Dissertations / Theses: 'Professional accounting firms'

1

Ishaque, Maria. "Managing conflict of interests in professional accounting firms." Thesis, Anglia Ruskin University, 2017. http://arro.anglia.ac.uk/702312/.

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This study views conflict of interests in professional accounting firms through the lens of behavioural risk management. The research problem driving this study is the accounting professionals’ deviant decision-making behaviour due to conflict of interests. Extant literature suggests that the prevalence of said problem is attributable to the ineffective management of conflicting interests – the existing procedures do not account, sufficiently, for the accounting professionals’ independence in fact. This research builds, primarily, on the work of Moore, Tanlu and Bazerman (2010) and Guiral, Rodgers, Ruiz and Gonzalo (2010). Although they attempted to address the professionals’ independence in fact by examining the psychological and cognitive impacts of conflict of interests, there still is a lack of understanding about the interaction of conflict of interests with decision-making. Consequently, there have been repeated calls for more research to understand how conflict of interests operates at the level of an individual accounting professional. Accordingly, this study is aimed at examining the process through which conflict of interests affects accounting professionals’ decision-making behaviour. To achieve this aim, a cognitive approach has been developed through integration of social cognitive theory and throughput model of decision-making. This research adopts a quantitative approach to investigation and the data have been collected by conducting a quasi-experiment with 105 professionals from the Big Four accounting firms in the UK. Likert-type items/scales are used to record data as the professionals’ self-reports on their perceptions and behaviour. Partial Least Squares-Path Analysis has been implemented for data analysis and hypotheses testing. Following the post-positivists stance, the concern is ‘failure to reject’ a hypothesis rather than ‘proving’ it. The empirical results provide that the professionals’ positive outcome expectancy of compliant decision-making (POE), perceived difficulty in making compliant decisions (PD) and ethical judgements (EJ) play mediating role in the relationship between conflict of interests (CoI) and the likelihood of deviant decision-making behaviour (DD). The low POE, high PD and less EJ are evidenced to be the situational cognitive predictors and the high propensity to morally disengage (PMD) the dispositional cognitive predictor of DD. Decision-making behaviour is evidenced to be prone to bias due to the significant role of POE and PD in the decision-making process. These results suggest that the process through which CoI affects accounting professionals’ decision-making behaviour is governed through the agency of their POE, PD and EJ. During this process, CoI plays biasing role and due to which the deviations from compliant behaviour might occur even undesirably. Therefore, DD is high in case of the professionals who perceive the negative outcomes of compliant decision-making to outweigh its positive outcomes, perceive high difficulty in making the given compliant decision, form a judgement that deviant decision choice is the most ethical and have high propensity of considering unethical behaviour as acceptable. Thus, in the events of conflict of interests, the likelihood of deviant behaviour can be reduced through encouraging amongst professionals the high POE, low PD, high EJ and low PMD. This study holds significance since it provides the much-needed empirical evidence for the role of accounting professionals’ cognitive processes in the relationship between conflict of interests and their decision-making behaviour. The cognitive approach adopted in this study provides a novel perspective for investigating the decision-making process. Moreover, the robust experiment employed for data collection adds to the extant research that lacks in experimental scenarios for addressing conflict of interests. Since all the insights revealed by this study’s results are relevant to the professionals’ state of mind, these insights can be combined to strengthen their independence in fact – to this end, I have proposed a behavioural framework to complement the accounting firms’ current efforts for managing conflict of interests. On a practical level, the professional accounting firms, the accounting professionals, the regulators and the other relevant professions can use this study’s findings and the new knowledge for making better decisions and to improve their policies.

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2

Ishaque, Maria. "Managing conflict of interests in professional accounting firms." Thesis, Anglia Ruskin University, 2017. https://arro.anglia.ac.uk/id/eprint/702312/1/Ishaque_2017.pdf.

Full text

Abstract:

This study views conflict of interests in professional accounting firms through the lens of behavioural risk management. The research problem driving this study is the accounting professionals’ deviant decision-making behaviour due to conflict of interests. Extant literature suggests that the prevalence of said problem is attributable to the ineffective management of conflicting interests – the existing procedures do not account, sufficiently, for the accounting professionals’ independence in fact. This research builds, primarily, on the work of Moore, Tanlu and Bazerman (2010) and Guiral, Rodgers, Ruiz and Gonzalo (2010). Although they attempted to address the professionals’ independence in fact by examining the psychological and cognitive impacts of conflict of interests, there still is a lack of understanding about the interaction of conflict of interests with decision-making. Consequently, there have been repeated calls for more research to understand how conflict of interests operates at the level of an individual accounting professional. Accordingly, this study is aimed at examining the process through which conflict of interests affects accounting professionals’ decision-making behaviour. To achieve this aim, a cognitive approach has been developed through integration of social cognitive theory and throughput model of decision-making. This research adopts a quantitative approach to investigation and the data have been collected by conducting a quasi-experiment with 105 professionals from the Big Four accounting firms in the UK. Likert-type items/scales are used to record data as the professionals’ self-reports on their perceptions and behaviour. Partial Least Squares-Path Analysis has been implemented for data analysis and hypotheses testing. Following the post-positivists stance, the concern is ‘failure to reject’ a hypothesis rather than ‘proving’ it. The empirical results provide that the professionals’ positive outcome expectancy of compliant decision-making (POE), perceived difficulty in making compliant decisions (PD) and ethical judgements (EJ) play mediating role in the relationship between conflict of interests (CoI) and the likelihood of deviant decision-making behaviour (DD). The low POE, high PD and less EJ are evidenced to be the situational cognitive predictors and the high propensity to morally disengage (PMD) the dispositional cognitive predictor of DD. Decision-making behaviour is evidenced to be prone to bias due to the significant role of POE and PD in the decision-making process. These results suggest that the process through which CoI affects accounting professionals’ decision-making behaviour is governed through the agency of their POE, PD and EJ. During this process, CoI plays biasing role and due to which the deviations from compliant behaviour might occur even undesirably. Therefore, DD is high in case of the professionals who perceive the negative outcomes of compliant decision-making to outweigh its positive outcomes, perceive high difficulty in making the given compliant decision, form a judgement that deviant decision choice is the most ethical and have high propensity of considering unethical behaviour as acceptable. Thus, in the events of conflict of interests, the likelihood of deviant behaviour can be reduced through encouraging amongst professionals the high POE, low PD, high EJ and low PMD. This study holds significance since it provides the much-needed empirical evidence for the role of accounting professionals’ cognitive processes in the relationship between conflict of interests and their decision-making behaviour. The cognitive approach adopted in this study provides a novel perspective for investigating the decision-making process. Moreover, the robust experiment employed for data collection adds to the extant research that lacks in experimental scenarios for addressing conflict of interests. Since all the insights revealed by this study’s results are relevant to the professionals’ state of mind, these insights can be combined to strengthen their independence in fact – to this end, I have proposed a behavioural framework to complement the accounting firms’ current efforts for managing conflict of interests. On a practical level, the professional accounting firms, the accounting professionals, the regulators and the other relevant professions can use this study’s findings and the new knowledge for making better decisions and to improve their policies.

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3

Whang, Eunyoung. "Profitability Ratio Analysis for Professional Service Firms." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2010. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/104035.

