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Purpose This paper reviews and synthesizes the extensive literature that investigates turnover in public accounting firms. Design/methodology/approach This paper initially identifies turnover studies by searching two commonly used business databases, ABI and Business Source. Subsequently, references in these studies are examined. Over 100 published studies of accounting firms are identified. Findings Prior turnover studies can be classified by the underlying theory: psychological attachment; role theory; mentoring; and organizational justice. Using these theories, prior research has examined a wide variety of issues such as the role of gender in turnover. Practical implications Turnover is a significant and long-term problem in accounting firms. Practitioners and researchers have long noted that firms lose the costs of training employees who leave the firm. Recently, many in the auditing field have recognized that employee turnover may reduce audit quality. This paper summarizes prior turnover research, which may provide guidance to future researchers and managers of accounting firms. Originality/value This study fills a void in the accounting literature, which is missing a comprehensive and up to date review of prior studies of turnover in accounting firms. Opportunities for future research are also explored. While much has been learned, some theoretical and methodological issues remain unresolved.

This study investigates turnover intentions in public accounting firms using organizational justice. In the proposed theoretical model, the key construct is promotion instrumentality, the belief that the organization rewards strong employee performance with promotions. Employee perceptions of distributive justice influence promotion instrumentality, which, in turn, influences turnover intentions. Further, the relation between instrumentality and turnover is moderated by job performance. When instrumentality is low, employees with high job performance are more likely to leave the firm. To investigate the theoretical model, a survey was administered to auditors in several public accounting firms. Statistical results support the model.