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Article
Publication date: 2 April 2019

Elmarie Sadler and Jacobus Stephanus Wessels

The purpose of this paper is to report on the reflective identity work of a white female chartered accountant, scholar and academic manager, regarding the intersectional…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report on the reflective identity work of a white female chartered accountant, scholar and academic manager, regarding the intersectional transformations of gender and race as well as leadership within the South African accounting profession over four decades.

Design/methodology/approach

The theoretical lens of intersectionality is applied through an autoethnographic approach. Multiple layers of personal experiences and observations are interpreted through identity work of leadership provided and received. Autoethnographic data are substantiated and contextualised through the researchers’ sense-making, official and scholarly sources.

Findings

Sustainable transformation of the accounting profession requires a deepened understanding of the interconnections of the personal, structural and systemic areas within unique contexts. Leadership, as provided and received, must be included within the intersectional orientations. Intersectional orientations become then more significant for understanding progressive changes of the demographic profile of the accounting profession not only in South Africa but also in other countries. The transformation interventions aimed at affirming high-quality black African, coloured and female candidates to the South African accounting profession are founded on the principles of social justice. A sustained reframing of the demographic profile of a profession is possible through accelerated and well-funded collaborative transformation interventions enhancing intentional structural changes of the membership pipeline.

Research limitations/implications

The possible limitations of this study lie in the contextual nature of the material and findings and the lens of the specific theory.

Practical implications

The understanding of the practice of interventions aiming at transforming the country-specific demographic profile of a scarce skills profession such as the accountancy profession.

Originality/value

The originality of this paper lies in the application of an intersectional theoretical lens that argues for leadership as a dimension alongside age, gender and race in an autoethnographic sense making of the transformation of the South African accounting profession.

Details

Meditari Accountancy Research, vol. 27 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-372X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 January 2014

Claire-France Picard, Sylvain Durocher and Yves Gendron

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative cultural shift from professionalism to commercialism in the accounting profession, based on an analysis of the promotional…

4351

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative cultural shift from professionalism to commercialism in the accounting profession, based on an analysis of the promotional brochures used by the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Québec), over the last 40 years, to attract new members.

Design/methodology/approach

The study's specific objectives are: to examine accountancy's cultural representations depicted in promotional brochures; to evaluate the extent to which these representations are indicative of the commercialist shift as documented in the literature; and to establish whether the representations under study provide further insight into the nature of the cultural shift. Drawing on the semiotic approach developed by Roland Barthes, the authors' analysis is predicated on the idea that promotional brochures and advertisements, though often simple in appearance, constitute complex representations that convey meaningful information about influential values and cultural change.

Findings

The authors found that commercial values are increasingly apparent through the celebration of multidisciplinary services and the emphasis on generous compensation and high dynamism.

Originality/value

Barthes' framework was especially useful to analyze the interplay between images and text to gain insight into the historical emergence of what has become the accountant's representation of today. As such, this study points to promotional representations participating to the inculcation of a cosmopolitan culture, where the internationalization of business is supposedly natural, inevitable, and beneficial to everyone. The authors' research also highlights the increasingly significant role played by marketing experts in designing professional institutes' brochures, consistent with the broader view of marketization as a key trend within the accounting industry.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 27 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2003

Dean Neu, Constance Friesen and Jeffery Everett

Starting from the premise that formal ethical codes and other ethical discourses differ in their audiences, effects and characteristics, it is analyzed how practitioner‐directed…

1859

Abstract

Starting from the premise that formal ethical codes and other ethical discourses differ in their audiences, effects and characteristics, it is analyzed how practitioner‐directed ethical discourses have spoken and continue to speak about character‐based ethics. Borrowing from the literature on professions and Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice, starts from the assumption that editorials in practitioner‐oriented publications are a form of cultural good traded on an internal symbolic market. By providing access to symbolic capital, trade in this good acts to bind together members of the accounting profession, yet trade in this good also has the potential to obscure a number of important, underlying social issues. The study is based on a close (textual) reading of editorials in the Canadian Chartered Accountant (subsequently renamed CA Magazine) from 1911 to 1999, and this reading is framed in light of a number of macro‐level and meso‐level (contextual) changes. It is found that character‐based ethical discourses continue to pervade this professional field, though not without important changes which themselves need to be explained in light of the more widespread, non‐professional field.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 17 April 2018

Emilio Boulianne and S. Leanne Keddie

This study explores how Canadian CPAs (Chartered Professional Accountants) are trained in sustainability. The main research questions are: What place should sustainability take in…

Abstract

Purpose

This study explores how Canadian CPAs (Chartered Professional Accountants) are trained in sustainability. The main research questions are: What place should sustainability take in the accounting program? What place does sustainability occupy in the CPA accounting program? And, over time, has sustainability gained or lost ground within the Canadian professional accounting education program?

