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Leveraging lobbying theory, the authors analyze responses to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) proposal suggesting the removal of state and local governmental accounting from the content tested on the uniform certified public accountant (CPA) examination. Furthermore, the authors compare the responses to a prior exam content review to place the uniqueness of the more recent response in perspective.

The authors examine 181 comment letters obtained from the AICPA website. In addition, the relative concentration of governmental entities across the USA is studied for correlation with the response rate.

Consistent with lobbying theory, the authors find that participating governmental entities overwhelmingly argued for the retention of governmental accounting. In contrast, most other groups of respondents (accounting firms, state societies, etc.) had at least one letter that agrees with the removal of the content.

While the letter writers appear to be successful in retaining the governmental accounting content on the CPA exam, the majority of the detailed content has been placed within a specialized area on the new version of the CPA exam, expected to be deployed in 2024. This means that fewer CPA candidates will be exposed to governmental accounting than under the current regime. It has implications for governmental units seeking qualified candidates to fill their staffing needs especially as fewer universities offer governmental accounting courses.

Congruence of personal values to organizational (the profession) values affects job performance, job satisfaction and ethical behavior. The purpose of this paper is to answer two research questions: (1) what are the personal ethical values of today's leaders in the US accounting profession and (2) are these personal ethical values congruent with the profession's ethical code?

This study uses a survey approach to determine the personal values of US-certified public accounting leaders. The personal values of the Certified Public Accountants (CPA) leaders were measured using the Rokeach Value Survey instrument.

Findings show that for each highly prioritized personal value, there is one or more parallel with the profession's values, as represented by the US American Institute of CPAs ethics code.

This study was limited by the time period used. Future studies could include other time periods. This study could be used as a starting point for longitudinal studies to determine if personal values of professional accountants change over time.

This paper offers a fresh understanding of the relationship of accountants' personal values to professional values.

This paper provides insights into the person–organization (P–O) fit of US accountants within their profession.

This paper examines the P–O fit of accounting leaders, that is, the congruence of personal values and organizational values. The P–O fit contributes to job performance and job satisfaction.

This study aims to investigate tertiary business students' perceptions of certified public accountants (CPAs) in Japan and how this perception may influence their career path decision.

This study is the first such research in Japan that has been conducted to investigate students' perception of various factors regarding the accounting profession and CPA. The data used in this study were collected via questionnaires completed by students who were studying at the undergraduate and graduate levels in large Japanese universities. From approximately 200 universities offering accounting courses in Japan, this study mainly selected universities where students were contemplating a career in the accounting profession. The results of the questionnaire were then quantitatively analyzed.

The results indicated significant differences in several factors of perceptions toward the CPA between accounting students and non‐accounting students. These results create various implications that need to be addressed in order to reverse the current situation of the problematic unpopularity towards the accounting sector in Japan.

As this is the first accounting education paper produced in Japan on this topic the results will inspire educators and the CPA to re‐think the way in which they market accounting as a profession to potential students.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors influencing career intentions toward becoming a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) by students who are studying at the accounting schools in Japan. This paper focused on students' work experience, prior major/s at their undergraduate level, gender, attitude toward the opportunity cost of becoming a CPA and their perceptions of the CPA profession.

The sample comprised students studying at 13 accounting schools in Japan. A questionnaire was given to these students in order to empirically examine the relationship between these influential factors and their career intention, with particular reference to those who intended to pursue a CPA career. Those studying in these accounting schools generally consist of two type of students; those who want to become a CPA and those who merely want to brush up on their accounting skills and do not wish to sit the CPA entrance exams. A total of 349 effective responses were analysed.

Findings indicate that students who have work experience and major in disciplines other than accounting or business are more reluctant to become a CPA. This is in direct contrast to one of the objectives for the CPA reform scheme in Japan, which is to extend the diversity of CPA candidature.

This paper is the first study undertaken in Japan to successfully provide a new dimension on the factors that influence career intention of students aspiring to become a CPA.

This paper examines radical reform of the Chinese public accounting profession in the 1990s. In particular, the paper seeks to provide a more nuanced understanding of the sources, responses and processes of this radical institutional change that effectively paved the way for development of the Chinese accounting profession into the twenty-first century.

The empirical data that inform this study come from both archival materials (mostly in Chinese) and in-depth interviews. These data are analysed and interpreted from a neo-institutionalist perspective, drawing, in particular, on the concept of institutional logics and the concept of institutional work.

A state logic initially guided the development of the Chinese accounting profession but was seriously challenged in the 1990s following a series of high profile financial scandals. The findings reveal a shift to a new professional logic, which was made possible through multiple forms of institutional works instigated by various state actors.

Research into the radical reform of the Chinese public accounting profession in the 1990s was mostly quantitative in nature, focussing mainly on one reform programme, i.e. the disaffiliation of the accounting firms from their sponsoring agencies. This paper adopts a qualitative approach and is aimed at providing a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the institutional change process within its political and economic contexts.

