Development of Accounting Profession in CIS

Transcription

1 THE WORLD BANK CENTRE FOR FINANCIAL REPORTING REFORM Development of Accounting Profession in CIS Maria Musatova Regional REPARIS Accountancy Education Community of Practice Workshop February 2010, Vienna, Austria

2 Why some CIS countries have been successful in promoting a robust accounting profession, while others have not?

3 Existence of a high-quality education in accounting Existence of a robust professional body What characterizes a well-developed accounting profession? Existence of high-quality financial statements in the corporate sector Existence of strong demand for high-quality financial statements

4 Among other Important Factors, Affecting the Development of Accounting Profession: Openness of economy Government commitment to reforms Strong statutory framework, including the corporate governance framework Effective enforcement of the statutory norms Macroeconomic conditions

5 Countries under Study: Azerbaijan Georgia Kazakhstan Russia Ukraine

6 Literature Review Limited number of authentic research work Apparent lack of extensive analysis of evolving accounting profession Countries specificity

7 Data Collection: Surveys 16 Universities in 5 CIS countries: Azerbaijan 4 Georgia 1 Kazakhstan 4 Russia 4 Ukraine 3 Total # of surveys sent to all countries: 50

8 Accounting education in CIS: Current Situation, Problems, Prospective

9 Introduction The capacity of University to attract students to its accounting department depends, first of all, on the quality of the offered education. Composition of Curriculum Qualification of Professors Availability of Facilities, indispensable for the learning process

10 Popularity and Competitiveness of Accounting Programs in Universities: Indicators Demand for accounting programs Offered types of enrollment Ratio of applied/ admitted students Results of entrance exams

11 Popularity and Competitiveness of Accounting Programs in Universities: Empirical Results

12 Popularity and Competitiveness of Accounting Programs in Universities: Empirical Results % offer full-time undergraduate degree in accounting and 31 % offer Master s degree % felt that passing score has increased to some extent over the past 10 years 3. Overall, the passing score for accounting departments was somewhat higher than at departments of exact sciences

13 Popularity and Competitiveness of Accounting Programs in Universities: Empirical Results 4. Interdepartmental comparisons of ratios of applied/ admitted students suggest that accounting programs enjoy above-the-average level of competition % universities believed that the demand for accounting education has been growing for the past 10 years Grown demand for accounting programs, increased passing score and ratio of applied/ admitted students over the past ten years - all that strongly suggests rigorous preparation of university entrants and competitive admission to accounting programs

14 University s Linkages with Other Institutions and Organizations: Assumptions Existing relationships of the University with audit & assurance companies, business community, professional bodies etc. demonstrate: the level of University s commitment to deliver upto-date knowledge willingness to grant the students an opportunity to acquire real-life skills possibilities to enhance the learning process with modern practices

15 University s Linkages with Other Institutions and Organizations: Empirical Results Cooperation between universities and local audit & assurance companies

16 University s Linkages with Other Institutions and Organizations: Empirical Results Substantial number of universities maintain moderate and active engagement with professional bodies (total 80 % of all Universities) and business-community (77 %) The closest cooperation exists between universities and local audit & assurance companies (only 8 % of academic institutions indicated no engagement with them) There is a potential for enhancement of universities interaction with international audit companies and government bodies (69 % and 67 % respectively)

17 University s Linkages with Other Institutions and Organizations: Conclusions It seems to be that universities have relatively well established relations with various actors in accounting community. Still, some 20 % universities do not have any relationships with one or several organizations or companies in accounting community Neither category has received rating of an overwhelming active engagement with academia

18 University s Linkages with Other Institutions and Organizations: Illustration % of universities that indicated no engagement with these institutions

19 University s Linkages with Other Institutions and Organizations: Conclusions Absence of certification exam waivers witnesses a lack of confidence in universities curriculum on behalf of professional accounting/ audit professional bodies. Despite formal requirement of practical experience, this training often yields a negligible value for students for two reasons: short duration (2-4 weeks) and lack of enforcement of this requirement In the long run, universities should consistently work towards improvement of their reputation and gaining recognition from wider accounting audience

20 Accounting Curriculum at the University: Criteria of Relevance Up-to-date set of courses in university s curriculum, covering all important areas in modern accounting science Adequacy of the time allocation to core vs. non-core courses Keeping up with accounting reforms in the country and international best practices and trends in the field. This is especially important for CIS economies, since they are undergoing serious changes in their accounting systems