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Business Administration/Accounting
Ph.D.
The DuPont analysis is one of the most commonly used financial analysis tools for traditional businesses. It disaggregates return on equity (ROE) into profit margin (PM), asset turnover (ATO), and leverage (LEV) thereby providing value-relevant information relative to aggregated profitability. In this paper, I extend the use of the DuPont model to the professional service industry. The professional service industry has recently become one of the fastest growing segments driving the U.S. economy (USITC 2009, U.S. Census Bureau of Economic Analysis 2009). Unlike traditional businesses whose key business assets are their physical assets, professional service firms rely on human capital assets that are not recognized in the balance sheet. I introduce a profitability ratio analysis model that focuses on human capital. I validate the model by examining whether the disaggregated profitability ratios for professional service firms add relevant information over aggregated ratio in the same way as they do for traditional businesses. I use law firms as a representative segment of the professional service sector to empirically evaluate my model. I collect financial and human resource data for 81 of the 100 largest U.S. law firms from 2000 to 2007 then disaggregate profit per equity partner (PPP) into the three profitability ratios: profit margin (PM), revenue per lawyer (RPL), and leverage (LEV). I compare the absolute forecasting error (AFE) of the simple AR (1) model that uses only the current year profit per equity partner (PPP) to forecast one-year ahead profit per equity partner (PPP) and my model that uses the three profitability ratio model (PM, RPL, and LEV) of current year to forecast one-year ahead profit per equity partner (PPP). I find that using the disaggregated profitability ratios significantly improves forecasting of future profitability relative to using only profit per equity partner (PPP), analogous to similar results documented for the DuPont model in Fairfield and Yohn (2001) and Soliman (2004). I examine which firm characteristics are associated with the profitability ratios. I include four firm characteristics variables (STRUCTURE, SCOPE-INTL, SCOPE-RGNL, and SCALE) that are commonly used in economic analysis of industrial organizations. I find that the profitability ratios are systematically associated with firm characteristics that reveal information on the business models of individual firms. Leverage (LEV) is higher in law firms with non-equity partners (STRUCTURE), international focus (SCOPE-INTL), regional focus (SCOPE-RGNL), or large size (SCALE). Law firms that are large sized (SCALE) or regional focused (SCOPE-RGNL) command premium fee (high RPL) on average, but law firms with international focus or with non-equity partners do not.
Temple University--Theses

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4

Bruno, Simoes. "Marketing of professional services : a study of large accounting and legal firms in Hong Kong and Macau." Thesis, University of Macau, 1998. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b1636768.

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5

Wlker, Duncan. "The professional socialization of trainee and post qualified ICAEW auditiors in the big five multinational accounting firms." Thesis, University of Manchester, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.500501.

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6

Walker, Duncan. "The professional socialization of trainee and post qualified ICAEW auditors in the big five multinational accounting firms." Thesis, University of Manchester, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.501560.

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This thesis studies the professional socialization of ICAEW auditors in the Big Five multinational accountancy firms. The first part of the study concentrates upon the experiences of a group of ICAEW trainees as they trained and studied in the regional office of a Big Five firm. This involved a covert, opportunistic, ethnographic approach to explore the ways in which the meaning and conduct of professional membership were transmitted to the trainees. The second part of the study, by means of semi-structured interviews with ICAEW qualified (PQ) auditors from Big Five firms, develops the themes of the first part of the study and explores the possible variations once trainees qualified as AC As. Both parts of the study employ the theory of symbolic interactionism.

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7

Yip, Man-shan Tammy. "Total quality management for the accounting profession /." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1998. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B19872215.

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8

Dermarkar, Simon. "Commercialization of Auditing services offered by Professionals within Accounting Firms." Thesis, Université Laval, 2011. http://www.theses.ulaval.ca/2011/28210/28210.pdf.

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Le cœur de l'étude mettra en évidence la présence d’importantes pressions découlant du mercantilisme au sein de la pratique de vérification professionnelle dans l'ère post-Enron. L'analyse sera distinguée en deux segments: les pressions découlant du désir de l'auditeur à être perçu comme financièrement efficace, et d'une autre part, les pressions découlant de l'objectif de l'auditeur cherchant à privilégier les clients et à rester compétitif dans le marché. Les aspects commerciaux généralement reconnus de la vérification (c.-à-d., rapidité, efficacité, profitabilité) qui sont mesurés par des indicateurs financiers (taux de récupération et taux horaire récupéré) qui eux sont contrôlés et encouragés par certains processus formalisés (par exemple, de budgétisation et d'évaluation de la performance) au sein des organisations comptables, expliquent précisément pourquoi les praticiens de la vérification ont le désir d'être perçu comme économiquement efficace. De plus, les résultats empiriques montrent une certaine évolution (parfois agressive) de la présence de tels mécanismes qui pourraient mener à des effets négatifs tels que la détérioration de l'environnement de travail et à des mutations insoucieuses des méthodes de vérification. Aussi, afin de freiner les pressions croissantes liées à la concurrence et accroître leur part de marché, les cabinets comptables déploient une stratégie à faible prix (« low balling ») pour leurs services de vérification; cette approche aide à conserver (ou à séduire) les entités auditées. Contrairement à ce que plusieurs peuvent penser, la règlementation Sarbanes-Oxley ainsi que son adaptation canadienne n’éliminent pas entièrement une telle tactique dans l'industrie de la vérification. En fait, la stratégie a évoluée au point où certains cabinets plus petits doivent, contre leur gré, adopter ces méthodes afin de lutter contre les comportements marketing agressifs des «Big Four». Cette approche crée une certaine controverse entre le niveau de risque du mandat et l'objectif de rentabilité qui semble souvent rester à un niveau standard, peu importe la variation de l’honoraire. Je présente des extraits d’entrevues indiquant que les mandats de vérification à faible prix peuvent amener à réduire au minimum les questionnements à travers le travail de vérification ou littéralement chercher à trouver l'endroit où le travail de vérification peut être coupé.
The core of the study will highlight the presence of important pressures ensuing from commercialism throughout the professional auditing practice in the post-Enron era. The analysis of these features will be distinguished into two segments; first the pressures ensuing from the auditor’s desire of being perceived as commercially effective, and second, the pressures ensuing from the auditor’s aim of privileging the clients and remaining competitive in the market. The general business aspects of auditing (i.e., rapidity, efficiency, profitability) monitored by some financial indicators (i.e., recuperation rate and hourly recuperated fee) which are controlled and promoted through certain formalized processes (i.e., budgeting and performance assessment) within accounting organizations explain specifically why audit practitioners have a desire to be perceived as economically effective. Moreover, empirical findings indicate a certain evolution and ongoing – sometimes aggressive – presence of such mechanisms which potentially lead to negative effects such as deterioration of the working environment and neglectful alteration of audit approaches. Also, in order to counter increasing pressures related to rivalry and to increase market share, accounting firms deploy an evolving low pricing audit engagement strategy aiming to retain (or seduce) the auditees. Conversely to what many would think, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and its Canadian adaptation did not get rid of such tactic in the audit industry. In fact, the strategy has evolved to the point where some smaller firms have to keep up by reluctantly adopting such method in order to counter Big Four’s aggressive marketing behaviours. In turn, that approach creates a certain controversy between the risk level of the engagement and the profitability aim which often remains at a standard level no matter the variation of the fee. I present excerpts indicating that the low balling auditor might aim at minimizing questionings through the audit work or literally seek to find where the audit work can be cut.

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Dermarkar, Simon Pierre. "Commercialization of auditing services offered by professionals within accounting firms." Master's thesis, Université Laval, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11794/22508.

