was identified as being significantly related to some of the clients′ assessments of performance. Clients′ assessments of the different dimensions were also related more to personal, rather than non‐personal sources of information, and the factors were found to be consistent across the range of services offered.

Though market orientation has been studied extensively, in the context of goods and services, little is known of its practical application in professional services specifically. This study, therefore, aims to develop and validate a market orientation scale relevant to accountancy firms.

A conceptual framework was built from first principles and the literature, and a research questionnaire adapted from the widely used standard pattern. Data collected from 1,042 usable questionnaires completed by managers of accounting firms in Turkey were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis was employed, to test the model and analyze approaches and applications in practice.

Results suggest that Turkish accounting firms believe customer orientation to be the most significant construct within market orientation. The market environment is also considered important, but there is no strong support for competitor orientation, conventionally the third plank of market orientation, mainly because of the unique characteristics of the profession.

Because the study focused only on accounting firms and the measurement scale was adapted accordingly, valid conclusions can be drawn for that particular sector of the professional service industry, and with due caution for service providers in general. The Turkish setting limits international applicability, but contains potentially transferable insights.

Market orientation has an important role in competition. The study reported here applies the concept in a practitioner context so far ignored by researchers, in a developing country interestingly positioned between the first and third worlds.

Professional service organizations are finding themselves increasingly involved with marketing in order to develop and maintain relationships with their clients. Restricted by professional standards, and hindered by a lack of experience, firms are struggling to understand marketing and implement marketing programs. Nowhere is this struggle more evident that in the accounting profession, where firms are regulated by professional standards and guidelines. Based on a series of one‐on‐one interviews with accounting professionals, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants standards and guidelines, and information from both practitioner and academic literature, this research identifies the extent to which firms are following the prescriptive advice. Discussions of initiatives are provided as guidelines for further implementation of marketing strategies in the accounting profession and other professional service firms that are following in the accountants’ footsteps.