Scholastic Analysis of the Impact of Digital Technologies on the Accountancy Profession in Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of digital technologies adoption in the accounting profession. It surveyed the perspectives of experts on the impacts of digital technologies on the accounting profession. The impacts on skills, tasks and work environment as well as the challenges of adoption of digital technologies by accountants in Nigeria were studied. The descriptive survey was used for the study. 127 certified accounting experts in Akwa Ibom State were sampled for the survey. The researcher developed instrument titled “Digital technologies and Accounting Professionals Questionnaire” was used for data collection. The study made use of primary data. Accounting experts were interviewed and questionnaire administered to ascertain their opinion on the penetration, impacts and potential effects of digital technologies on the accounting profession. The instrument was validated by three experts in the Department of accounting, Akwa Ibom State University. Thereafter, the instrument was trial tested for reliability using the test retest method on 20 respondents. The data collated was tested through Pearson product moment correlation, which gave a value of .88. this was deemed good enough and the instrument was then deemed fit for the study. Frequencies and descriptive statistics were used for answering the research questions while simple linear regression was used to test the hypothesis at a 0.05 level of significance. Findings of the study showed that the digital technologies impacting the accounting professions are artificial intelligence, enterprise resource planning, internet of things (IoT), blockchain technology, cloud accounting technology and big data analysis. It was also established that digital technology adoption has a significant positive effect on the changes in the accountancy profession in Nigeria. Also, emerging digital technologies adoption will significantly predict the nature of skills in the accountancy profession in Nigeria. it was recommended that in order to keep adding value for the company, accountants need to developed new skills and acquire new knowledge regarding the use of artificial intelligence and other digital solutions in modern business environment. There is highlighted the need of all employees (including accountants) for development of critical thinking and problem solving, high level of adaptability, flexibility and interpersonal interaction; it is required to learn continuously.