Methodology/approach

Content analysis and interviews.

Findings

We find that sustainability is not a key component of the CPA education program since its sustainability content has shrunk over the years. We believe that the groupthink phenomenon may have influenced the selection of CPA Competency Map participants (whose backgrounds reveal a lack of sustainability expertise) as well as the participants’ discussions. Additionally, a lack of consideration for society as a key stakeholder may have also influenced the shortage of sustainability content. Finally, power dynamics might have contributed to the financial accounting and reporting competencies dominating the new map.

Research limitations

We did not have access to the live meetings when the Map was created, although we conducted interviews with representatives involved in the process. This research is bound by a confidentiality agreement that limits us from providing sensitive details. However, we do not consider that these limitations undermine our contribution or reduce the relevance of our research.

Originality/value

Our research contributes to the under-researched domain of sustainability education and to understanding how groupthink, stakeholder theory and power dynamics may have contributed to the dearth of sustainability coverage in the new Canadian CPA program.

Article
Publication date: 16 March 2012

Mary Low, Howard Davey and Janet Davey

The purpose of this paper is to explore how a professional accountants' Institute has projected its changing professional identity through its annual reports. Extensive research…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how a professional accountants' Institute has projected its changing professional identity through its annual reports. Extensive research has shown that the annual report is one of an organization's most important documents to communicate with stakeholders. The New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants celebrated its centenary year in 2008. It is therefore timely to explore how this influential professional institute has projected its evolving identity to its stakeholders over 100 years of annual reports.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses a content analysis of archival records. The type of information and the manner of presentation via textual information and visual images in the Institute's annual reports are used to track a changing professional identity.

Findings

The analysis did not find any definitive statements of professional identity by the professional accountants' Institute. Early annual reports used a singular visual image to project authenticity. Increasing use ansd complexity of visual images and mission/vision statements projected an identity of expertise, integrity and global relevance, paralleling the impacts of globalization and advances in technology. The last decade of the Institute's annual reports reveals a sophisticated use of visual images and printing to enhance textual information. This marked a dramatic turn in the projection of professional identity whilst retaining the communication of a basic reality and professional traits to its members and stakeholders.

Originality/value

The paper is valuable as few other research studies have investigated the projection of changing professional identities via identity statements and visual imagery in annual reports.

Details

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, vol. 8 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1832-5912

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2011

Cilliers van Zyl and Charl de Villiers

South Africa, like many countries in the rest of the world, is currently facing a shortage of chartered accountants (CAs). The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors…

2286

Abstract

Purpose

South Africa, like many countries in the rest of the world, is currently facing a shortage of chartered accountants (CAs). The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors influencing the career choice of accounting students in South Africa.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire survey was used to assist professional institutes of CAs, universities, audit practitioners and other interested parties to understand the factors that influence students' career choices. The respondents were first‐year business students at a leading South African university.

Findings

The results indicate that CA students' choice is driven mainly by job security, job satisfaction, aptitude for accounting and potential future earnings. Although a high percentage of non‐CA students have considered becoming a CA (61.6 per cent), they cite job satisfaction as one of the key reasons why they decided against a CA qualification. The two groups clearly have different views on job satisfaction. Another important reason the non‐CA group mentioned against CA studies, was the strenuous nature of this field, including the technical difficulty of the subjects and the lengthy period of study required. Significant differences between the CA and non‐CA group were evident when the means of the ratings of career choice factors were compared. All mean scores, for each of the 12 career choice factors, were higher for CA stream students, compared with the non‐CA stream students. A possible reason is that CA students are more career oriented than their non‐CA student counterparts.

Originality/value

This study extends the literature. It investigates and rates the career choice factors influencing accounting students to become a CA and the factors that influence business students not to pursue CA studies. These results could potentially be used to develop a strategy to influence students' career choice of the CA profession in an effort to increase the number of CAs in South Africa.

