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Currently, the growth of information technology is rapidly evolving alongside the journey of a business entity, as seen in public accounting firms facing demands to effectively utilize technology to enhance efficiency, productivity, and service quality. Identifying several challenges that may arise in the implementation of information technology strategies, including information security issues, investment costs, complex system integration, and organizational cultural challenges, public ac- counting firms are advised to pay attention to specific aspects in designing and implementing information technology strategies, such as selecting appropriate technology, employee training, and periodic performance evaluation, which are also necessary. Thus, by adopting the right information technology strategy, public accounting firms can improve their operational effectiveness, enhance client satisfaction, and strengthen their competitive position in the rapidly changing and competitive market. The IT Balanced Scorecard can serve as an effective framework in creating IT strategies because the distribution of strategies is evenly spread across all parts of the company, enabling the company to develop not only from a financial perspective but also from a non-financial one. The implementation of IT strategies is expected to help accounting firms achieve the goals, vision, and mission of the company and assist companies in implementing or planning IT strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research is motivated by growing strength of artificial intelligence particularly automation of accounting practices in the world at large and Cameroonian accounting firms, in particular. This has led to a growing threat of change which has an impact on the accountant’s professional role and attitude. The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of automation on accountants’ practices in accounting firms. The qualitative research method is used and the data was collected through semi-structured interviews. Interpretation of the interviews was through thematic analysis method. 12 accountants make up the study sample from a population of 35 accountants in the city of Douala, Littoral region of Cameroon. The study finds that the automation of accounting process is more efficient and beneficial. However, it has increased the risks of faults, loss of control and jobs, a change in the employment structure, skills, and competence. The attitudes of the accountant are positive towards automation but the fear of loss of jobs and obsolete IT skills are present. The study concludes that automated accounting practices is efficient and effective and has a significant impact on accountants. It therefore recommends that accountants should be ready to adapt to the current trends, develop interdisciplinary skills in education and competence. Also, firms should put control measures and regulatory policies in place to prevent excessive use of automation.

This paper aims to discuss the effects of various human resource attributes on the overall business performance of accounting firms, as well as the individual business performances of the industrial client base, and intends to identify the key factors and provide them to the accounting firm managers as the basis of making decisions for human resource allocation. This study finds that: (1) The higher the proportion of accounting firm's manger-level supervisors, professional seniors, and professional assistants, the higher the total revenues of the accounting firm; the higher the proportion of professional seniors, the greater the total number of projects of the accounting firm. When the proportion of professional seniors is higher, it will have a positive effect on the individual business performances of the wholesale and retail industries and construction industry; when the proportion of professional assistants is higher, it will bring positive benefits to the individual business performances of the wholesale and retail industry, manufacturing industry, and construction industry; when the proportion of manger-level supervisors is higher, it will be helpful to enhance the individual business performances of the professional, scientific, and technical services industry. (2) The higher the proportion of audit services, tax services, management consultants, and accounting services, the higher the total revenues of the accounting firm. When the proportion of audit services, tax services, and accounting services is higher, it will have a positive effect on the wholesale and retail industry, and the manufacturing industry. (3) The proportion of accounting firm staff with accountant's qualifications cannot bring positive benefits to the overall business performance of the accounting firm or the individual business performance of the industrial client base. Thus, it is suggested that accounting firm managers should employ professional personnel beyond the scope of accounting, tax, and audit, meaning they should employ talents with direct knowledge of the related industry, in order to provide customized quality services to enhance their competitive advantage and improve the business performance of the industrial client base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The object of this research is the implications of cybersecurity breaches on the leaders of accounting firms in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The research employed a qualitative approach with interviews as the primary data collection technique. The researcher adopted a rigorous analytical framework, utilising different scholarly sources to analyse and explain the intricate experiences of firm leaders. The study revealed that leaders of accounting firms experience psychological, financial, and social consequences due to cybersecurity breaches. It highlights the emotional impact, including anxiety and increased stress. The fear of potential job losses was found to be one issue leaders were worried about after the data