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PurposeThe paper reviews some theoretical approaches that have been adopted for understanding the drivers and achievements of the Chinese professional project and the challenges it faces for the future, as a complement and a contrast to previous histories of China and to studies of other developing economies.Design/methodology/approachBased mainly on evaluating the information as obtained from the interviews in mainland China, in Hong Kong and in London reported by Macve (2020), complemented by other published histories.FindingsChina remains a paradox. Since the “reform and open” policy began in 1978 it has been transformed from one of the poorest countries to one of the economically most powerful in just some 40 years. However it remains (per capita) a “developing country”/”emerging economy” and ideologically a Communist country. While the accounting profession in the USA and UK has developed “from the bottom up” over more than a century and a half, the Chinese profession has effectively been created “from the top down” in under 25 years. The paper outlines alternative theorizations of the major stages in this achievement, in the context of the continuing rapid growth of China's economy and its stock markets, and of the overseas expansion of its manufacturing and increasingly service-oriented base.Research limitations/implicationsSpace has restricted the analysis here to a general overview. Application of Gramsci's hegemony theory is argued to be inappropriate in the context of understanding China's professional project. Instead, this study is framed within the neo-institutional theory of “linked ecologies” originally developed to examine “Western” developments and extended to the emergence of glocalization, while offering a comparison with related theorization of Russia's post-Communist development. Further theoretical development outside the Western neo-liberal context is called for.Originality/valueThe paper demonstrates how accounting and auditing's development in this globally significant context has differed from that in other developing and transitional economies, reflecting in particular the proactive agency of the state. Given China's economic power, fuller understanding of the interrelated factors shaping its development is important for understanding the likely future shaping of the worldwide profession.

ChatGPT frequently appears in the media, with many predicting significant disruptions, especially in the fields of accounting and auditing. Yet research has demonstrated relatively poor performance of ChatGPT on student assessment questions. We extend this research to examine whether more recent ChatGPT models and capabilities can pass major accounting certification exams including the Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Management Accountant (CMA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), and Enrolled Agent (EA) certification exams. We find that the ChatGPT 3.5 model cannot pass any exam (average score across all assessments of 53.1%). However, with additional enhancements, ChatGPT can pass all sections of each tested exam: moving to the ChatGPT 4 model improved scores by an average of 16.5%, providing 10-shot training improved scores an additional 6.6%, and allowing the model to use reasoning and acting (e.g., allow ChatGPT to use a calculator and other resources) improved scores an additional 8.9%. After all these improvements, ChatGPT passed all exams with an average score of 85.1%. This high performance indicates that ChatGPT has sufficient capabilities to disrupt the accounting and auditing industries, which we discuss in detail. This research provides practical insights for accounting professionals, investors, and stakeholders on how to adapt and mitigate the potential harms of this technology in accounting and auditing firms.

The Pathways Commission on Accounting Higher Education Report (2012) recommends turning the accounting profession into a learned profession through the purposeful integration of accounting research, education and practice. This paper develops an approach to identifying and quantifying the specific dimensions of the gap between the accounting academic and practice communities, thereby contributing to moving the accounting profession to a learned profession. For this we focus on audit research, because the discussion of the perceived gap between audit research and audit practice is extensive; yet no one has actually quantified that gap to date. While researchers have classified and quantified audit research, no one has done likewise for publications issued by the practice community. We choose the 38 distinct recommendations in the Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession (ACAP) Final Report as an initial benchmark. We compare those recommendations to the 16 audit research themes from Lesage and Wechtler (2012) and to the publications spanning 33 years of audit research posted on the American Accounting Association website. Eight Lesage and Wechtler themes, comprising 50% of the themes, were not explicitly included in any ACAP distinct recommendation. Conversely, seven distinct recommendations had zero direct matches in the audit literature. This gap suggests future research opportunities in terms of exploring underrepresented topics and, maybe more importantly, the reasons why some topics are underrepresented.

[Display omitted] •Auditing is lagging behind in the use of valuable big data techniques.•There are many opportunities for greater use of big data techniques in auditing.•More research is needed to further align theory and practice in this area.•Research suggests combining multiple big data models with human expertise. This paper analyses the use of big data techniques in auditing, and finds that the practice is not as widespread as it is in other related fields. We first introduce contemporary big data techniques to promote understanding of their potential application. Next, we review existing research on big data in accounting and finance. In addition to auditing, our analysis shows that existing research extends across three other genealogies: financial distress modelling, financial fraud modelling, and stock market prediction and quantitative modelling. Auditing is lagging behind the other research streams in the use of valuable big data techniques. A possible explanation is that auditors are reluctant to use techniques that are far ahead of those adopted by their clients, but we refute this argument. We call for more research and a greater alignment to practice. We also outline future opportunities for auditing in the context of real-time information and in collaborative platforms and peer-to-peer marketplaces.

Our paper examines whether audit quality is higher for industry audit specialists at the national and cityoffice levels using the framework developed in Ferguson et al. [2003] and Francis et al. [2005]. We find that auditors who are both national and city-specific industry specialists have clients with the lowest abnormal accruals, suggesting that joint national and city-specific industry specialists have the highest audit quality. In addition, we find some evidence that abnormal accruals of firms audited by city-industry specialists alone (without also being national specific industry specialists) are lower than those audited by nonindustry specialists. Using alternative measures of audit quality, we find that when the auditor is both a national and a city-specific industry specialist, its clients are less likely to meet or beat analysts' earnings forecasts by one penny per share and more likely to be issued a going-concern audit opinion. Together these results provide consistent evidence that audit quality is higher when the auditor is both a national and city-specific industry specialist, suggesting that auditors' national positive network synergies and the individual auditors' deep industry knowledge at the office level are jointly important factors in delivering higher audit quality.

