Professional competence and continuing professional development in accounting: professional practice vs. non-practice

Abstract

In 2004, the International Federation of Accountants introduced International Education Standard 7 (IES 7), requiring all member professional accounting bodies to adopt mandatory continuing professional development (CPD) schemes. IES 7 places responsibility on individual accounting practitioners to maintain, develop and certify appropriate professional competence. A number of studies have examined practitioner engagement with formal CPD mechanisms and highlighted differing levels of engagement vis-à-vis professional roles. However, the nature of this difference had not been explained. This paper addresses this gap and examines perceptions of professional competence and associated CPD practices. Participants were selected from one professional accounting body, Chartered Accountants Ireland, and a phenomenographic approach was used to obtain and analyse experiential accounts. The findings highlight significant differences between perceptions and practices among participants in professional practice and non-practice roles. ARTICLE HISTORY

Compliance with Continuing Professional Development (IES7) of Internal Auditor and Quality of Internal Audit Function

“…To theoretically clarify the underlying relationships between the independent and the dependent variables; the current study builds upon the results of previous studies. In this regards, some previous studies (e.g., Halabi & Chowdhury, 2018;Murphy, 2017;Paisey et al, 2007;Paisey & Paisey, 2018;Paisey and Paisey, 2014) indicated that the CPD of accounting, business and financial knowledge have a positive contribution to the quality of the internal audit; likewise, other studies (e.g., Paisey & Paisey, 2018;Tudora, 2013;Mattli & Buthe, 2005;Chersan, 2019;Lee, 1995;Baker, 2005) have indicated that the CPD of the technical competence of the financial auditing has an actual contribution to the quality of the internal audit. Furthermore, a group of studies (Seol et al, 2011;Plant et al, 2019;Kaspina, 2015;Firth et al, 2012;Lenz and Hanh, 2015;Krá l et al, 2017;Siriwardane et al, 2014;Ahmad et al, 2019) showed that the CPD of the professional skills of the internal auditors has a positive contribution to the quality of the internal audit.…”

Accounting education literature review (2020)

“…Martin and Waymire (2017) surveyed accounting students at one public US university to investigate perceptions of the potential earnings, nonmonetary benefits, and financial and job They suggested that, in light of student feedback, the benefits and linkage between academic and practical experiences required more in-depth exploration in the curriculum. Murphy (2017) described the results of interviews with accounting professionals in Ireland regarding the perceptions of work placement and transition back to full-time student and emphasized the need for better management by faculty.…”

Continuing Professional Development and Accounting Academics: A Literature Review

“…Based on professional skills, accountants can be divided into informed, competent and complete professionals. Investigating practicing and non-practicing Chartered Accountants in Ireland, Murphy (2017) found significant differences in the perception and practice among professionals related to CPD.…”