breach. The stress from dealing with the aftermath of data breaches affected their family relationships. In addition, leaders experienced low productivity and increased pressure dealing with the media and organization stakeholders and the stigma associated with data breaches. Given the critical role that accounting firms play in the financial ecosystem and the sensitive nature of the data they handle, it is imperative that cybersecurity is prioritised. However, studies have focused on the financial implications of cybersecurity breaches on businesses, but less attention has been paid to the psychological, social, and financial implications of breaches on firm leaders. The findings are significant for academic discourse but also provide leaders with strategies to mitigate the adverse effects of breaches, while also offering a framework for other researchers and practitioners in different regions and sectors to understand and study the phenomenon further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the viewpoint of strategy alliance, this paper discusses whether the implementation of this alliance has a positive impact on the accounting firm's operating efficiency. The empirical results are as follows: 1. The operating efficiency after implementing a strategy alliance is higher than the operating efficiency before implementing a strategy alliance. 2. As for the improvement and benefit of resource utilization, the output item that should be increased most for the accounting firm itself and the overall strategy alliance system is the number of business engagements; advertising expenses are needed to be slightly reduced in terms of input items. 3. Whether the strategic alliance is implemented or not, the largest proportion of performance contribution of the accounting firm and the overall strategy alliance system output items is both the operating profits for accounting firms on a standalone basis and the strategic alliance. The largest contribution to performance is from the annual wages, and the input from the cost of human resources will help improve the performance of the accounting firm and the whole strategy alliance system. Finally, the strategy alliance can bring the accounting firm better performance and increase the opportunities to develop more market sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of the article is to present, based on a case study, the tools of voluntary digitalization, including the associated benefits and barriers. For this purpose, an analysis of the legal regulations applicable in Poland and a literature review were conducted. This allowed identification of the research gap in empirical studies on voluntary digitalization. Another research method employed involved a case study of a Polish accounting firm. Subsequent research steps taken by the Authors are outlined in the article. The answers to the research questions posed revealed that the entity surveyed utilizes voluntary digitalization tools, identifies a number of benefits thereof, whereas the greatest barrier entails the task of finding competent contractors. The conclusions drawn provide inspiration for in-depth research on digitalization processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the non-financial and financial factors that affect accounting firms switching, namely upgrade, samegrade, or downgrade. Non-financial factors are proxied by managerial ownership and management turnover, while financial factors are proxied by profitability and financial distress. The population was manufacturing companies on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2017-2019. The research sample was selected using the purposive sampling method. The sample in this study amounted to 31 manufacturing companies, so the total sample was 93 company units. The analytical tool used to test the hypothesis is multinomial logistic regression analysis. The results of this study indicate that managerial ownership does not affect the three types of turnover. Meanwhile, the management turnover variable positively affects the upgrade, samegrade, and downgrade. In terms of financial factors, profitability does not affect upgrade and downgrade accounting firms of switching. Nevertheless, profitability has a positive effect on the samegrade type of switching. Hypotheses testing of financial distress revealed that this variable could not influence the three accounting firm switching

This study used business units in different stages of the organizational lifecycle (OLC) and tested employee job satisfaction, affective organizational commitment, and work engagement to understand the relationship between OLC and happiness at work. Furthermore, this study investigated Person-Organization (P-O) fit by testing for a locus of control (LOC) as a moderator to this relationship. Based on the significance of LOC for accountants, online surveys were launched in an accounting firm across twelve locations in South Africa. For the first survey, 32 partners (91%) positioned their business units onto specific stages of the OLC. In the second survey, employees (62%) completed self-evaluations of their level of job satisfaction, affective organizational commitment, work engagement, and their LOC. Spearman’s rank-order correlations revealed the range of ρ of –1.22 at a 10% significance to –1.67 at a 5% significance, concluding earlier stages of OLC to support greater levels of happiness at work.Additionally, hierarchal regression found R-squared changes of 2% to 4%, confirming LOC as a moderator. Simulation tests found the strongest correlations with early stages of OLC for externals (range of ρ of –0.374 to –0.352 at 5% significance), moderate for internals (range of ρ of –2.12 at 10% significance to insignificant), and no relationship for those with a balanced expectancy (all insignificant). Contrary to dominant voices in the literature that support internality as a superior expectancy, this study concludes that those with a balanced LOC are more resilient to organizational factors for their happiness at work.