Globally, companies increasingly publish separate general purpose, non-financial (sustainability) reports. Some of these are independently assured and assurers may or may not be from the auditing profession. We seek to understand this emerging voluntary assurance market. Using a sample of 2,113 companies (from 31 countries) that produced sustainability reports between 2002–2004, we use sequential logit analysis to identify the factors associated with the decision to voluntarily purchase assurance and the choice of assurance provider. We hypothesize that a company's need to enhance credibility through assurance and choice of assurance provider will be a function of company-, industry-, and country-related factors. Our results support the argument that companies seeking to enhance the credibility of their reports and build their corporate reputation are more likely to have their sustainability reports assured, although it does not matter whether the assurance provider comes from the auditing profession. We also find that companies operating in stakeholder-orientated countries are more likely to choose the auditing profession as an assurer.

PurposeThis article aims to extend the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model to understand the factors affecting the usage behavior of Blockchain from accountants' and auditors’ perspectives and its impact on their performance.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative research approach employing a web-based questionnaire was applied, and the empirical data were gathered from 329 potential and current users of Blockchain in the accounting and auditing profession in Jordan. The analytical model was based on structural equation modeling (SEM) using AMOS 25.0.FindingsThe experimental findings of the structural path confirmed that performance expectancy (PE), social influence (SI), Blockchain transparency (BT) and Blockchain efficiency (BE) were significantly affecting individuals’ behavioral intention (BI) toward the use of Blockchain-based systems and helped to explain (0.67) of its variance. Also, BE has a positive significant impact on PE. Whereas, in contrast to what is anticipated, the influence of effort expectancy (EE) on BI was not supported. Additionally, users’ intentions were found to affect the actual usage (AU) behavior and helped to explain (0.69) of its variance. The outcome variables proposed in this study: knowledge acquisition (KACQ) and user satisfaction (USAT) were significantly influenced by the AU of Blockchain technology.Practical implicationsThis study outlines practical implications for government, policymakers, business leaders and Blockchain service providers aiming to exploit the advantages of Blockchain technology (BCT) in the accounting and auditing context.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this article is one of the few studies that offer an evidence-based perspective to the discussions on the effect of disruptive and automated information and communication technologies (ICTs), on the accounting and auditing profession. It applies an innovative approach to analysis through the integration of UTAUT, contextual factors: BT and BE, besides two outcome factors: KACQ and USAT within its theoretical model. This study extends and complements the academic literature on information technology/information systems acceptance and use by providing novel insights into accountants' and auditors’ views.

Sustainability reporting has become a regulatory necessity under frameworks such as the European Sustainability Reporting Standards and the International Sustainability Standards Board’s global baseline standards. The audit profession has been facing increasing demands to ensure the reliability of environmental, social and governance disclosures. However, the level of readiness of auditors with these expectations is still not evenly distributed across provinces, especially in emerging economies. This study aims to fill an important gap in the literature by systematically evaluating provincial differences in awareness and competence levels related to sustainability reporting among independent auditors in Türkiye. Based on the developments in the field of composite indicators, the multiple reference point based on weak and strong composite indicators was used in the study. Using the survey data obtained from 694 auditors throughout Türkiye, three alternative composite indicators were created to capture provincial differences in a robust way and the sensitivity of these indicators to different aggregation logics were evaluated. Findings reveal that metropolitan provinces such as İstanbul perform significantly better compared to the surrounding provinces, and provincial asymmetries are quite pronounced. These differences indicate that there are serious deficiencies in sustainability literacy and audit readiness in areas outside the core provinces.

In recent times, professional negligence has taken centre stage in the news. The inability of auditors to uncover fraud in their clients’ financial records has become a topic of intense debate among industry professionals and regulators, with no clear consensus reached thus far. This paper employs a qualitative research approach to delve into the consequences of professional negligence and why auditors will continue to face the consequences of their failure to detect fraud in their clients’ financial records. Our research findings indicate that auditors will continue to bear the brunt of professional negligence until there is a fundamental shift in their mandate, prompting them to assume a more proactive role in detecting fraud within financial statements. The repercussions of professional negligence extend beyond financial losses, encompassing intangible costs that severely tarnish the reputation of the auditing profession.

PurposeThis study examines whether the auditor's self-esteem and narcissism affect sharing their knowledge with their colleagues and, if practical, increase or decrease knowledge sharing.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a questionnaire to measure the employed variables: self-esteem, narcissism and knowledge-sharing. The study's statistical population includes auditors membered in the Association of Iranian Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), through which the statistical sample is 153 auditors chosen to analyze the collected information. Finally, the survey-based approach is employed to test the association between variables.FindingsThe results showed a positive and significant relationship between the positive dimension of self-esteem and knowledge sharing of auditors. In contrast, the effect of the negative dimension of self-esteem and narcissism on knowledge sharing is negative and significant.Practical implicationsAccording to the importance of particular personality traits in audit staff and their impact on improving the efficiency and performance of auditors, audit firms are recommended to employ audit staff suitable for their organizational objectives by taking some psychological tests during recruitment.Originality/valueThe findings expand knowledge sharing and create a new perspective in related research since this is among the pioneer studies investigating the impact of personality traits of individual auditors, particularly narcissism and self-esteem, on encouraging them to share knowledge.