Details

Meditari Accountancy Research, vol. 19 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1022-2529

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2006

Hussein Ahmed Warsame

The main argument of this paper is that the accounting profession in Canada exercises hegemonic leadership over the development of tax education in terms of cadence and direction…

Abstract

The main argument of this paper is that the accounting profession in Canada exercises hegemonic leadership over the development of tax education in terms of cadence and direction of reforms. To support this argument, the paper uses the development of the microeconomic approach to teaching taxation and the correlation between the numbers of tax courses taught in undergraduate programs and exemptions provided by the provincial institutes of the Canadian Chartered Accountants to students joining them. It uses arguments from institutional isomorphism to elucidate expected resistance to adopting new developments, such as the microeconomic approach, in the accounting field. The paper also builds on Gramsci’s theory of hegemony to imply that business schools have given their consent to the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants by closely linking their curriculum, at least the taxation courses, to that of the institute.

Details

Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences, vol. 22 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1026-4116

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 September 2023

Anne K.H. Neal, Merridee Lynne Bujaki, Sylvain Durocher and François Brouard

The authors examine and compare accounting associations' identities in distinct segments of the accounting profession surrounding the 2014 merger of three Canadian accounting…

100

Abstract

Purpose

The authors examine and compare accounting associations' identities in distinct segments of the accounting profession surrounding the 2014 merger of three Canadian accounting associations.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conceive of accounting associations' magazine front covers as a setting for “identity performance” (i.e. a scenery through which identity dimensions are intentionally communicated to target audiences). The authors examine pre-merger and post-merger associations' identity performances that took place between January 2011 and December 2020 and identify 21 broad themes that the authors interpret in terms of identity logics (i.e. professionalism/commercialism) and audience focus (society/association members), underscoring (dis)similarities in identity performances pre- and post-merger.

Findings

The authors' analysis reveals distinct identity performances for the different segments of the pre-merger accounting profession and for the post-merger unified accounting association. Identity logics manifest differently: a commercial logic dominated for two of the associations and a professional logic dominated for the third. Identity fluidity was evident in the merged association's shift from commercial toward professional logic when the association ceased publishing one magazine and introduced a new one. Society rather than associations' members dominated as a target audience for all associations, but this focus manifested differently. Post-merger, identity performances continued to focus on society as the audience.

Originality/value

The authors highlight the Goffmanian identity performances (Goffman, 1959) taking place via accounting associations' magazines. The authors adopt a segment perspective (Bucher and Strauss, 1961) that demonstrates that commercialism does not trump professionalism in all segments of the profession. For the first time, the authors juxtapose identity logics (professionalism/commercialism) and targeted audiences to better understand how these facets of accountants' identities compare between segments.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 37 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2002

Dilip Kumar Sen and Swapan Kumar Bala

The present paper is a brief study on the modus operandi of the existing income tax audit in Bangladesh. This study centres around: meaning of tax audit; need for tax audit;…

2923

Abstract

The present paper is a brief study on the modus operandi of the existing income tax audit in Bangladesh. This study centres around: meaning of tax audit; need for tax audit; certain conceptual issues of tax audit; existing scenario of tax audit in Bangladesh, focusing on tax system, tax audit practice, tax audit ambit, tax auditor, tax audit report, existing extent of assessment under tax audit net; and then draws a concluding line with a few recommendations. The paper reflects that the present extent of tax audit practice of Bangladesh is extremely negligible. This paper’s policy prescriptions, if followed, will hopefully provide a great boost in expanding tax audit net, which is much needed for improvement of the internal resource mobilisation in the country.

Details

Managerial Auditing Journal, vol. 17 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-6902

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2002

Elizabeth Rainsbury, Sidney Weil and Peter Oyelere

This paper reports on a study of the efficacy of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand's (the Institute) Professional Accounting School (PAS) programme in…

Abstract

This paper reports on a study of the efficacy of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand's (the Institute) Professional Accounting School (PAS) programme in developing a set of competencies in candidates. The study surveyed Institute candidates' perceptions of their competence levels for 16 specified skills at the commencement and conclusion of the 1999 PAS programme. The findings indicate that candidates perceived their levels of competence, for both cognitive and behavioural skills, to have been significantly improved by the PAS programme. Tests of two secondary hypotheses in the study indicate certain gender‐ and firm‐based differences in the perceived level of competence of candidates. The results of the study provide the Institute with feedback on the PAS programme and facilitate the further development of the programme. Other professional accounting bodies may consider replicating this study using data collected on similar programmes. The results of such studies may then be compared to enhance the existing knowledge of competency development in professional accounting education.

Details

Pacific Accounting Review, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0114-0582

1 – 10 of over 2000