The purpose of this study is to examine the association between the financial expertise of the chief financial officer (CFO) and concerns about corporate governance.

Consistent with prior research, the authors used four variables, including certified public accountant (CPA) certification, Master of Business Administration degree, age of CFO and length of CFO tenure, to measure CFO’s financial expertise. The authors hypothesize a negative association between CFO expertise and concerns about corporate governance.

Regression analysis revealed that the CPA certification is negatively associated with governance concerns at a significant level. The results suggest that stakeholders show less concerns about a company’s corporate governance mechanism when the CFO has a CPA certification. In particular, the results support the recommendation by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants that a CFO of a public firm should have a CPA certification.

The study is important in the following ways. First, the study delivers new evidence on the link between CFO financial expertise and corporate governance. This contributes to the CFO financial expertise literature and the corporate governance literature. Second, according to Standard and Poor’s, equity index investing has grown more popular over the past 30 years. The study delivers useful information to index investors who invest in S & P SmallCap 600 Index. Third, regulators have put a large amount of resources to discover ways to strengthen firms’ corporate governance. Thus, the results should be of interest to policy makers who design and implement guidelines on corporate governance mechanisms.

Although the prior literature has examined gender in analysing the factors underlying departures from and career progression in public accounting practices, the inconclusive results that have been obtained and the evolution of the situation over time bring about opportunities for further research. The paper reported herein differs significantly from earlier studies in that it uses both qualitative methods and quantitative analysis to explore the underlying factors (including gender) behind advancement to partnership in certified public accountant (CPA) firms in Hong Kong. This paper aims to address these issues.

Six variables are identified from the literature and used to develop a survey that is carried out amongst 241 CPAs in Hong Kong. The quantitative data collected are then supplemented by semi‐structured, face‐to‐face interviews with ten partners of CPA firms. Finally, logistic regression is employed to analyse the survey data and examine the associations between the six variables and advancement to partnership in CPA practices.

The results of this paper refute those of the prior literature that have found “years of service in the firm”, “analytical ability” and “physical appearance” to have an influence on career progression or advancement to partnership in CPA practices. Instead, it is found that “social networking” and the “internal locus of control” have a positive influence on such advancement. Gender also plays a role, with males being the predominate partners of CPA practices in Hong Kong.

The findings of this paper contribute to the accounting literature and enhance the understanding of the factors underlying advancement to partnership in CPA practices in Hong Kong. Future research is recommended to determine whether these findings can be replicated.

Entrepreneurship plays a key role in society and is important for economic growth. Despite prior studies of entrepreneurial behavior, no research has been conducted to examine the influence of monetary and personality factors on the entrepreneurial start up of Certified Public Accountant (CPA) firms in Hong Kong. The purpose of this paper is to investigate into factors influencing Hong Kong CPAs in becoming entrepreneurial public practitioners.

Data are collected through a questionnaire survey and analyzed by binomial logistic regression. A total of 212 CPAs of Chinese origin are randomly selected in Hong Kong. Social capital theory derived from the sociology literature is employed for analysing the findings.

Results indicate that “profit motivation” and “education level” variables have no significant influence on the entrepreneurial start up, and contradict findings in prior literature. Results further reveal that “social networking” and “internal locus of control” variables could positively influence on the entrepreneurial start up of CPA practices. Results support the validity of social capital theory that reveals social networks have values and productive benefits. Gender plays a role in the entrepreneurial start up of CPA practices, with males predominate has entrepreneurs of CPA practices.

This study could add new contributions to the accounting literature on the study of the entrepreneurial start up of CPA practices in Hong Kong. With the booming Hong Kong economy and the vast supports from China's prosperous market, Hong Kong CPAs are more inclined to become entrepreneurs of CPA practices in the long run. Implications of this study could enable accounting bodies and education institutions focusing on CPAs' personality development and education.

Addresses the relationship between organizational identification and organizational commitment. Tested the following three hypotheses in relation to professional accountants: self‐image congruence has a direct effect on organizational identification; organizational identification has a direct effect on organizational commitment; and the organizational‐identification effect on commitment is moderated by attitudes of significant others, work abilities/experience, other options and alternatives, competing motives, and perception of outcomes. Four international Certified Public Accountant (CPA) firms participated in the study. A random sample of 335 CPAs within these firms was selected and a survey questionnaire was mailed to them. Results did not provide support for any of the hypotheses. Instead, the results show that self‐image congruence may have a direct effect on organizational commitment, which in turn may have a direct effect on organizational identification.

Internal audit is getting recognition thanks to media coverage of alleged fraudulent activities and new regulations that require the evaluation of internal controls. Given this attention, Harrington (2004) identified what organizations should look for when hiring a director of internal audit. This paper reports an investigation of college and university internal audit departments that determines if the directors hold the suggested qualifications and if the qualifications differ based on gender. Differences among the directors of internal auditor include demographic information such as salary, experience and number of staff members as well as who hires the director, and whether the institution has a governing board audit committee. Even with the differences, college and university internal audit directors are very much alike.