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Le cœur de l'étude mettra en évidence la présence d’importantes pressions découlant du mercantilisme au sein de la pratique de vérification professionnelle dans l'ère post-Enron. L'analyse sera distinguée en deux segments: les pressions découlant du désir de l'auditeur à être perçu comme financièrement efficace, et d'une autre part, les pressions découlant de l'objectif de l'auditeur cherchant à privilégier les clients et à rester compétitif dans le marché. Les aspects commerciaux généralement reconnus de la vérification (c.-à-d., rapidité, efficacité, profitabilité) qui sont mesurés par des indicateurs financiers (taux de récupération et taux horaire récupéré) qui eux sont contrôlés et encouragés par certains processus formalisés (par exemple, de budgétisation et d'évaluation de la performance) au sein des organisations comptables, expliquent précisément pourquoi les praticiens de la vérification ont le désir d'être perçu comme économiquement efficace. De plus, les résultats empiriques montrent une certaine évolution (parfois agressive) de la présence de tels mécanismes qui pourraient mener à des effets négatifs tels que la détérioration de l'environnement de travail et à des mutations insoucieuses des méthodes de vérification. Aussi, afin de freiner les pressions croissantes liées à la concurrence et accroître leur part de marché, les cabinets comptables déploient une stratégie à faible prix (« low balling ») pour leurs services de vérification; cette approche aide à conserver (ou à séduire) les entités auditées. Contrairement à ce que plusieurs peuvent penser, la règlementation Sarbanes-Oxley ainsi que son adaptation canadienne n’éliminent pas entièrement une telle tactique dans l'industrie de la vérification. En fait, la stratégie a évoluée au point où certains cabinets plus petits doivent, contre leur gré, adopter ces méthodes afin de lutter contre les comportements marketing agressifs des «Big Four». Cette approche crée une certaine controverse entre le niveau de risque du mandat et l'objectif de rentabilité qui semble souvent rester à un niveau standard, peu importe la variation de l’honoraire. Je présente des extraits d’entrevues indiquant que les mandats de vérification à faible prix peuvent amener à réduire au minimum les questionnements à travers le travail de vérification ou littéralement chercher à trouver l'endroit où le travail de vérification peut être coupé.
The core of the study will highlight the presence of important pressures ensuing from commercialism throughout the professional auditing practice in the post-Enron era. The analysis of these features will be distinguished into two segments; first the pressures ensuing from the auditor’s desire of being perceived as commercially effective, and second, the pressures ensuing from the auditor’s aim of privileging the clients and remaining competitive in the market. The general business aspects of auditing (i.e., rapidity, efficiency, profitability) monitored by some financial indicators (i.e., recuperation rate and hourly recuperated fee) which are controlled and promoted through certain formalized processes (i.e., budgeting and performance assessment) within accounting organizations explain specifically why audit practitioners have a desire to be perceived as economically effective. Moreover, empirical findings indicate a certain evolution and ongoing – sometimes aggressive – presence of such mechanisms which potentially lead to negative effects such as deterioration of the working environment and neglectful alteration of audit approaches. Also, in order to counter increasing pressures related to rivalry and to increase market share, accounting firms deploy an evolving low pricing audit engagement strategy aiming to retain (or seduce) the auditees. Conversely to what many would think, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and its Canadian adaptation did not get rid of such tactic in the audit industry. In fact, the strategy has evolved to the point where some smaller firms have to keep up by reluctantly adopting such method in order to counter Big Four’s aggressive marketing behaviours. In turn, that approach creates a certain controversy between the risk level of the engagement and the profitability aim which often remains at a standard level no matter the variation of the fee. I present excerpts indicating that the low balling auditor might aim at minimizing questionings through the audit work or literally seek to find where the audit work can be cut.

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Yip, Man-shan Tammy, and 葉文珊. "Total quality management for the accounting profession." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1998. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31269515.

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11

Kong, Yook-seng, and 江毓星. "Personnel management in accounting profession: the challenges of small firms." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1988. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31264116.

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12

Eldaly, Mohamed Khaled. "Effects of the new regulations of the audit profession on the audit firms' strategies." Thesis, University of Bedfordshire, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10547/294283.

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The audit firms play an important role in the capital markets by verifying that auditors provide reliable information to the decision makers. However, trust in auditing firms has been questioned following Enron‘s failure and accounting scandals at WorldCom and other companies. As a result, Arthur Anderson failed and the number of big audit firms fell to four firms and no one knows who might be next. Defond and Francis (2005) believe that a critical trigger occurred when Deloitte & Touch issued a “clean” peer review report on Arthur Andersen in December 2001, just a few weeks before Andersen publicly announced that it had shredded documents related to Enron audit. The credibility and integrity of the profession‘s self-regulation program was immediately in doubt. To protect public interests and to restore confidence in the capital markets, the USA government issued the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) in 2002. Similarly, the Financial Reporting Council in the UK provided the Professional Oversight Board with similar mission. This thesis aims to explore the role of independent audit regulators in promoting confidence in the audit profession, and analyse the big four firms’ strategies that react toward these regulatory changes in the audit markets. The lack of studies in this area supports the use of grounded theory as a research methodology. 24 semi-structured interviews were conducted with the top management level of the audit regulators and big four firms’ partners. This study contributes to the literature as it provides a better understanding of the satisfaction of the big four audit firms toward the new independent regulators, and how these firms react toward the additional requirements of the independent inspectors.

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Williams, Brian. "Financial Accounting Standards, Audit Profession Development, and Firm-Level Tax Evasion." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/19699.

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In this study I investigate the relation between (1) country-level financial accounting standards and audit profession development and (2) firm-level tax evasion. I investigate this relation using a confidential dataset compiled by the World Bank that provides an estimate of the percent of a firm’s sales reported to the tax authority as well as information on local corruption and economic development. This database includes firms both with and without externally audited financial statements. After controlling for corruption, economic development, rule of law, and other firm, local, and country-level variables I find that firms in countries with more rigorous financial accounting standards and a more developed audit profession evade less tax and that this effect is stronger when firms have externally audited financial statements and thus are more directly influenced by the financial accounting standards and level of audit profession development in their country. These results have important implications for tax authorities and for other policy makers debating whether to dedicate scarce resources to improving their countries’ financial reporting environment.

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Desai, Vikram G. "CHANGE IN THE INDIAN ACCOUNTING PROFESSION: THREE STUDIES RELATED TO THE ENTRY OF THE BIG FOUR ACCOUNTING FIRMS IN INDIA." Doctoral diss., University of Central Florida, 2007. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/2097.

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This dissertation focuses on the globalization of audit markets. In particular, this dissertation is studying the entry of the Big Four accounting firms into India post-economic and political reforms of the early 1990s. The dissertation is comprised of three separate, but related studies. Each study appeals to prior research in accounting and related disciplines to examine the entry of the Big Four accounting firms in India. The first study appeals to audit market and economic research on incumbent pricing to examine ways in which local accounting firms in India adapted to the competition introduced by the Big Four accounting firms. The second study is an account of the change in the organizational field of the Indian accounting profession caused by the entry of the multinational accounting firms from 1990 to 2005 from a social constructionist perspective using the model of nonisomorphic change. The third study examines the change in the Indian accounting profession from 1990 to 2005 caused by the entry of the Big Four accounting firms in India from a critical perspective. It appeals to the theories of globalization to examine the change. Taken together, these studies attempt to provide the Big Four accounting firms useful information about the pricing strategies likely to be faced by them from local accounting firms in a new market, provide insights into the multiple roles played by professional associations in the process of radical change in the organizational field, and emphasize that globalization of accounting markets has not been accompanied by a level playing field for the local accounting profession in the globalized markets.
Ph.D.
Kenneth G. Dixon School of Accounting
Business Administration
Business Administration PhD

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15

Hsiung, Sanna. "The organizing and the balance between profession and profit in the Big Four accounting firms." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för ekonomistyrning och logistik (ELO), 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-31574.

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Title: The organizing and the balance between profession and profit in the Big Four accounting firms Introduction: Globalization has lead to a world with increasing similarities and a larger market where only efficient organizations survive why information is important for survival and success. Accounting firms fulfill an important role by securing information and contribute to the prosperity of society through an efficient market. But they differ both from non-PSF and among each other due to the need of managing the balance between profession and profit. The current research on accounting firms is limited and lacking. This thesis contributes to the current research by providing a new perspective to the existing research on accounting firms. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to understand how the Big Four accounting firms organize in order to manage the balance between profession and profit. Method: The thesis uses a qualitative research method in which data and information is collected from financial statements and websites that is compiled into multiple case studies on the Big Four accounting firms to give a detailed description of how they organize to manage the balance between profession and profit. Conclusions: The result demonstrates that there are similarities between how the Big Four accounting firms organize to manage the balance between profession and profit. The thesis moreover shows that there are connections between the factors of organizing (goal, environment, strategy and structure latter of which is divided in organizational structure, partnership, knowledge, reward system, informal and formal management processes and responsibility distribution) and the balance between profession and profit which indicates that the Big Four accounting firms considers the balance between profession and profit in the organizing for the survival and success in the market.

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Albahloul, Mohammad. "Internationalisation of auditing practices and auditing professions : a study of international standards and international accounting firms." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.488072.

