The Business of Professional Accountancy and Imperial Influence: Evidence From a Developing Country in South Asia

Ukwatte, Sarath; Yapa, P; Joshi, Mahesh

doi:10.1080/10599231.2015.1028308

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Thus, the university sector has not achieved its national objectives in fulfilling the accounting manpower requirements and knowledge base required for the profession in the market in all three countries in SEA (Yapa, 2003;Bui et al, 2017). The literature suggests that the Asian professional accounting bodies lack the support necessary for their own educational and training initiatives (Ukwatte et al, 2015). Therefore, they have sought the support of the globally accepted Western professional bodies of ACCA and CIMA, which are endorsed by the local offices of the Big Four.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accounting graduate readiness for work: a case study of South East Asia

Phan

Yapa

Nguyen

2020

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PurposeThis paper compares and contrasts graduate accountant skills and employers' expectations in South East Asia (SEA).Design/methodology/approachWe analyse the employers' expectation performance gap (EPG) in three countries – Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam – to provide a reflection on current professional accounting development in SEA. The study relies on data derived from multiple sources including job advertisements, CIMA “ready for business” project, Glassdoor website and other secondary data sources.FindingsThe findings indicate that over recent decades, the changing nature of the economy, state, and interest of the business sector (including the “Big Four”) have led to the wider adoption of professional accountancy qualifications. The findings suggest that graduates should be equipped with active learning activities such as project-based and work-integrated training to fill the expectation gaps between local university educators and employers.Research limitations/implicationsDrawing upon a literature review of professional accounting education, we use the results of the documentations and secondary analysis to describe the performance expectation gap of accounting education in SEA.Originality/valueThe study indicates a large discrepancy between the teachings in accounting education and employer requirements in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia and propose different methods to fill this employability gap in South East Asia.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accounting graduate readiness for work: a case study of South East Asia

Phan

Yapa

Nguyen

2020

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“…The case of Sri Lanka also reflects an enduring colonial past. There is clear intra-professional conflict between an elitist group of British-trained local accountants forming the Institute of Certified Accountants in Sri Lanka (ICASL) and a local group of Registered Accountants (Ukwatte et al , 2015; Yapa, 2006). Indeed, the ICASL appears to be still a mentee of the ICAEW 50 years after the ICASL was established.…”

Section: Years Since – the Direct Impact Of The Special Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

Professionalization in Asia – whence and whither

Chua

Dyball

Yee

2019

AAAJ

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to assess the impact of the 1999 Special Issue on Professionalization in Asia in the Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal (AAAJ); and second, more generally to review research on this topic post-1999. Design/methodology/approach The paper starts with a discussion of the research articles of the Special Issue. It then identifies research that has cited papers in the Special Issue and which focusses on professionalization in Asia to identify relevant subsequent research. In addition, a literature search is conducted to locate post-1999 work that has not cited papers from the Special Issue but has investigated the same topic area. Analyzing both sets of work enables an integrated review of the field and aids the identification of future research opportunities. The study covers published research articles and books on professionalization projects in Asia from 1999 to 2018. In this paper, reference to Asia focusses on East Asia (including countries such as China and Japan), South Asia (including countries such as Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka), and South East Asia (including countries such as Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam). Given the elapsed time of near 20 years, there has been sufficient time for research to be published. Therefore, the review focusses on published output only and does not discuss unpublished theses, conference proceedings nor working papers. Findings First, the Special Issue of AAAJ in 1999 generally adopted a critical lens and studied professionalization as projects of market closure and collective mobility. The corporatist framework of Puxty et al. (1987) provided a useful framing to analyze the influence of states, markets and communities on professionalization. Second, the Special Issue has helped to spur interest in understanding professionalization in the region. Post-1999, there are studies of countries not covered in the Special Issue. Third, the themes identified in the Special Issue continue to be relevant and are examined in post-1999 work: the active role of the state, the legacies of colonization, the activities of transnational accounting bodies; and to a lesser degree, the influence of transnational accounting firms. Finally, future research could usefully focus on: the distinctive and more expansive role of Asian state agencies; the conduct of deeper comparative research; the role of accounting firms in the region; and the impact of transnational agencies such as the International Federation of Accountants and the World Bank. Research limitations/implications There are three limitations. First, the review of literature omits unpublished research such as PhD theses and working papers. Second, it focusses only on research published in English. As a result, some work may be excluded. Third, it assesses the contribution of a single issue (i.e. the 1999 AAAJ Special Issue) and does not discuss work that preceded 1999. Originality/value This paper is aimed at assessing the impact of the 1999 Special Issue but also presents a wide-ranging analytical review of published research on accounting professionalization in Asia since 1999. The paper identifies several areas for future research and proposes a modified model of state-market-community-profession relations. In particular, the paper emphasizes the large and distinctive roles of Asian state agencies and the activities of transnational actors (both those within the profession as well as those that are external).

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“…ICASL makes a significant contribution to the auditing profession in the corporate sector in Sri Lanka because only ICASL's professional accountants are qualified and permitted to practice as corporate auditors. However, their contribution to the state sector is considered minimal because, out of 3,500 state sector accountants, only 98 are members of the ICASL, which is explained by the unattractive remuneration packages (Ukwatte et al, 2015).…”

Section: The Role Of the Accounting Professional Bodies In ¯Nancial R...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Development of Accounting and Financial Reporting Practices Finance and Development Accountancy in Sri Lanka (IPFDASL), and Cost and Management Accountants in Sri Lanka (CMASL). Of these, CMASL and IPFDASL mainly focus on the state sector (Ukwatte et al, 2015;Yapa, 2006). One ICASL council member remarked:…”

Section: Besides Icasl Other Local Accounting Professional Bodies Inc...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Development of Accounting and Financial Reporting Practices in Sri Lanka: An Exploratory Investigation

et al. 2019

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In this paper, we examine the factors that influence the development of accounting and reporting practices in Sri Lanka in the backdrop of its political and economic environment. We find that the early days of accounting in Sri Lanka were heavily influenced by the British colonial system. Subsequently, its greatest influence was derived from the regulatory and institutional framework backed by local and British professional accounting bodies. We also interview key stakeholders to draw insights on how the institutional factors contribute to the development of financial reporting in Sri Lanka. We discover that the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL) is a key player in developing and implementing accounting standards and the best financial reporting practices. We observe that although the Sri Lankan Government has undertaken many initiatives to improve the quality of financial reporting, monitoring and enforcing regulations remain weak partly due to political interference. Therefore, we suggest that strengthening the existing regulatory mechanisms will help to improve the reporting quality and build investor confidence.

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The Business of Professional Accountancy and Imperial Influence: Evidence From a Developing Country in South Asia

Cited by 4 publications

References 28 publications

Accounting graduate readiness for work: a case study of South East Asia

Accounting graduate readiness for work: a case study of South East Asia

Professionalization in Asia – whence and whither

The Development of Accounting and Financial Reporting Practices in Sri Lanka: An Exploratory Investigation

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