What about the real needs of the accounting profession ? Perceptions of Tunisian professionals

Rim Khemiri (1)

1 IDP - Institut du Développement et de la Prospective - EA 1384

Some factors, such as technology and globalization have generated fundamental changes in the business environment and have given rise to new needs in terms of knowledge and skills which the accounting profession must meet. Academic accounting education should therefore continually evolve in order to better prepare future professionals for these new needs. This research aims to ascertain the knowledge, skills and teaching methods considered to be the most important for the successful practice of certified public accountants (CPA). For this purpose, we conducted a survey of 306 CPAs and CPA trainees in Tunisia. The research focuses on four dimensions: knowledge (19 items), professional skills (22 items), technological skills (18 items), and teaching methods (12 items). This paper presents what the respondents agreed upon as being the most important in terms of knowledge, skills, and teaching methods for the accounting profession, although results indicated that there are significant differences among subgroups regarding the perceived importance of such knowledge and skills. The findings also revealed that there are a similarities and differences between the perceptions of Tunisian professionals and those of Americans and Chinese.

Mots clés: Accounting profession; Accounting Education; Knowledge; Skills; Teaching methods

Domaines: Gestion et management

Rim Khemiri. What about the real needs of the accounting profession ? Perceptions of Tunisian professionals. 13th International Association for Accounting Education & Research World Congress, University of Sydney; International Association for Accounting Education and Research, Nov 2018, Sydney, Australia. ⟨hal-02955010⟩