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This thesis is concerned with the role of the international accounting firms in the process of auditing harmonisation both through their activities as individual firms and as agents whose actions enhance the degree of compliance with the International Standards on Auditing (ISAs). A major motivation underlying this research is the aspiration to understand the real potential for successful realization of the objective of worldwide auditing standards. This objective may be facilitated by the internationalisation of supply of auditing services, which suggests that the major international accounting firms would have a vital role in the achievability of global standards. Therefore, understanding the role of these firms is another motivation for this study. In addition, within the academic arena, comparative international auditing has received significantly less attention than international accounting harmonisation. As such, the third motivation for this study is to attempt to contribute to the debate on whether the internationalisation of auditing practices is generally feasible, in particular in the context of Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs). The research focuses on examining the extent to which ISAs are complied with in the context of LEDCs, and the influence of environmental factors, as suggested by comparative accounting research, and the activities of international accounting firms on compliance. Thus, the original idea of harmonisation as moving towards worldwide auditing practices across countries may not be achieved as long as environmental and cultural differences exist and exert different influences on professional development across countries. These research issues are addressed through a comparative study of Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, based on a questionnaire survey and interviews. The rationale for conducting this investigation is based on the fact these three states belong to what is generally perceived to be a relatively homogenous region in terms of the level of economic development, culture, and language. But they have been followed diverse routes while adapting to the process of internationalisation of auditing practice. Therefore, it is of relevance to examine the forces that have resulted in countries within a relatively homogenous region adopting diverse policies while dealing with the international process. The study adds to the few existing empirical studies and offers evidence relevant to the debate about the extent to which international auditing practice has been harmonised, and what is the role of the major accounting firms in promoting adoption of ISAs and decreasing international auditing differences. In particular it provides evidence which can contribute towards understanding the nature and forms of international pressures for change in LEDCs. Previous studies have focused on auditing harmonisation within developed countries. This study indicates the need to broaden the research agenda to consider contexts where the auditing profession may be at a different stage of development, and to challenge assumptions either that innovations in auditing practice and standards are easily transferred globally or that individual countries, even within a common region, have uniform auditing environments.

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Mysin, Roman. "Designing Performance Measurement System for Strategic Optimize-Sourcing Function in the Professional Services Firm." Master's thesis, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2017. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-359268.

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The development and application of performance measurement systems for a purchasing function within a professional service company possesses a great challenge for both practitioners and academics. Despite the increasing popularity of this topic, the systems that are currently developed are rarely adequate to be applicable at the business-unit level. Furthermore, the existing productivity measures are predominantly designed to measure performance in industries where the inputs and outputs are both tangible and standardized items. Intangible and non-quantifiable factors of production cannot be reliably measured by manufacturing performance methodologies. Consequently, purchasing professionals seek tools to accurately track purchasing performances and connect it to given business strategies and objectives. This paper aims to develop a design of the performance measurement system that can be applicable onto the optimize-sourcing department of the selected firm of this study. The first section of the paper outlines key performance measurement concepts and establishes a theoretical framework that supports the following research. Subsequent questionnaires and interviews that were conducted with vital stakeholders reveal the flaws of the current performance measurement system. Conclusions derived from the interviews and questionnaires support the findings of extensive literature reviews. In the following chapters, the paper focuses on the development of the new model that overcomes limitations of the model in use. The thesis also lists additional recommendations on the implementation phase of the new model. In the final section, this paper emphasizes the limitations of the proposed model and describes potential challenges related to the implementation phase.

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18

Rahim, Aisha. "Highly skilled international labour migration : a qualitative study of migrant Pakistani professionals in London's big four accounting firms." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2014. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/27838/.

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Current Migration Studies literature in Europe can broadly be divided into two major strands. First is dominated by studies on the East-West migration of working class or asylum seeking, postcolonial ethnic groups and problems associated with their subsequent integration/assimilation into the host society. The second, more recent, strand of migration research is that of highly skilled professional migrants, usually hypermobile white men moving across highly-developed countries (for example within the EU), or from developed to less developed countries. This thesis aims to fill a major gap in the existing migration studies literature by focussing on a group of highly skilled Pakistani professionals. Based on a combination of participant observation and in-depth interviews with thirteen Pakistani male accountants and their partners in London, this thesis will explore their personal and professional lives in detail. In particular, it aims to compare this group with a) other highly skilled migrants in Europe and b) working class Pakistani immigrants who have dominated the migration stream to the UK. In terms of their social background, this group is strikingly different to the latter due to its urban, middle class origins where all men and most women possess tertiary level degrees. They do not follow the typical migration channel of chain migration to the UK and do not tend to live in ethnic clusters as other Pakistani migrants. Marital status sets them apart from European migrants of similar professional background. The thesis shows that experience of working in the one of the biggest accounting firms in the UK is overall positive for many participants but the overemphasis on social skills over technical expertise in the firm’s appraisal system is a major problem since the centrality of drinking in after-work socialisation meant they could not fully participate in such bonding activities. This thesis also captures the life experiences of migrant spouses in terms of marriage, migration, children and “incorporation” into husband’s work. Last, the thesis explores the future aspirations of the participants which mainly include a long term plan of acquiring British nationality as the means to a more lucrative job in the Middle-East. The Middle-East as a permanent destination was considered perfect due to its booming economy, proximity to Pakistan (still viewed as “homeland”) and most importantly Islamic culture which was seen fundamental in upbringing of their children. However, some women were apprehensive of such a move due to the restrictions on women in some Middle-Eastern countries.

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Nyaga, Casty K. "A design science approach to developing and determining web site quality dimensions for the public accounting profession." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2007. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1554.

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Public Accounting (PA) firms play an important role in both the local and the international business environment. Their accounting and business services functions cut across organisations, sectors and industries. Like other professional service firms, PA firms are becoming concerned about the World Wide Web (web) since the services they offer can be delivered via the web more efficiently (eg. at a lower cost) and effectively (24/7). Thus there is a need to assess the quality of their web site. This study developed an instrument for measuring PA web site quality based on an extensive literature review which identified the previously widely used "WebQuaL (TMI)” questionnaire but extended it to four quality dimensions (usability, information quality, interactivity and riskiness), supported by 24 research variables. Design Science, as conceptualised by Hevner et al. (2004), provided the guiding theory for the research. Hevner et al. (2004) proposed a framework consisting of seven guidelines to guide Information Systems (IS) researchers and practitioners on how to conduct, evaluate and present design science research. Two of the guidelines, namely design artefact and design evaluation, were followed in this study. The study was executed in a controlled laboratory selling in which post-graduate university students, potential clients of PA firms, used the WebQual/PA questionnaire to evaluate the web sites of six leading professional accounting firms. One hundred-and-two students participated in the study. The data collected was analysed using quantitative analysis techniques to assess the reliability and validity of the instrument and quality of the PA web sites. Moderating factors were investigated in relation to their effect on the constructs and variables determining PA web site quality. A number of conclusions can be drawn from the outcome of the study. They cover practical as well as theoretical aspects. First, the study provides PA practitioners with validated, reliable web site quality dimensions. With the emergence of online professional services, PA firms will increasingly seek to evaluate the quality of their web sites. Second, this study adds to our understanding of WebQual, an instrument that has been widely used in IS research. WebQual/PA has its origins in WebQual version 4 but was refined to meet the needs of the PA sector. Third, the results of a relative assessment of quality provide valuable feedback to professional practices. The study shows that 'usability' was ranked highest by study participants of all the l1m1s and indicates that this dimension is the most developed dimension within the PA sector. lt is followed by 'information quality'. 'lnteractivity' and 'riskiness' arc areas requiring attention as they seem to lag behind the others. The study enabled recommendations to be made to improve the quality of web sites of the sector as well as the individual firms that were evaluated. In this way, the research adopted the philosophy of pragmatism in which knowledge is strongly linked to action. In the study, the knowledge gained is translated into action via recommendations made to each of the firms. Furthermore, since action permeates on knowledge, there have to be linkages "to an actable world" (Goldkhul, 2004, p. 18). A simple test for this is to be able to trace "concrete consequences" (p. 19). This will occur when PA firms take up the recommendations made in this study.

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Benc, Rebecca, and Michaela Lind. "Väsentlighet : vilka kvalitativa faktorer påverkar revisorns bedömning?" Thesis, Högskolan Kristianstad, Avdelningen för ekonomi, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hkr:diva-18696.

