The growing dissemination of digital technologies has had an incomparable impact on many dimensions of today’s civilisation. Digital transformation (DT) redefined the industrial structures and reinvented business models. Hence, in the face of Industry 4.0, financial and accounting services face new threats, challenges, and opportunities. How do the business players in the accounting sector perceive this phenomenon? This paper aims to answer this question by following a qualitative and exploratory approach, applied to three case studies, using semi-structured interviews. The study shows that although digital transformation in Portuguese small and medium-sized accounting service enterprises is just starting, Industry 4.0 technologies, optical character recognition (OCR), artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and enterprise resource planning (ERP) in the cloud were the technologies singled out by respondents. Resistance to change, organisational culture and price seem to be the main barriers to DT in accounting. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the role of accounting and accountants in organisations and society in the context of the digital era. Moreover, it provides practical insights into the potential relationship between technological (specifically digital) development and labour market dynamics for accounting professionals.

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Supported by an environment that is increasingly immersed in digital transformation, universities are facing important organizational changes in both tangible and intangible structures. Digital transformation isn't all about technology, there is a human side of the story. Leadership is seen as a key issue in any process of change. However, leaders of professional and knowledge-based institutions, like universities, face special demands. The present article aims to synthesize what has been investigated about leadership in the context of University 4.0. A systematic approach was adopted in conducting the literature review. The main body of the article focuses on illustrating five thematic clusters grounded in the literature and identifying co-citation network of each cluster using bibliometrics. Results demonstrate that this is an emerging theme. This paper is the first attempt to systematically review all research that so far has been made available in the broad field of leadership in University 4.0.

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As empresas de prestação de serviços aduaneiros são os interlocutores oficiais entre a Administração Pública e o setor privado em todos os processos de importação e exportação de matérias-primas e mercadorias. No ambiente económico moderno, essas empresas procuram a melhoria contínua da qualidade dos serviços prestados e a eficiência dos processos que suportam esses serviços. Neste contexto, a informação detalhada sobre o custo destes serviços e sobre as atividades e processos que lhes estão subjacentes é essencial para a gestão de custos destas empresas. No centro da metodologia ABC (Custeio Baseado nas Atividades) está a gestão de custos. Ao permitir calcular o custo das atividades, o ABC proporciona não só informação sobre os custos dos serviços/produtos mas também oportunidades de redução de custos e melhoria de processos numa lógica de criação de valor. O objetivo deste trabalho é testar a aplicabilidade do ABC numa empresa de prestação de serviços aduaneiros e avaliar o contributo do ABC para a identificação de oportunidades de melhoria dos processos. Considerando este objetivo e a relação do investigador com a unidade de análise, foi seguida a metodologia investigação-ação. Dada a complexidade de aplicação do modelo ABC original, foi sugerida a aplicação do Time Driven ABC que, ao utilizar equações do tempo, se torna mais simples e menos dispendioso.

Dissemination of New Public Management ideology has motivated numerous studies about changes to management accounting practices in public healthcare organizations. However, few studies compare these practices on an international basis. The aim of the paper is to explore the differences and similarities in cost accounting practices within hospitals in different countries within the European Union. We follow a multiple comparative case-study approach. Qualitative data about the accounting practices of five hospitals, three from Poland and two from Portugal, are compared and discussed. Results show fairly similar models of cost accounting and an increasing need for accurately determined costs at hospitals in both countries. However, the data suggest some important differences in the way overhead is allocated. This study highlights the benefits of cross-country comparison practices. Moreover, this study points to the need for more qualitative cross-country research within management accounting topics.

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