21 Accounting Curriculum at the University: Indicators and Methods Allocation of teaching hours to accounting courses in department s curriculum Benchmarking a university s curriculum against International Education Standards for Professional Accountants (developed by IFAC Education Committee) as of October 2003 Availability of courses on IFRS, US GAAP and ISA

22 Accounting Curriculum at the University: Empirical Results Compliance w/ Standards All surveyed universities seemed to teach audit & assurance Overwhelming majority (94 %) taught basic accounting financial accounting and reporting, and finance The least prevailing courses were professional values and ethics, and business and commercial law (37.5 % of universities do not have the course as a part of accounting curriculum)

23 Accounting Curriculum at the University: Empirical Results compliance w/ Standards (2) % of universities that do NOT include following courses in accounting curriculum

24 Accounting Curriculum at the University: Empirical Results Course Offerings Course offerings in the international standards of accounting and auditing: 69 % have classes in IFRS 37.5 % have classes in ISA However, these courses are compulsory only in 12.5 % universities

25 Accounting Curriculum at the University: Empirical Results Commitment to Reforms The willingness to expand the curriculum and include more courses on one of these subjects expressed 73 % with regard to IFRS 67 % with regard to ISA

26 Accounting Curriculum at the University: Empirical Results - IFRS Major impediments as cited by universities to introduction of more courses on IFRS: 32 % mentioned the lack of literature in the local language 24 % stated the lack of financial resources 20 % were concerned with the lack of qualified professors

27 Accounting Curriculum at the University: Conclusions IFRS & ISA Financing 83 % of all those universities that identified lack of financial resources as a major impediment for IFRS courses were public 80 % of private universities surveyed refuted financial considerations as a barrier to expand curriculum and include any courses on IFRS, US GAAP or ISA

28 Composition and Competence of the Faculty Body Age and gender Degree, tenure, and position Remuneration Professional development Accounting certification

29 Composition of the Faculty Body: Age and Gender profile On average, the faculty body at accounting departments is generally represented by 60 % of women, and 40 % men

30 Accounting Faculty: Remuneration Not a single university indicated a wage above $ 700 for their faculty body 85 % of the full-time faculty receives a salary in the range $100-$ % of the part-time faculty, and 92 % of the junior members are being paid not higher than $250/ month

31 Faculty: Professional Development Faculty members lack enough exposure to foreign practices and teaching methods (36 % of universities indicated no involvement on participation of faculty members in international exchange programs). Substantial part of the faculty body tends to maintain high professional standards through publication of manuals and participation in conferences

32 Faculty: Accounting Certification 31 % universities indicated that some of their members obtain local accounting certification 25 % universities have faculty members with local certification in audit 2 and 1 universities have faculty members with CAP/ CIPA degree, or members studying for these exams 1 university has CPA, and 1 has CMA No one has ACCA-certified faculty member

33 Faculty: Conclusions Concerns: Only 18 % of accounting faculty are part-time accounting practitioners Startling absence of faculty members, who would possess internationally accepted accounting certificate Majority of faculty members is represented by assistants and senior lecturers, who do not hold PhD degree Vast majority of universities (87 %) deem current salaries so low that it is hard to attract new faculty members Prospects: Half of the faculty body is represented by young teachers under the age 40, that are perceptive to acquiring new skills Relatively high engagement of the faculty members in activities that raise their qualification, i.e. publications and workshops participation Higher-than-average knowledge of the English language

34 Accounting Literature: Assumptions Availability of relevant textbooks and manuals in the university library Quality of textbooks on different subject areas, crucial for accounting curriculum Availability of a copy of IFAC and ISA in the university library Access to other sources of information

35 Accounting Literature: Empirical Results Accounting textbooks were generally available though expensive for students, which was partially offset by existence of manuals and university publications Internet access points often remain a constraint Quality of accounting textbooks was ranked as excellent only by 35 % of universities

36 Accounting Literature: Ranking of Textbooks by Universities

37 Preliminary Conclusions Accounting curriculum Qualification of professors Linkages of universities with accounting community Accounting and related disciplines textbooks

38 Thank you! Discussion Maria Musatova