Accounting education at a crossroad in 2010 and challenges facing accounting education in Australia

Of the various reports released in 2010, two purport to examine the state of accounting education in Australia. These are Accounting Education at a Crossroad in 2010 and Challenges Facing Accounting Education in Australia. Both were released as collaborations of the leading academic organisation, the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ) or professional accounting bodies in Australia including the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA), the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA),1 and Certified Practising Accountants of Australia (CPA Australia). As their titles imply, the main thrust of these reports is to examine the challenges facing accounting education in Australian universities and, as such, they act as the input for this AE Briefing. The main challenges articulated in these reports portray a sector suffering from the combined pressure of a large international student enrolment, high student-to-staff ratios, an inadequate funding model, and an ageing academic staff profile. By way of commentary, we suggest that, if these gloomy circumstances continue to develop unabated, then the future for the sector will play out as a &lsquo;perfect storm&rsquo;2 with the sector suffering on-going troubled development.<br /

Excellence rewarded

THE Excellence Awards event jointly organised by The Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia (ICAA) was filled with excitement when high-achieving young Malaysians were honoured for their outstanding performance in their pursuit of a professional qualification in accounting

The best brains of the public accounting world: the restricted membership of the Army Accountancy Advisory Panel, 1942-1945

The events threatening to engulf Australia as the Japanese imperial forces continued their push through southeast Asia caused enormous concern for the Department of the Army as civilian and uniformed staff struggled to cope with large increases in manpower and expenditure responsibilities. The department moved, in January 1942, to create an expert panel of accountants to provide advice with a view to overcoming these problems. This paper focuses uniquely on a small group of individuals brought together for their expertise in accounting drawn exclusively from the practitioner ranks of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia. The paper draws attention to the fact that, while several of those invited to serve had inside knowledge and experience during World War I (1914-1918), only those holding the designation of chartered accountant were invited to participate, seemingly ignoring the great potential available from the wider profession of the day

Development of auditing standards in Australia

The development of auditing standards in Australia occurred in three phases. The primary professional initiatives have come from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia. The first phase was marked by F. E. Trigg\u27s presentation to the Australian Congress on Accounting in 1948. In this work Trigg relied heavily on English practice and thought. The second phase was largely a period of inactivity so far as auditing standards were concerned because of concern for other matters of greater urgency. The third phase was marked by the adoption of American ideas and, partly in response to continuing criticism of accounting, a commitment to the continuing review of auditing standards

Failure to unify Australia’s leading accounting professional bodies

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a historical account of four unsuccessful merger attempts between Australia’s two major professional accounting bodies over a 30-year period (1969 to 1998), each of which ultimately failed. An analysis of the commonalities and differences across the four attempts is provided and social identity theory is used to explain the differences between members level of support for these merger bids. Design/methodology/approach: This study adopts a qualitative approach using a historical research methodology to source surviving business records from public archives and other data gathered from oral history interviews. Findings: The study found that, across all four merger attempts between Australia’s two professional accounting bodies, there was strong support from society members (the perceived lower-status group) and opposition exhibited by institute members (the perceived higher-status group). This study also found that the perceived higher-status organisation always initiated merger discussions, while its members rejected the proposals in the members’ vote. Research limitations/implications: This paper focusses on the Australian accounting profession, considering a historical account of merger attempts. Further research is required that includes interviews and surveys of those involved in making decisions regarding merger attempts. Originality/value: This paper is the first to examine in detail these four unsuccessful merger attempts between the largest accounting organisations in Australia. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

Development of corporate accounting in Australia

Corporate accounting in Australia can be said to have passed through four phases. The initial phase involved the introduction of minimum standards of statutory disclosure. The second phase was largely an extension of these statutory requirements to include income statements and consolidated statements. This was followed by the activities of the accounting profession, stock exchanges and others to improve the details of disclosure

Episodes in the Australian tax accounting saga

Tax effect accounting was introduced into Australia a little over a decade ago. The treatment of the tax effect of losses carried forward and the trading stock valuation adjustment introduced further complications to this new aspect of corporate accounting and reporting. This paper presents an account of the resolution of these accounting issues. It covers the role of professional bodies, companies, and regulatory authorities and the conflicts which arose among them

Internal control: How it evolved in four English-speaking countries

The concept of internal control, as embodied in auditing standards and other statements by professional accounting bodies, has varied over time and geographically. There are, however, a number of similarities in the events that shaped professional statements concerned with internal control in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. The evolution of internal control has been influenced by increasing public expectations of auditing standards. Another influence was a trend in the evolution of management control concepts towards recognizing a broader range of influences on the control of organizations: These trends have been opposed by auditors, who wished to avoid increasing their responsibilities

The iron cage of the profession: a critique on closure in the Australian accounting profession

This paper seeks to contribute to the literature on the process of closure that occurs within the constructs of professions. The discussion in this paper focuses on the professional accounting bodies in Australia and how they have devolved a form of bureaucratic control over the education process through the credentialing of membership and accreditation of accounting degrees. Weber\u27s theory of bureaucracy in conjunction with Closure theory provide the framework upon which this critique is drawn. Implicit in the regulatory role of the accounting bodies is the justification of the practice of accounting and the status of the members of the professional bodies. Once those within the professional associations accept the right of the professional bodies to determine the educational requirements for membership along with the practice of accreditation of curriculum forms the iron cage. The practice of accreditation and credentialing exists in other disciplines such as medicine, engineering and law so that there exists parallels for claiming a legitimate basis for the intervention of the professional accounting bodies