Establishing the antecedents of accountant’s job satisfaction in an emerging market

Purpose - This study aims to ascertain the mediating effect of organisational commitment (OC) on the linkage between task performance (TP) and job satisfaction (JS) of accountants. Design/methodology/approach - Primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire administered to accountants from India. The partial least squares structural equation modelling method was used to analyse the data. Findings - The results reveal that OC mediates the linkages between TP and JS. It was also empirically confirmed that neither age nor gender of the accountant had any significant effect on the relationship between the TP and JS. Originality/value - This study makes three distinct contributions. Firstly, it was empirically observed that OC mediates the linkage between TP and JS. This means that even when the accounting tasks being performed by the accountants are interesting and challenging, organisations should still invest in getting the accountants deeply committed to organisational values and goals for them to experience JS. Secondly, this focus on commitment is independent of gender and age differences. Accountants at all levels and of both genders would experience higher levels of JS once they are more committed to the organisation. Finally, this study has ramifications for global accounting professional practices, as accounting firms from the USA and the European Union have been outsourcing their services to firms in countries such as India.