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Väsentlighet utgör en viktig hörnsten i revisorns bedömning och styr hur omfattande en granskning ska vara och i vilken riktning granskningen ska gå. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka vilka kvalitativa faktorer anses ha en påverkan på revisorns väsentlighetsbedömning. Kvalitativa faktorer som valts att fokusera på är revisorns erfarenhet, byråtillhörighet, revisionsklientens företagsspecifika karaktär samt klientförhållandet. En kvantitativ metod med en deduktiv ansats har använts för att undersöka studiens syfte. En modell konstruerats för att illustrera hur väsentlighetsbedömningen påverkas av de kvalitativa faktorerna. Modellen har utformats utifrån tidigare vetenskapliga artiklar som behandlar ämnet väsentlighet. Vidare har empiri insamlats genom en enkätundersökning som skickades ut till samtliga godkända och auktoriserade revisorer i Sverige varav 154 respondenter gav fullständiga svar. Resultatet visar att signifikanta skillnader i hur väsentlighetsnivån fastställs beroende på hur länge revisorn hade arbetat och även på om revisorn arbetade på en av de större byråerna. Det framkom även att skillnader fanns när hänsyn togs till positiva och negativa faktorer hänförliga till om klienten var börsnoterat eller inte, verksam i en riskfyllt eller stabil bransch samt hur så tog revisorerna även hänsyn till huruvida de arbetade med en ny klient eller en klient de haft erfarenhet av. Vår undersökning indikerar även att revisorer tenderat att reagera starkare på negativa faktorer. Med en godare förståelse för vilka faktorer som påverkar revisorns bedömning föreslår vi framtida studier som undersöker klientförhållandet och dess inverkan på väsentlighetsbedömningen då detta området gav en signifikant skillnad men är i tidigare forskning outforskat.
Materiality is an important cornerstone of the auditor's assessment that governs how extensive an audit should be and which direction the audit should go. The purpose of this paper is to investigate which qualitative factors are considered to have an impact on the auditor's materiality assessment. Qualitative factors such as focus the auditor's experience, audit firm, the audit client's company-specific character and the auditor-client relationship. A quantitative method with a deductive approach has been used where a model was designed to illustrate how materiality assessment is influenced by the qualitative factors. The model has been designed based on previous scientific articles dealing with materiality. In addition, empirical evidence has been collected through a survey sent to all authorized auditors in Sweden, of which 154 respondents gave complete answers. The results shows differences in the level of materiality are determined depending on the auditor’s experience and whether the auditor worked at one of the larger agencies. There were also differences when considering positive and negative factors related to whether the client was listed or not, active in a risky or stable industry, and the auditor’s consideration to whether they were working with a new client. Auditors tend to react more strongly to negative factors. With a better understanding of which factors affect the auditor's assessment, we propose future studies on the client relationship and its impact on materiality judgement, as this area gave a significant difference, but has been not explored that much in earlier research.

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Raphael, Lucia. "Sustainability Assurance and the Engagement of Multidisciplinary Teams." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, Fakulteten för humaniora och samhällsvetenskap (from 2013), 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-36902.

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Research have revealed that the accounting profession engage multi-disciplinary teams in the assurance of sustainability reports. However, how such teams are composed or the values that these teams bring to the assurance engagement process, and how reliance is established on the work performed by such teams has been left uncovered. This research sought to fill this gap, and hence, contributed to providing an understanding surrounding this issue. Semi-structured interviews with auditors from the Big Four Audit firms, engaged with performing sustainability assurance was conducted. The findings revealed that the engagement of multi-disciplinary teams, comprising both financial accountants and sustainability specialists from various disciplines, was necessary in ensuring quality assurance work performance. Firstly, the in-depth knowledge of sustainability subject matters possessed by the sustainability experts, enabled the questioning of the correctness of sustainability items reported by the clients. Secondly, sustainability experts were valuable in the planning stage of the engagement, in identifying client risk areas. Thirdly, sustainability expert involvement, enabled the winning of work contracts. Additionally, the engagement of multi-disciplinary teams was revealed to be valuable to the client firms. Firstly, the sustainability experts assisted clients in identifying the most valuable issues to report to their stakeholders. Secondly, due to the expert’s knowledge and experience, it enabled them to inform clients on high reporting levels. Finally, sustainability experts provided clients with valuable feedback that aids the improvement of the client processes, and the management of risks. The establishment of reliance on the work performed by the teams, requiring an accountant to signoff every engagement work performed by the team, as required by the applicable assurance standards, was partially supported by this study. Sustainability experts, who were non-accountants, was revealed to be engaged in this signing off ritual, hence, leaving room for the questioning of such assurance engagements signed off by sustainability experts.

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Van, Wyk Nicolaas. "Business strategies and the small professional services firm : evidence from the accounting profession." Diss., 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/23531.

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The purpose of the study is to explore the concepts of strategy content and strategy process as it relates to small professional services firms. A case study approach based on grounded theory utilised in-depth interviews to collect data from five small professional service firms. The study found that it is worthwhile to conceive of strategy content and process in relation to small professional services firms. An emerging theory is presented. The research was limited by its small scale and single method to collecting data. Future research could include a wider sample and testing of the emerging theory. The emerging theory provides a valid and reliable measure for improving actions and decisions of practitioners. The emerging theory is practitioner-oriented and contributes to an area of research that is understudied.
Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010.
Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
unrestricted

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23

(12607723), Brian C. Hopley. "Profit sharing in professional accounting firms in different countries and by archetypes." Thesis, 1996. https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Profit_sharing_in_professional_accounting_firms_in_different_countries_and_by_archetypes/19835932.

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It is very difficult to diversify one's human capital (Gillson & Mnookin, 1985) which in turn influences one's remuneration in professional service firms. Partner compensation arrangements are central to the organisational purpose of professional accounting firms and partner remuneration plays a vital directional role in partnerships.

This study investigates whether nationally organised accounting firms use the same profit sharing methods in different countries to enable national firms to move to a fully international structure where partners in all countries share from the same profit pool. A single profit pool creates opportunities for firms to utilise the benefits relating to size and international expertise and obtaining work that uses this competitive advantage. A firm may also reduce its risk by rationalising its operations and reduce the exposure to work in which it does not have a competitive edge. The profit sharing arrangements of large professional accounting firms in South Africa were analysed focusing on similar criteria to that used in a study of profit sharing between partners in Australian "Big 6" professional accounting firms (Burrows & Black, 1996).

This research confirms that there are common themes in profit sharing methods used by national professional accounting firms in different countries. It strengthens the argument for having profit pools as wide as the ability to efficiently supply expertise across locations. (Zimmer & Holmes, 1996).

Partners' views concerning what should be rewarded in a "Big 6" firm are also investigated and relative reward levels for partner archetypes are presented. These gradations reflect the degree of diversifiable risk for partners in large accounting partnerships resulting from the individual characteristics and roles of partners.

Finally some thoughts on the principal determinants of partner share awards are discussed.

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Hsiue, Hui-Wen, and 薛惠文. "Effect of Professional Training on the Operating Performance of Accounting Firms in Taiwan." Thesis, 2004. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/86983231947596691059.

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碩士
靜宜大學
會計學系研究所
92
Due to increases in the supply side of audit services, traditional audit market became much competitive in the recent years. The management of public accounting firms must pay more attention to their business operation in order to enhance operating performance and to improve their competition advantage. Among the feasible ways taken by the management to respond to the new environment, professional training is the most cost-effective mechanism. In theory, professional training upgrades the productivity of employee and performance of the organization. Hence, this study tries to examine the effect of professional training on the operating performance of public accounting firms in Taiwan during the past decade. The main findings are summarized as follows： In sum, the professional training hours of public accounting firms is positively related to the operating performance. In particular, training hours of the assistants in the public accounting firms display positive association with operating performance, indicating professional training is helpful to assistants to enhance their competence and audit quality, in sum, and increase the profit of public accounting firms. Besides, the external training hours of Certified public accountants are positively related to performance in big-sized public accounting firms.

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TSAI, MING-TING, and 蔡明庭. "A Study on Strategy of Professional that Effected Cost Structure in Accounting Firms." Thesis, 2016. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/53599202003100829627.

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碩士
國立雲林科技大學
會計系
104
This study use Translog cost function model to analyze whether the firms are facing financial difficulties in the “of excellent proficient personnel” issue and whether to adopt a “strengthening personnel training and reduce of excellent proficient personnel problems” to be the main business strategy for the future costs of structural change characteristics of public accounting firms.The data use in this study are obtained from “Annual Surveys of Accounting Firms in Taiwan” for five years from 2009 to 2013, which is published by the Department of Statistics, Ministry of Finance, Taiwan. As the empirical results showed, The explanatory ability of the translog cost function model is excellent. As for as “of excellent proficient personnel” issue and whether to adopt a “strengthening personnel training and reduce of excellent proficient personnel problems” strategy are concerned, there is the significent change on the cost structure of the public accounting firms.

