Search results

The methodologies and the mode of delivery for accounting courses are undergoing dynamic changes as Internet‐based teaching techniques continue to expand into higher education. Private, for‐profit organisations are developing accredited courses and degrees that can be completed at any location, at any time and that compete directly with university programmes of study. The Internet has provided these organisations with an easier entry into the educational market because the infrastuccture of a large campus, required for a resident population, is no longer necessary. It has been found that educational institutions with a tradition of providing accounting education courses and degrees to a resident student population have been slow to adopt new Internet teaching methods. This essay examines several issues facing university programmes in accounting as these environmental changes and challenges continue to accelerate in the new millennium.

Electronic filing (e‐filing) of personal tax returns has become a global trend in developed countries. An increasing number of individual UK taxpayers are seeking help from tax advisers as ambitious e‐filing targets increase the interaction between taxpayers, tax agents and government departments. This article aims to review the attitudes to information and communications technology (ICT) adoption between these three groups.

This article has partly built on the work of Walsh and White, who use Moore's “Technology Adoption Life Cycle” to examine e‐filing adoption by taxpayers and tax preparers in the USA. However, this article uses a mixed methodology that the authors argue is more suitable for the wider issues found in the UK.

The results confirm that small/medium sized tax agent firms are more likely to be technology enthusiasts/early adopters of e‐filing for their individual clients. As their business policies are more likely to be directly driven by technology enthusiasts, they have fewer issues with the incomplete e‐filing system available at the early stages of its roll out and were more motivated by the visible benefits available from adopting e‐filing. Larger firms have been slower and appeared more reluctant to embrace e‐filing of personal tax returns being concerned that engaging in HM Revenue and Customs controlled systems and targets would compromise their internal systems, ICT integrity and control of complex tax cases.

This split in e‐filing attitudes by tax agents supports Moore's “chasm” argument for technology adoption processes, implying solutions for widening participation found appropriate for other domains could be equally applicable in this domain. The article reflects on these findings and proposes practical solutions that build on prior research to assist the government in achieving the future ambitious targets for e‐filing.

This paper reports the results of a national survey of tax advisers, supported by follow‐up interviews, addressing the development of e‐filing for personal taxation in the UK.

Extensible business reporting language (XBRL) presents new opportunities for integrating the flow of financial information within communities of diverse organizations, thereby significantly enhancing the business information supply chain and addressing existing efficiency, accuracy and transparency problems. Vital to its success, XBRL standardization is proving to be challenging. This paper aims to investigate the phenomena that occur when heterogeneous actors interact in attempts to standardize XBRL.

Drawing upon actor‐network theory (ANT) the authors “follow the actors” participating in the standardization of XBRL in Australia. Supporting qualitative empirical evidence was collected via interviews and reviews of XBRL artifacts and relevant technical documentation.

The authors confirm the critical role of focal actors in standardizing XBRL in networks of heterogeneous actors. In addition to clear and indispensable value propositions and solid political and financial support, focal actors must also undertake effective problematization which can determine the manner in which interessement unfolds in their network. It is found that separation or even lack of alignment between technical standardization efforts and social and strategic orientation can be detrimental to translation effectiveness and network stability, and therefore, adversely affect standardization outcomes.

By presenting unsuccessful and potentially successful focal actors side by side, the paper contributes to the current body of knowledge by enhancing current understanding of their role in achieving effective translations in XBRL standardization networks. It also provides the most analytical review to date of actor interaction in XBRL standardization in the literature.

The use of computer-assisted audit techniques and tools (CAATTs) is a part of many professionally recommended audit procedures. This paper aims to argue that obtaining a better understanding of the factors underlying successful CAATTs adoptions would be helpful to aid wider development of these technologies in internal audit functions.

To help develop the understanding of the factors that lead to successful adoption of GAS, this paper uses current theories that are seeking to better explain the various elements that constitute IT adoption processes. In particular, it makes use the “Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology” (UTAUT). UTAUT is used to structure the analysis of ten semi-structured, qualitative, interviews of key decision-makers in adoptions of CAATTS in internal audit functions in exploring the key factors that drove the successful adoption of these IT technologies. The most widely used CAATTs tools available to internal auditors is currently GAS. This study specifically focuses on GAS tools.

This paper explores the successful adoption of GAS in ten cases to draw out the general factors that appear to be essential elements that lead to successful adoptions. From this basis, the paper proposes an initial model, built on existing theories of IT adoption more generally, as a theoretical basis for GAS adoption by decision-makers in an internal audit setting to better understand what may be essential factors to their adoption decisions to be likewise successful. Results suggest that two constructs from UTAUT (performance expectancy and facilitating conditions) appear to be particularly important factors influencing successful adoptions of GAS in this domain. However, the UTAUT constructs of social influence and effort expectancy are not found by this study to be as important in this specific IT adoption domain. UTAUT also proposes four moderating factors that influence the constructs. This paper explores two of these moderators – experience and voluntariness – and shows that both are keys to the constructs application to this domain.

The paper examines the motivation for CAATTs adoption by internal auditors using the UTAUT framework commonly used in information system research but not so to date in this domain where there is professional guidance suggesting wider use of technology should be made compared to actual usage.

This editorial aims to provide an overview of the four papers included in this special issue. It discusses the development of voluntary disclosure research and its potential future directions.

The editorial adopts a review approach, identifying key issues and provides a context for future research.

The editorial highlights some of the difficulties with research into voluntary disclosure, calls for further reflection and suggests factors to consider in future research in this area.

The editorial provides a review of current issues in disclosure research and reviews these papers which demonstrate a particular approach to research that is relevant to both practitioners and academics.

The Donald Macpherson Group Plc, one of the country's leading manufactuers of industrial and decorative surface coatings, is 100 years old. To mark the occasion the Group's industrial manufacturing units last month invited their major customers to celebrate the event with Macpherson's at a centenary roadshow held at seven locations throughout the country.

This study aims to explore the ways and contexts in which fintech firms are being developed, operated in the market and responds to competitive pressures and technological changes through isomorphism and decoupling mechanism.

How can new technology platform business successfully distinguish themselves from competitors while also ensuring that they are seen as legitimate and appropriate? This paper draws on a case study of fintech start-ups in Indonesia.

This study shows that managing market pressures for distinctiveness (customer-appealing) versus business pressures for profits (investor returns) drives firms’ quest for optimal distinctiveness. It is evident that fintech firms increase their control by consolidating themselves through their industrial association and by forming a close relationship with regulators. However, to escape the iron cage of the field, they increasingly control the coupling of profitability and compliance.

Through a qualitative-inductive approach, this study provides insights into technological development of platform business in the context of financial services and responsive movement towards cashless society.