Accounting provides around 80 % of information of any type and sort of activity of legal entity and significantly influences the decisions of accounting information users. The accountant profession, which had faced many challenges over the past few years, now is proving to be no exception. The article looks at both theory and practice and attempts to determine and understand problematic issues about outsourcing accounting challenges. The purpose of the research is to evaluate outsourcing accounting challenges in Latvia and Lithuania. The research deployed the survey, the inductive and deductive methods, the methods of systematisation, comparison and a summary of information. Research objectcompanies providing outsourcing accounting services in the Republic of Latvia and the Republic of Lithuania. From the results of the research the authors have come to the following conclusions: the biggest challenges for accounting outsourcing companies of both countries are keeping up with new regulations and standards and technology developments. Both countries have quite a similar view on challenges of accounting outsourcing companies, however, Lithuanian respondents provided opinion on more significant challenges such as attracting new customers, differentiating from competition and experiencing pressure to lower fees, as Latvian respondentsemphasized challenge of keeping up with new regulations and standards.
The accounting outsourcing services have not rich experience in Latvia. It started developing in the 1990s, but accounting outsourcing services have different expertise and history in Europe and around the world. An accountant is not a regulated profession in Latvia; an accountant is able to practice without a mandatory accountancy qualification, and it is enough for him/her to have only an economic-related academic or professional certificate, diploma or degree or experience or an accountant leading to a certificate of competency. This research aims to identify main future challenges for outsourcing accounting companies and accountants. The article looks at both theory and practice and attempts to determine and understand problematic issues about the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing accounting leading to recommendations for improvement. The rapid development of cloud accounting has played an essential role in the development of outsourcing accounting these days. The author found that only in Norway there are specific rules for outsourcing accountants or external accountants. Main advantages of cloud accounting are possibilities of remote work and a universal system for accountants and managers. The author defined three significant questions for the Accounting Outsourcing Survey in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.
Rapid changes in the economic environment, the development of new technologies, and global crises have an impact on and produce new requirements for many professions, including accounting specialists. An analysis of the competencies necessary for the modern accounting specialist provides insights into the required abilities from a labour market perspective. This article investigates the necessary knowledge and competencies of modern accounting specialists using a survey. Responses are analysed according to the respondents’ country, work experience, current working position and the size of the enterprise. We evaluate the personal, professional and social competencies as well as necessary types of professional knowledge. Research results may be summarised based on the traditional viewpoint of an accounting specialist. Despite their differing attributes, and with only some slight differences, respondents emphasised the need for accounting specialists to have certain classic knowledge and noted the need for traditional competencies.
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