AN ANALYSIS OF THE PERCEPTION OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT TRAINEES REGARDING ACCESS TO THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSION AND PROFESSIONAL TRAINING NEEDS

Abstract

In Romania, the certification of the quality of chartered accountant is accomplished by CECCAR(i). It is conditioned by the completion of the period of initial training. A part of this period is provided by the universities, while the other part is provided by CECCAR through the national 3-year internship programme. The objective of our survey was to analyse the way in which chartered accountant trainees perceive the access to the accounting profession, their own limitations in terms of competences, the need for professional training, and the benefits ensured by the professional training within CECCAR. Being a member of IFAC(ii), CECCAR has implemented the requirements of the international education standards. The results of the survey confirm that due to differences in their educational backgrounds trainees perceived certain barriers preventing their access to the accounting profession. They also considered that the training of chartered accountants should be provided by CECCAR rather than by the universities. The self-assessed competence level of trainees in fields such as accounting, taxation, or IT was appreciated as at least good, while the competences regarding organizations and businesses, international financial reporting, corporate governance, and financial markets were appreciated as modest. The need for professional training is assessed by trainees considering the immediate practice and not the expectations regarding future career development or future evolutions of accounting practices. The trainees in our survey do not consider necessary any investment in competences that they cannot use immediately at the level required by small and medium-sized businesses they work for. This implicates that results should be interpretated with caution and other factors (such as long term trends and expectations) should be considered in establishing the educational needs of future accountants.

Keywords

• accounting education, access requirements, technical skills, personal skills, professional training needs