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Ho, Yu-Tung, and 何雨彤. "Turnover of Professional and Cost Structure in Accounting Firms-A Study of Taiwan." Thesis, 2010. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/23697782107240326477.

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碩士
雲林科技大學
會計系研究所
98
The core values of Certified Public Accountants industry is to provide professional knowledge, and "people" is the most important resource to carry out the professional judgement. For a long time, the most difficult factors of Taiwan''s major CPA firms are facing a "turnover of professional" issue. To adopt the "strengthening personnel training and research and development, reducing turnover" is the next major business strategy. The cost studies of domestic CPA firm are minority. The thesis is concentrated on the CPA firms in Taiwan of professional turnover of the cost structure of the economies of scale characteristics by utilizing the Translog cost function model to analyze whether the firms are facing financial difficulties in the "professional turnover" issue and whether to adopt a "strengthening personnel training and research and development, reducing turnover" to be the main business strategy for the future costs of structural change characteristics of CPA firms. As the empirical results proved, Translog cost function is quite good to explain that the economies of scale prevail in CPA industry. No matter facing the "turnover of professional " issues or adopting the "strengthening personnel training and research and development, reducing turnover” strategy, the cost structure of CPA firms do have some significant changes. To the aspect of output, in the absence of the "turnover of professional " issues or adopting the "strengthening personnel training and research and development, reducing turnover” strategy may affect competitive behavior of CPA firms For example, instead of the traditional financial assurance or tax service income, CPA firms take more efforts to gain the income of consultant as the main revenue. To the aspect of input, in the absence of the "turnover of professional " issues or adopting the "strengthening personnel training and research and development, reducing turnover” strategy, if human resources, capital costs can be appropriately adjusted, total cost can be reduced with effect. In the absence of the "turnover of professional " issues, the price increase in labor costs will result in the increase of the total cost decreasingly.

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Cai, Wen-Qian, and 蔡文謙. "Education Level and Productivity of Professional Staff for the Public Accounting Firms in Taiwan." Thesis, 2010. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/m5qteq.

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碩士
長榮大學
經營管理研究所
98
Now, high educational background people are full of the streets, bur do the low educational background people be out of work? This issue raises our concern. On human resource theory ,whether high educational background people really surpasses the low educational ones is the main study .In this text, taking public accounting firm employees for example, to study whether there are differences in productivity between high educational background people and the low ones ,and using of the function of the translog income to measure productivity. The empirical result shows that the average productivity of high educational background professional assistants is all notable higher than low educational background ones, but the condition is getting worse every year, till the latest year ,the average productivity of high educational background professional assistants even can not compare with low educational background ones, it is thus clear that high educational background at present is not essential.

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"An analysis of the perceived organizational culture and job satisfaction of professional staff in large accounting firms." Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1987. http://library.cuhk.edu.hk/record=b5885871.

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Tseng, Sheng-Yi, and 曾勝義. "The Impact of Professional Commitment on Professional Turnover Intention and The Impact of Organizational Commitment on Turnover Intention- Sampling from Accounting Personnel in CPA’s Firms." Thesis, 2011. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/84629653245691396103.

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Wang, Yi-Lan, and 王奕嵐. "The Relationship between Organizational Justice, Organizational Commitment, Professional Commitment and Turnover Intention –Evidence from Auditors in Big Four Accounting Firms in Taiwan." Thesis, 2015. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/qh7vaf.

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碩士
國立中正大學
會計與資訊科技研究所
103
The high turnover rate of auditors has been an important issue in accounting firms in Taiwan. Therefore, this research explores the relationships among organizational justice, perceived organizational support, organizational commitment, professional commitment, burnout and turnover intention by conducting an online survey with auditors from the Big Four Accounting Firms in Taiwan. With a total of 245 valid questionnaires collected. The findings of this research as follows：Significantly positive correlations are found between organizational justice and perceived organizational support as well as between perceived organizational support and organizational commitment. It is also discovered that perceived organizational support and professional commitment are positively correlated while organizational commitment and burnout are negatively correlated. However, no relationship exists between professional commitment and burnout. Turnover intention is positively correlated with burnout but negatively correlated with organizational commitment. Finally, professional commitment is uncorrelated with turnover intention. Despite the fact that neither burnout nor turnover intention is correlated with organizational justice, organizational justice still has an indirect, negative impact on turnover intention through perceived organizational support, organizational commitment, and burnout.

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Lee, Mu-Hsin, and 李木欣. "The Empirical Study of Professional Competence, Interactive Intensity, Relationalism and Relationship Quality：Taking the Clients of an Accounting and Tax Agents Firms for an Example." Thesis, 2012. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/7d757u.

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碩士
國立高雄應用科技大學
高階經營管理研究所碩士在職專班
100
Abstract After the official implementation of Certified Public Bookkeepers Law, many people having passed Nation’s Higher Examination for Certified Public Accountants turn to join the keen competition for working posts in the accounting and tax agents firms. To those firms originally handling the business of accounting and tax agent service, they are facing tougher and more severe challenges. When analyzing the business environment for Accounting and Tax Agents firms in Taiwan, there are the existences of Certified Public Accountants, and Certified Public Bookkeepers who started to run bookkeeping business after Certified Public Bookkeepers Law passed in 2005, making the whole market carved up. Hence, it is worth to investigate how keep customers loyal to your firm. Therefore, this study explores the effects of professional competence, interactive intensity and relationalism on relationship quality. This study collected 280 questionnaires in total, with 274 questionnaires being valid. Research results show that professional competence, interactive intensity and relationalism have positive significantly effects on relationship quality. According to the above study, focusing on the customers of Accounting and Tax Agents Firms who are taken as the research targets, the study hopes to further clarify the crucial factors for improvement of relationship quality with customers, and help enhance the competitiveness of Accounting and Tax Agents firms.

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Kok, Riaan Dalton. "Die bemarking van professionele dienste met betrekking tot die rekenmeestersprofessie." Thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10210/7275.

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M.Comm.
Professionele beroepe kan gesien word as beroepe wat deur persone beoefen word wat gekwalifiseerd is, in terme van parlimentere wetgewing en eksamen standaarde gestel deur regulerende liggame. Hierdie groepe beskou onafhanklikheid, objektiwiteit en waardigheid as van die belangrikste eienskappe wat die fondasie van hul beroepe norm. Vir 'n geruime tyd is clan geglo dat hierdie eienskappe die beste behou kon word deur 'n verbod op die verkryging van besigheid deur konvensionele kommersiele metodes. Hierdie verbod was gehandhaaf deur die instelling van rigiede gedragskodes en reels wat deur regulerende assosiasies en institute toegepas en gepolisieer is. 'n Verskeidenheid falctore soos dalende wins, verhoogde kompetisie en toenemende druk op owerheids instansies vir deregulering, het 'n hersiening van hierdie beginsels genoodsaak. Gedurende die afgelope dekade is Professionele Gedragskodes dwarsdeur die westerse wereld gewysig. Professionele beroepe het as gevolg daarvan begin om bemarking te gebruik om praktyke uit te bou. Suid-Afrika het stadig op hierdie druk gereageer. Hersiening was egter onvermydelik en teen 1991 was slegs die prokureurs professie (van al die themediese professies) onderhewig aan 'n volledige stel beperkende regulasies. Die nuwe vryheid het egter the gelei tot 'n astronomiese toename in die bemarking van professionele dienste nie. Dit was the nodig dat gedragskodes hersien moes word ten einde bemarking by professionele beroepe te kan toe pas nie. Beperkings was meestal geplaas op bemarkingsgereedskap, soos advertering, werwing en mededinging gebaseer op fooie.

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"A study of utilization of microcomputer and off-the-shelf application software in legal and accounting professions in Hong Kong." Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1986. http://library.cuhk.edu.hk/record=b5885612.

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Pei-EnPeng and 彭沛恩. "Female Job Satisfaction in the Accounting Profession: AComparative Analysis on Female Accounting Faculty,Auditors in CPA Firms, and Corporate Accountants." Thesis, 2010. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/66489836137625292018.

