IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/poicbe/v17y2023i1p1967-1979n9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What Digital Technologies are Used Today by Accounting Firms to Deliver Services

Author

Listed:
  • Isip Adrian

    (1 Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania)

Abstract

Nowadays for carrying out their activity, enterprises rely a lot on information and communication technology. In a dynamic business environment characterized by many uncertainties, the accuracy and speed of information production are crucial. Internal and external accountants prepare the information needed by managers to make decisions. Advances made in information and communication technology ensure near real-time information and instant communication. This paper investigates digital technologies used today by accounting firms to deliver services considering the driving factors for adoption and the impact of their use. We mobilized institutional theory as a theoretical framework, accounting services industry from Romania as context and semi-structured interviews as research methods involving 17 accounting experts. The results indicated that adoption of digital technologies within accounting firms is mainly driven by coercive and mimetic isomorphic pressures coming from the state and competitors. International and local accounting firms affiliated to international networks implemented digital technologies to a greater extent compared to local independent accounting firms which intend to invest more in digital technologies when the electronic invoicing system becomes mandatory for all enterprises. For clients with a large amount of data, accounting firms use import interfaces to exchange data between information systems. Cloud applications and virtual meeting platforms enable the provision of digital services and today because of digital technologies large companies can also outsource their accounting services. Some accounting firms are required by contract to use digital technologies provided by their clients. Accounting experts claimed that automation solutions decrease the processing time of documents and ensure a similar quality to the manual work performed by human employees. Showing what digital technologies are used today and their impact for accounting services industry represent the main contributions of our study. Our research has implications for smaller accounting firms since our findings can represent for them an important source of information.

