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During the 1990s the value to an intending professional accountant of undertaking a period of liberal (general) studies was promoted internationally by a number of individuals and organisations, including the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (the “Institute”). The Institute significantly changed its admissions policy for Chartered Accountants in 1996 and one change was to require four years of degree level study with a compulsory liberal studies component. This study surveys the perceptions of New Zealand accounting practitioners on the impact of this compulsory liberal component. The results of this study demonstrate that there is little support from accounting practitioners for IFAC’s claim that liberal education “can contribute significantly to the acquisition of professional skills”, including intellectual, personal and communication skills. In addition, the majority of respondents did not perceive any improvements in the professional skills of the staff that had qualified under the Institute’s current admissions policy. However, any perceived improvements were mainly attributed to the Institute’s admissions policy change. Notwithstanding the lack of support for the assertion that liberal education develops professional skills, there is a strong belief by respondents in the value of liberal education for intending professional accountants.

IFAC, a Swiss‐registered non‐governmental organization, is emerging as an important international (auditing) standard setter amongst a powerful group of regulators, including the World Bank, the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the European Commission (EC). The purpose of this paper is to focus on the changing governance and accountability structures within IFAC, the way such changes are shaping, or re‐shaping, its “public interest” commitments and the resulting strategic implications for processes of auditor regulation and public oversight in the global financial arena.

The material and analysis presented in the paper derives from an extensive review of official reports, consultation documents and related responses, a range of other information available on IFAC's web site (www.ifac.org) or those of other key regulatory players in the global financial arena.

The paper analyzes how IFAC is succeeding as an international standard setter with an established place in the global financial infrastructure. From analysis of the recent establishment of a Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB) and the changing nature of representation on IFAC's Public Interest Activity Committees (PIACs), the paper reveals a growing reliance on governance by experts together with a growth in influence of the large, multinational accounting firms. Governance of auditors has become a matter of global importance and governance structures are being reconfigured.

By highlighting the changes that have taken place within IFAC's governance system, the paper establishes the importance for public policy of further study and debate concerning the nature and practical operation of such a system, particularly given IFAC's position within a complex but developing global governance arena.

IFAC is becoming an integral player in global financial governance processes and yet has not been subject to any substantial academic accounting research. This paper seeks to rectify this by focusing on the structures and processes underpinning both the development of IFAC's International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) and its own global strategy for advancement.

Information technology can be seen as one of the key drivers in a changing business environment as it is integrated into almost all aspects of business. All the research investigating the skills and abilities that a professional accountant will need in future emphasises the importance of understanding and being competent in the use of information technology. Whether professional accountants function as financial managers within a specific organisation, act as independent evaluators of an organisation, financial information and systems, or act as consultants advising organisations, they will have to interact with and be knowledgeable about information technology to enable them to perform their jobs competently. The purpose of this article is to identify which information and communication technology (ICT) skills are critical for professional accountants who wish to be competent in the current and future working environment. A literature review was conducted of research by various professional accountancy bodies and other stakeholders to determine: the competence that future professional accountants will need; and the impact of the changing environment on the curricula set by professional accounting bodies. The article concludes with a description of the ICT skills required by professional accountants in order to be competent in today’s work environment. The article concludes with a discussion of the ICT skills that professional accountants must be competent in using.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how Aristotle’s ethics can be applied to the ethics of professional accountants (PAs), in relation to the approach adopted by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), and to consider the reasons that justify the Aristotelian approach.

The paper outlines IFAC’s approach and identifies several weaknesses. Three themes of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics are applied to the work of PAs. Reasons why this perspective is more suitable for PAs are then articulated.

Several aspects of Aristotle’s ethics can be fruitfully applied to the ethics of PAs. These include the relationship between function, goals and the good, an awareness of the human goal to achieve eudaimonia, the development of both excellences of character and of intelligence, and the significance of non-rational aspects of morality, including emotions, will, responsibility and choice.

This perspective provides an alternative conceptualisation of the ethics of PAs. Although it does not provide concrete guidance regarding what the ethical approach to specific situations may be, it presents a useful counterpoint to existing approaches that are largely deontological and utilitarian.

This paper provides accountants in practice with a more comprehensive and adequate perspective on what it means for a PA to be ethical, and raises several issues related to how ethics is included in the education and training of accountants.

Investigating the philosophical basis for professional ethics approaches professional codes of ethics in a way that it is not typically considered. The paper also provides a more comprehensive application of Aristotelian ethics than previous work.

Quality assurance review programs are created to provide assurances to the public that all accountants maintain a high level of competence in public practice. However, not all countries require such programs. The purpose of this research is to compare and contrast quality assurance review programs in different parts of the world in order to identify similarities and differences in these programs. In addition, the paper attempts to explain why some countries adopt quality assurance programs while others do not have such programs.

A request for information and a survey were sent to the accounting regulatory bodies who are members of the International Federations of Accountants (IFAC). In total, 44 countries responded to the survey, of which 33 have formal quality assurance programs. The survey results were analyzed to identify similarities and differences in the design and implementation of such programs and to draw conclusions from this analysis.

Analyses of the questionnaires indicate that quality assurance review programs among countries share some common features, but vary significantly in many other areas. It was also found that countries with significant stock markets tend to require quality assurance programs of their accounting firms while countries of less significant stock markets tend not to require such programs.

The conclusions are based on the countries which responded to the survey. More countries did adopt quality assurance programs subsequent to the date of a survey in 2002.