This research encompasses three main purposes: 1) to study the levels of knowledge potential, skills, and code of professional ethics of accountants in the accounting firms in Southern Thailand, 2) to compare the levels of knowledge potential, skills, and code of professional ethics of accountants with different personal details and knowledge management of the modern accounting in the accounting firms in Southern Thailand, and 3) to propose guidelines for the development of knowledge potential, skills, and code of accounting professional ethics of accountants in the accounting firms in Southern Thailand. The sample consists of 159 full-time accountants working for the accounting firms across Southern Thailand. The outcomes are shown to be as follows: Accountants have professional potential, knowledge, and skills at a high level, while the code of accounting professional ethics is at the highest level. Accountants have their opinions towards the knowledge management of modern accounting at a high level, both overall and individually. Planning, application, accumulation, and exchanges are proposed for the management of accounting knowledge. Accountants have been in their firms for a varying number of years and have different potential within the accounting profession at a statistically significant rate of .05. Accountants with different levels of knowledge management of modern accounting exist within both the low-moderate group and highhighest group, having a different average of potential, knowledge, skills, and code of accounting professional ethics statistically significant at .01. Accountants of different genders, ages, levels of education, current positions, and years' of experience have no different potential in the accounting profession, at a statistically significant rate of 01. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the viewpoint of the establishment of an additional management consulting company in an accounting firm, as well as the allied management consulting business and operations between the two accounting firms and management consulting companies, this paper discusses the key factors affecting management consulting business performance and then develops and empirically analyzes three regression models of management consulting business performance to conduct empirical analysis. It is found that the two models of the annual revenues and operating profits of management consulting companies show consistent results. When an accounting firm has the behavior of engaging in work in China and applying e-commerce in operation, and when the salary percentage of senior employees, percentage of management consultants, percentage of CPA-qualified employees, professionalism of employees, and concentration of business markets are all higher, positive benefits can arise for the management consulting companies, which can also help the allied management consulting business performance of the accounting firm and management consulting company. In addition, when the percentages of management consultants and CPA-qualified employees in the accounting firm are higher, a positive influence on the allied management consulting business performance of the accounting firm and management consulting company can be achieved. In terms of the control variables, there is no significant influence on the firm scale of the operating profits of management consulting companies, and the other control variables based on the three management consulting business models have a significant positive influence; i.e., the longer the history of the management consulting company, the bigger the scale of the accounting firm, and the better the management consulting business performance. It is expected that the results can provide a reference for the operational management of the consulting market, as well as the planning of future development strategies for managers of accounting firms. The results could help enable accounting firms to break through operational bottlenecks, strengthen competitive advantages, and improve the operational performance of accounting firms and management consulting companies in a highly competitive traditional auditing and tax business market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose--In view of the promising growth of the quality of life among accounting firm employees in Malaysia, this study aims to determine the quality of life among employees in accounting firm and identify the work-life balance, work stress and work and family roles. Design/Methodology/Approach- A self-reporting questionnaire was conducted and developed to 150 respondents. The study adopts a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Findings- The multiple linear regression results reveal that work-life balance and work and family roles significant influences on the quality of life among accounting firm employee. However, the insignificant results obtained for work stress warrant further investigation. Research Implication- The study proposes three factors for measuring the employee quality of life towards their job which is replicable across different family. However, the small sample size raises the issue of generalizability which future studies should seek to address. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A merger is considered to be one of powerful business strategies that provides several benefits. Among others are an accumulated capital, a synergic management, a wide market, and become a bigger company. In accounting firm realm, a service industry, merger promeses the fundamental human capital, indeed, the accumulated profesional skills, knowledge and abilities. However, not much accounting firms take this promising strategic. It is a research that delves to uncover the rational beyond the reasons why they are reluctant to take that excellent chance. By conducting an indepth interview method, this research interviewed some accounting firms, particularly those who take that opportunity, who are in progress, who do not. This method enables the researcher to have a very comprehensive understanding about the various reasons underlying merger. 32 managing partners or partners of some accounting firms took part this research. They run their business in Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Surabaya. The research comes to conclude that the main hurdle of doing merger is a curtural problem. The other difficulties are the starting point of a merger, the basic to determine their assets and clients, and worry about the melting process. However, these rational are being ignored by those who have done the merger. They contend that those obstacles will naturaly be overcome by the time