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碩士
國立成功大學
會計學系碩博士班
98
Recently, the evaluation of accounting professions’ job satisfaction has been an increasingly important area to discuss. Job satisfaction describes the level of an employee’s pleasure toward his job. As the business environment in which firms operate becomes competitive, the level of employee satisfaction takes on added importance. This study examines job satisfaction through questionnaires in three accounting professions groups; they are female accounting faculty, auditors in CPA firms, and corporate accountants. Respondents were asked a variety of questions on job satisfaction including salaries satisfaction, working environment satisfaction, promoting opportunities satisfaction, supporting resource satisfaction, co-workers interacting satisfaction and working achievement satisfaction. The main analyzing methods are t-test, ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U test, and Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance method. The result appears that the accounting faculty is the most satisfied group, and the auditors who work in CPA firms reveal the lowest job satisfaction. Besides, this study also examines the relationship between job satisfaction and several individual characteristics, and found some of them appear strong correlations with job satisfaction. These findings could be the benchmark to employers to measure the level of job satisfaction of their employees.

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Chiu, Cheng-Yi, and 邱承義. "Continuing professional education and operating performance under varied competitive strategy and size of public accounting firm." Thesis, 2009. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/41200067437169529669.

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碩士
雲林科技大學
會計系研究所
97
After Enron, World Com and Xerox’s corporate fraudulence, in Taiwan, companies also had issues with misreporting the true financial figures. Hence, investors have gradually lost confidence in auditor’s report, and accounting professionalism has been doubted. As a result, rebuilding public confidence, increasing employees’ professional knowledge and service, and continuing training play an important role in reducing such corporate scandals. Resources used in this research paper are from Financial Supervisory Commission Executive Yuan’s publication in “accounting firms research report”. The accounting firms are split into three different competitive strategies—conservative, aggressive, and combination—according to their financial income. EViews and SPSS are then used to analyze the data to test the hypothesis of this research. Results show: despite of the size of the accounting firms, the expenses of continuing training and operational performance of the accounting firms with different strategies are positively correlated. As a result, through continuing education and training, the professional knowledge and ability of the auditors is improved, in turn, it improves auditing efficiency, reduces auditing cost, and increases the financial performance of the accounting firms.

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Lin, Ying-Jun, and 林盈君. "Is There an Effect for Continuing Professional Education of Taiwanese Small and Medium Sized Accounting Firm in Different Practicing Area？." Thesis, 2014. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/56068476625511675455.

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碩士
國立雲林科技大學
會計系
102
In recent years, with the rapid changes in the global economic environment, the accounting firms face competitive pressure. In the public accounting profession, continuing professional education is a critical factor to respond to the growing complexity of accounting standards, laws and regulations. Continuing professional education enhances employee professional skills and service quality, which keep accounting firms remain competitive in the market. 　　This paper investigates the association between continuing professional education and operation performance of small and medium-sized accounting firm practicing in different area. Main empirical results are as follows: First, in the northern and southern areas, small accounting firms providing continuing professional education outperform those without providing continuing professional education. Next, the relationship between continuing professional education and operating performance is significant positive for small and medium-sized accounting firm with continuing professional education either in northern, central or southern areas. This indicates that continuing professional education improve operating performance of small and medium-sized accounting firms.

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Lu, Li-Chun, and 呂理群. "A study of the relationships among professionals’ knowledge sharing, core competence and job performance: The case of the small and medium-sized accounting firms." Thesis, 2009. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/90077251752166100208.

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碩士
淡江大學
會計學系碩士在職專班
97
Accounting firm, which is part of the knowledge intensive industries, mainly provides professional services including finance, accounting, tax advisory and assurance services. In Taiwan, 98 % of the accounting firms are small and medium-sized, but most of the knowledge management research is focused on the large international accounting firms. Therefore, the aim of this study is to reveals knowledge management status of the small and medium-sized accounting firm, also to investigate the relationship among the perfessionals’ know sharing, core competence and job performance. Hopefully, the findings can provide some implications for the small and medium-sized Accounting firms in Taiwan. The research adopt questionnaire survey to collect data, and examines three hypothesises by regression analysis. The finding suggests that the professionals’ knowledge sharing intention significantly impact on their knowledge sharing behavior. The professionals’ knowledge sharing behavior further significantly affects their core competence. In addition, the professionals’ leadership and communication ability and their professional knowledge significantly impact their job performance. Finally, the study shows that the knowledge sharing behavior partially mediates the professionals’ knowledge sharing intention and their core competence. The core competence partially mediates the professionals’ knowledge sharing behavior and their job performance.

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Groenewald, Jurika. "Turnover of women audit managers in audit firms." Diss., 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/25523.

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Abstracts in English, Afrikaans and Sepedi
Approximately half of the people in the world is female and yet women hold just more than one in every five senior management positions. This underrepresentation is a worldwide phenomenon that is also evident in the audit profession where there are few women at audit partner level. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of women audit managers – to gain an understanding of the reasons why they resign from audit firms before they are promoted to audit partner level. It was anticipated that this understanding could enable audit firms to develop and implement effective retention strategies to retain women in audit partner positions and to overcome the potential barriers to the equal representation of men and women in senior management positions in audit firms. An exploratory qualitative research approach and an interpretative phenomenological analysis design were used to explore and interpret the lived experiences of the women audit managers to understand the reasons why they resign from audit firms. The study found that unclear progression paths due to uncertain timelines, as well as the black economic empowerment pressures experienced by the audit firms, explained some of the women’s resignations from the audit firms. Unhealthy supervisor relationships, discrimination, no female role models and the “old boys club” as part of the audit firms’ leadership and organisational culture also played a prominent role in the women audit managers’ experiences. Moreover, unsatisfactory compensation together with no work-life balance were found to have influenced the majority of the women’s decisions to resign from the audit firms. Finally, the study also found that some of the participants’ aspirations to become audit partners were not distinct and that other matters were more important to them than their careers.
Alhoewel ongeveer die helfte van die wêreldbevolking vrouens is, is net een uit elke vyf senior bestuurders 'n vrou. Hierdie onderverteenwoordiging is 'n wêreldwye fenomeen, ook in die ouditberoep waar daar net 'n paar vrouens op ouditvennootvlak is. Die doel van hierdie studie was om die ervarings van vroulike ouditbestuurders te verken – om 'n begrip te kry van die redes waarom hulle bedank uit ouditfirmas voordat hulle tot ouditvennootvlak bevorder word. Die verwagting is dat hierdie begrip ouditfirmas in staat kan stel om effektiewe behoudstrategieë te ontwikkel en te implementeer om vrouens in ouditvennootposisies te behou en om die potensiële struikelblokke tot die gelyke verteenwoordiging van mans en vrouens in seniorbestuursposisies in ouditfirmas te bowe te kom. 'n Eksploratiewe, kwalitatiewe navorsingbenadering en 'n interpretatiewe, fenomenologiese ontledingsontwerp is gebruik om die geleefde ervarings van die vroulike ouditbestuurders te verken en te interpreteer om te kan verstaan waarom hulle uit ouditfirmas bedank. Die studie het bevind dat onduidelike progressiebane as gevolg van vae tydlyne, asook die druk van swart ekonomiese bemagtiging wat oudifirmas ervaar, kan verduidelik waarom sommige van die vrouens uit die ouditfirmas bedank. Ongesonde toesighouerverhoudings, diskriminasie, geen vroulike rolmodelle en die stelsel van baantjies vir boeties as deel van die ouditfirmas se leierskap- en organisasiekultuur speel ook 'n prominente rol in die vroulike ouditbestuurders se ervarings. Boonop is bevind dat onbevredigende vergoeding asook geen werk-lewebalans die meerderheid van die vrouens se besluite beïnvloed om uit die ouditfirmas te bedank. Die studie het ten slotte bevind dat dit nie sommige van die deelnemers se kennelike ambisie is om ouditvennote te word nie, en dat ander aangeleenthede van groter belang vir hulle is as hulle loopbane.
Tekanyetšo ya seripa sa batho mo lefaseng ke basadi efela basadi ke fela o tee godimo ga maemo a mahlano a bolaodi bja godimo. Kemedi ye ye nnyane ke setlwaedi sa motlalanaga seo se bonagalago ka go mošomo wa tlhakišo fao go nago le basadi ba bannyane maemong a bolekane bja tlhakišo. Mohola wa phatišišo ye e be e le go nyakolla maitemogelo a basadi ba balaodi ba batlhakiši – go kwešiša mabaka a go re ke ka lebaka la eng ba tlogela mešomo difemeng tša tlhakišo pele ba ka hlatlošetšwa maemong a bolekane bja tlhakišo. Go be go lebeletšwe gore kwešišo ye e ka kgontšha difeme tša tlhakišo go tlhabolla le go phethagatša maanotšhomo a maleba a go dula le bona sebaka mo go maemo a molekane wa tlhakišo le go fediša tšeo e ka bago mapheko go kemedi ya go lekana ga banna le basadi maemong a taolo ya godimo ka go difeme tša tlhakišo. Mokgwa wa diphatišišo tša boleng bja go nyakolla le tlhamo ya kahlaahlo ya ditiragalo tšeo di hlaloswago di be di šomišwa go nyakolla le go hlatholla maitemogelo ao balaodi ba tlhakišo ba basadi go kwešiša mabaka a go re ke ka lebaka la eng ba tlogela mošomo mo difemeng tša tlhakišo. Thuto ye e hweditše gore ditsela tša go se bonale tša kgatelopele ka lebaka la ditatelano tšeo di se nago bohlatse, go tee le matlafatšo ya ikonomi ya bathobaso tšeo di itemogetšwego ke difeme tša tlhakišo, e tlhalositše tše dingwe tša ditlogelo tša mošomo ka basadi go difeme tša tlhakišo. Dikamano tšeo di sa lokago le balebeledi, kgethollo, basadi ba go se tšewe bjalo ka mehlala le “old boys club” bjalo ka karolo ya boetapele bja difeme tša tlhakišo le setšo sa sehlongwa le tšona di ralokile karolo ya bohlokwa go boitemogelo bja balaodi ba basadi ba difeme tša tlhakišo. Go feta fao, tefelo yeo e sa kgotsofatšego go tee le tekanyetšo ya bophelo bja mošomo di hwetšagetše di na le khuetšo go bontši bja diphetho tša basadi tša go tlogela mošomo go tšwa go difeme tša tlhakišo. Mafelelong, phatišišo e hweditše go re ditumo tša batšeakarolo ba bangwe tša go ba balekane ba tlhakišo di be di sa bonale le go re merero ye mengwe e be e le bohlokwa kudu go bona go feta mešomo ya bona.
Auditing
M. Phil. (Accounting Sciences)