Suggested Citation

  • Isip Adrian, 2023. "What Digital Technologies are Used Today by Accounting Firms to Deliver Services," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 17(1), pages 1967-1979, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:poicbe:v:17:y:2023:i:1:p:1967-1979:n:9
    DOI: 10.2478/picbe-2023-0173
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/picbe-2023-0173
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/picbe-2023-0173?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Carey & George Tanewski, 2016. "The provision of business advice to SMEs by external accountants," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 31(3), pages 290-313, March.
    2. Herbert, Ian P. & Seal, Will B., 2012. "Shared services as a new organisational form: Some implications for management accounting," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 83-97.
    3. Höglund, Henrik & Sundvik, Dennis, 2016. "Financial reporting quality and outsourcing of accounting tasks: Evidence from small private firms," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 125-134.
    4. Peter Carey & George Tanewski, 2016. "The provision of business advice to SMEs by external accountants," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 31(3), pages 290-313, March.
    5. Moll, Jodie & Yigitbasioglu, Ogan, 2019. "The role of internet-related technologies in shaping the work of accountants: New directions for accounting research," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(6).
    6. Patricia Everaert & Gerrit Sarens & Jan Rommel, 2010. "Using Transaction Cost Economics to explain outsourcing of accounting," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 93-112, July.
    7. repec:eme:maj000:maj-12-2014-1131 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Kokina, Julia & Blanchette, Shay, 2019. "Early evidence of digital labor in accounting: Innovation with Robotic Process Automation," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    9. Isam Saleh & Yahya Marei & Maha Ayoush & Malik Muneer Abu Afifa, 2022. "Big Data analytics and financial reporting quality: qualitative evidence from Canada," Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(1), pages 83-104, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jochen Fähndrich, 2023. "A literature review on the impact of digitalisation on management control," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 9-65, March.
    2. Thomas Gackstatter & Benedikt Müller-Stewens & Klaus Möller, 2019. "Effective accounting processes: the role of formal and informal controls," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 131-152, July.
    3. Zahid Ali & Ghulam Mustafa, 2023. "On Accounting Firms Serving Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises: A Review, Synthesis and Research Agenda," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 33(3), pages 313-332, September.
    4. Stefanie De Bruyckere & Patricia Everaert, 2021. "The Role of the External Accountant in Business Planning for Starters: Perspective of the Self-Determination Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-24, March.
    5. Uklańska Anna, 2023. "Robotic Process Automation (RPA) – Bibliometric Analysis and Literature Review," Foundations of Management, Sciendo, vol. 15(1), pages 129-140, January.
    6. Pantazi Marius, 2021. "In order to thrive, first we need to fix accounting and management Then, we must report what matters," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 15(1), pages 723-736, December.
    7. Dragos Vieru & Pierre-Emmanuel Arduin, 2016. "Sharing Knowledge in a Shared Services Center Context: An Explanatory Case Study of the Dialectics of Formal and Informal Practices," Post-Print hal-01458031, HAL.
    8. Bavaresco, Rodrigo Simon & Nesi, Luan Carlos & Victória Barbosa, Jorge Luis & Antunes, Rodolfo Stoffel & da Rosa Righi, Rodrigo & da Costa, Cristiano André & Vanzin, Mariangela & Dornelles, Daniel & J, 2023. "Machine learning-based automation of accounting services: An exploratory case study," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    9. Adriana Tiron-Tudor & Delia Deliu, 2021. "Big Data’s Disruptive Effect on Job Profiles: Management Accountants’ Case Study," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-26, August.
    10. Francis Aboagye‐Otchere & Cletus Agyenim‐Boateng & Abdulai Enusah & Theodora Ekua Aryee, 2021. "A Review of Big Data Research in Accounting," Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 268-283, October.
    11. narjess BOUABDALLAH & jamel Eddine HENCHIRI, 2020. "L' impact des mécanismes de gouvernance interne sur le risque opérationnel bancaire," Journal of Academic Finance, RED research unit, university of Gabes, Tunisia, vol. 11(1), pages 151-189, June.
    12. Goretzki, Lukas & Messner, Martin, 2019. "Backstage and frontstage interactions in management accountants' identity work," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 1-20.
    13. Rieg Robert & Dobroszek Justyna & Zarzycka Ewelina, 2022. "Professionalisation of Family Firms and Accounting Function: Empirical Evidence," Central European Economic Journal, Sciendo, vol. 9(56), pages 113-131, January.
    14. Krakau, Jan & Feldmann, Carsten & Kaupe, Victor, 2021. "Robotic process automation in logistics: Implementation model and factors of success," Chapters from the Proceedings of the Hamburg International Conference of Logistics (HICL), in: Jahn, Carlos & Kersten, Wolfgang & Ringle, Christian M. (ed.), Adapting to the Future: Maritime and City Logistics in the Context of Digitalization and Sustainability. Proceedings of the Hamburg International Conf, volume 32, pages 219-256, Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Institute of Business Logistics and General Management.
    15. Ye, Wang & Wong, Wing-Keung & Arnone, Gioia & Nassani, Abdelmohsen A. & Haffar, Mohamed & Faiz, Muhammad Fauzinudin, 2023. "Crypto currency and green investment impact on global environment: A time series analysis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 155-169.
    16. Timea Lazar, 2017. "The Shared Service Centre (Ssc) €“ A New Business Concept," Annals of Faculty of Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1(1), pages 657-667, July.
    17. Akbar, Irfan & Muzaffar, Muhammad & Rehman, Khaliq Ur, 2012. "Entrepreneurial Supply Chain Management Competence: Performance of Manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises," MPRA Paper 53194, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Aase, Øivind André Strand, 2022. "Effects of Voluntary Audit on Accounting Quality in Small Private Firms," Discussion Papers 2022/1, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.
    19. Mathieu Floquet & Pierre Labardin, 2014. "Les déterminants de la sous-traitance de la fonction comptable dans les entreprises françaises," Post-Print hal-01899426, HAL.
    20. Helmi Hentati & Neila Boulila Taktak, 2023. "Unlocking Technological Capabilities to Boost the Performance of Accounting Firms," Journal of Accounting and Management Information Systems, Faculty of Accounting and Management Information Systems, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 22(4), pages 631-656, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vrs:poicbe:v:17:y:2023:i:1:p:1967-1979:n:9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.