Harmonizations of accounting and auditing standards have come a long way as a response to market globalization. Regulators, such as the IFAC, Securities and Exchange Commission and its counterparts, are demanding that such programs be implemented. This study provides a comprehensive evaluation of such programs in selected countries, and thus regulators may benefit from its findings.

The paper is the first of its type. The paper will help regulators and auditing firms to gain knowledge of the quality assurance programs of selected countries and establish policies in light of these results.

Investigations into professional accountancy education gathered impetus with the publication of The impact of globalisation on accountancy education by Karreman in 2002. This publication provided a comparative analysis of professional accountancy education in 25 countries worldwide, using a model developed for the classification of accountancy education systems. The rationale behind such an exercise is to promote educational exchange and facilitate educational development. The Karreman study only covered two countries in Africa, namely South Africa and Kenya. This study expands the Karreman study by comparing and benchmarking the professional accountancy education programmes in six member countries of the Eastern, Central and Southern African Federation of Accountants (ECSAFA) using the Karreman methodology. This study reports the results of a questionnaire survey to which seven accountancy bodies located in six countries responded. The results of this study revealed mostly agreement with the Karreman model. All the countries could be categorised as developing countries with common law/Roman‐Dutch legal systems and with a strong British influence. Thus similarities in regulation, education and practical experience are expected. The professional bodies tend towards professional selfregulation with low to medium membership regulation. All countries require practical experience before qualifying, and a theoretical approach to the final examination predominates. The study also shows that there is co‐operation in the region.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a global overview of the adoption status of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs) in the different contexts of developed and developing countries on central government level, particularly delineating key reform issues and attempts to overcome these.

Drawing on an analytical framework that combines neo-institutional theory with diffusion theory, prior research and official documents were re-analysed.

There are substantial differences regarding whether countries acknowledge having experienced large implementation challenges and the extent to which the reform benefits have been achieved. The study sheds light on the (institutional) underpinnings of these differences.

First, the analysis could be extended to regional and local governments, as well as social funds. Both qualitative and quantitative strategies are suggested. Second, the implementation of the conceptual framework deserves further attention. Third, further research should more thoroughly scrutinise cost-benefit analyses used for justifying the (non)implementation of IPSASs, and in particular the assumptions that are being made in such analyses.

The paper informs policymakers and standard setters by delineating the areas and issues complicating the widespread adoption of IPSASs across countries, including pointing out directions to overcome these.

Substantial amounts of public money are invested internationally to converge accounting standards and translate them into native languages. A close(r) monitoring is needed to ensure that these efforts obtain sufficient value for money.

This study is original as it applies an analytical framework that combines neo-institutional theory and diffusion theory to examine public sector accounting convergence issues internationally. Such an approach explicitly puts a focus on decoupling between reform “talk” (decision) and “walk” (implementation) and helps to analyse the reasons for this decoupling.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the existence of a professional oversight body and certain country‐specific education regulations in auditing are associated with a country's perceived level of corruption.

Drawing on data from the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) database, the authors used the Mann‐Whitney U analysis technique to test the difference between countries' perceived level of corruption based on whether they have or have not developed professional oversight bodies and licensing regulations.

Results suggest that countries that have established an audit profession oversight body are, indeed, perceived to be less corrupt. Similarly, countries that require practical experience, academic study, and a licensing examination in order to practice auditing are perceived to be less corrupt. On the other hand, the analysis shows that requiring auditors to fulfil continuing education requirements is not significantly related to a perception of lower levels of corruption.

The paper provides important insights for policy makers, business leaders, education and the audit profession as a whole.

This paper provides some of the first empirical support for the relationship between corruption and the use of oversight bodies and licensing regulations in professional auditing at a country level.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the new, revised International Standard on Auditing (Revised ISA700) in terms of the wording characteristics of Tunisian auditors' reports.

Measurement of the compliance of auditors' reports issued by Tunisian auditors with the new revised International Standard on Auditing (Revised ISA700).

It was found that the audit reports examined are not fully compliant with all the elements enumerated by the new standard issued by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).

This paper provides new empirical evidence about the level of compliance with the revised ISA700. It discusses the limits on standardisation efforts for national auditors' reports, and the implications for accounting firms and their audit clients.

This paper aims to investigate the determinants of the strength of auditing and reporting standards (SARS) in 41 European countries. It posits that there are a number of country‐level determinants for the SARS and these determinants are grouped into four main categories: legal framework, corporate governance, market and higher education. This study aims to expand the domain of auditing and reporting by using country‐level data than is usually found in the auditing literature.

Data were accessed from the World Economic Forum (WEF) Report (2009), World Bank Reports on Observation of Standards and Codes (ROSC) and the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). The ROSC was used to synthesise the status of auditing in the 41 countries, whereas the IFAC report was used to determine the adoption of international standards on auditing. Data on SARS and its determinants were gathered from the WEF Report to empirically examine the validity of the hypotheses. The ranks of SARS were regressed on the ranks of its determinants.

This paper provides additional empirical evidence on SARS in Europe. It suggests that, in addition to extant literature, judicial independence and efficiency of the legal framework, ethical behaviour of firms, efficacy of corporate boards, strengths of the stock market and extent of staff training in the European countries impact on its SARS.

Because the ROSC are not available for all the European countries, this study could not comment on the status of auditing for all the 41 countries. Second, had the countries been grouped into developed, emerging and developing, the determinants of SARS could be different.

This paper emphasises the importance of the efficiency of legal framework, corporate governance and the training of staff to maintain a reasonable SARS.

This study fills the research gap regarding the absence of an empirical cross‐country study on the determinants of the SARS in Europe