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39

Murcho, Ana Raquel da Cruz. "Stay or leave?: A relação entre as práticas de gestão de recursos humanos de alta performance a intenção de turnover em consultoras." Master's thesis, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10071/18714.

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Adquirir vantagem competitiva e potenciar os resultados organizacionais são alguns dos principais objetivos das empresas atualmente. A gestão estratégica do capital humano, numa altura em que o conhecimento especializado é cada vez mais relevante, é uma necessidade das organizações e, por isso, esta abordagem tem vindo a ganhar particular importância no âmbito académico. Aliada a esta mudança de paradigma está a realidade das empresas de consultoria, cuja rotatividade dos recursos humanos é elevada. Tendo em conta estas tendências, o objetivo inicial deste trabalho é compreender a relação entre as Práticas de Gestão de Recursos Humanos (GRH) de alta performance e a Intenção de Turnover e, posteriormente, averiguar se o Compromisso Afetivo e a Satisfação no Trabalho explicam esta relação. Por fim, pretende-se analisar a influência do Compromisso de Carreira nestas relações. Para investigar o modelo proposto foi divulgado um inquérito online a 299 consultores de diversas áreas. Os resultados demonstraram que a perceção das Práticas de GRH de alta performance estão negativamente relacionadas com a Intenção de Turnover, sendo esta relação mediada pelo Compromisso Afetivo e Satisfação no Trabalho. Concluiu-se também que o Compromisso de Carreira não condiciona as relações propostas. De facto, torna-se fulcral para as empresas a atração e retenção do seu talento, através de práticas de recursos humanos que potenciam a satisfação, o envolvimento e o desenvolvimento de competências dos seus trabalhadores. Este estudo reforça a necessidade de um alinhamento dos recursos humanos com a estratégia da empresa e o aumento do conhecimento nestas áreas.
Nowadays, to take competitive advantage and to increase organizational performance are some of the main goals of the companies. Human capital strategic management, at a time when expert knowledge is increasingly relevant, is a must for all organizations, and therefore, this approach has been gaining importance in the academic field. Allied to this change in paradigm is the reality of consulting firms, which presents a high human resources’ turnover rate. Given these trends, the main goal of this thesis is to understand the relationship between high-performance human resources management (HRM) practices and turnover intention, and afterwards, analyze if affective commitment and job satisfaction could explain this relation. Finally, it is also intended to analyze the influence of the career commitment in these relationships. To analyze the proposed model, an online questionnaire was distributed to 299 consultants from diverse backgrounds. The results show that the perceptions of high-performance HRM practices are negatively associated with the turnover intention, and this relationship is mediated by affective commitment and job satisfaction. It was also concluded that career commitment does not influence the proposed relationships. In fact, it becomes fundamental to companies the attraction and retention of their talent, through human resources practices that increase employees’ satisfaction, involvement and skills development. This study reinforces the need to align organizations’ human resources with its strategy and to increase knowledge in these areas.

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40

Pinto, Odette M. "Advice and complexity in tax planning judgments." Phd thesis, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10048/989.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alberta, 2010.
Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on February 1, 2010). A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Accounting, School of Business. At head of title: University of Alberta. Spring 2009. Includes bibliographical references.

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41

Ariail, Donald Lamar. "The person-organization fit of accounting students: long term value change following an education intervention." Thesis, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/24470.

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The accounting profession continually has problems with hiring and keeping qualified staff; and many accounting scandals have shown a lack of ethical behavior on the part of Certified Public Accountants (CPA). This suggest a misfit between those in the profession and the ethics that the profession strives towards. Research has shown that the congruity of personal values with organizational values, person-organization fit (P-O fit), is an important factor in the hiring, socialization, and retention of employees. In addition, ethical behavior has been found related to P-O fit. Accounting educators have been called upon to address these problems by inculcating accounting students with the values of the accounting profession. This research firstly reports on the results of a comparison of the personal values of upper level accounting students in Georgia with the personal values of CPA leaders in Georgia. Personal value priorities were measured with the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS). The findings indicated that these samples of Georgia CPA leaders (N = 193) and accounting students (N = 516) significantly differed in the priority given to 24 of the 36 (66.7%) RVS values. This result suggests a lack of P-O fit between accounting students and the accounting profession. Secondly, this research reports on the effectiveness of two education interventions designed to improve the P-O fit of accounting students: a Curriculum Modification Intervention and a Value Self-Confrontation (VSC) Intervention. These education interventions were delivered online as part of the content of two distance learning classes on accounting ethics. The curriculum of both classes were augmented with content aimed at increasing the priority given to the value of courageous. The two classes were designated as either Group 1 or Group 2. Group 1 received only the Curriculum Modification Intervention. Group 2 received both the Curriculum Modification Intervention and the VSC Intervention, which was targeted at increasing the priority given to the four values of capable, courageous. honest, and responsible—values related to the Code of Professional Conduct and Bylaws (2012) of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The results indicated that Group 1, from the beginning to the end of class (short-term value change), did not increase the priority given to courageous. Thus, the stand-alone Curriculum Modification Intervention did not result in the desired effect. Group 2, on the other hand, did increase the short-term priority given to all four of the targeted values. Moreover, Group 2 increased the long-term priority given to two of the four targeted values: capable and courageous. The higher priority given to these values at the end of class persisted for 15-16 weeks. The effect sizes indicated practical significance. These results suggest that the VSC Intervention was effective at inducing both short-term and long-term value change in the priority given to values of importance to the ethics of the accounting profession. These findings have implications for CPA firms, specifically with regard to hiring ethically “fitting” staff and fostering an ethical culture in accounting firms. The results of this research also provide input that may be helpful in improving accounting pedagogy, especially the pedagogy of accounting ethics education and distance education. Key words: person-organization fit, P-O fit, CPA firm turnover, personal values, value change, value self-confrontation, VSC, Rokeach Value Survey, RVS, Certified Public Accountant, CPA, ethics education, accounting students, online education, distance learning.
Business Management
D.B.L.

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