Perceptions of Robotic Process Automation in Big 4 Public Accounting Firms: Do Firm Leaders and Lower-Level Employees Agree?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren A. Cooper ◽  
D. Kip Holderness ◽  
Trevor L. Sorensen ◽  
David A. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Work Experience ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Process Automation ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
The Public ◽  
Robotic Process Automation ◽  
Big 4 ◽  
Recent Innovation

The use of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a recent innovation in the public accounting industry, and the Big 4 firms are at the forefront of its implementation. This paper examines how the adoption and use of RPA is affecting the perceived work experience of firm leaders and lower-level employees at Big 4 accounting firms. We interview 14 RPA leaders, survey 139 lower-level employees, and compare and contrast their responses. We find that the two groups generally agree that RPA is having a positive influence on the profession. Both groups believe that RPA is positively changing the work employees perform and improving employee career prospects. However, while firm leaders believe RPA will improve work satisfaction, lower-level employees report no such improvements. Our insights provide direction for the accounting profession as it increases the use of RPA and for future research studies examining related issues.

Robotic Process Automation in Public Accounting

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 15-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren A. Cooper ◽  
D. Kip Holderness ◽  
Trevor L. Sorensen ◽  
David A. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Future Research ◽  
Process Automation ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Robotic Process Automation ◽  
Input Processing ◽  
Big 4 ◽  
Assurance Services ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
Head Count

SYNOPSIS We investigate the implementation of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software in public accounting by interviewing RPA leaders at Big 4 firms. RPA software automates the input, processing, and output of data to streamline repetitive, mundane tasks. Many of our findings are unique to accounting. For instance, participants report tax services are furthest along in RPA adoption, followed by advisory and assurance services. Furthermore, RPA has not impacted fees, but there is concern that clients may desire fee reductions due to decreased employee hours. Finally, unlike other technology implementations, RPA adoption is driven primarily by lower-level employees. Similar to other domains, our results indicate massive efficiency and effectiveness gains from RPA implementation. Also, interviewees do not expect reduced head count to result from RPA use. This study is the first to discuss the benefits, opportunities, and challenges to implementing RPA in accounting and serves as a catalyst for future research.

A Theoretical Framework of the Relationship between Public Accounting Firms and Their Auditors

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Dreike Almer ◽  
Julia L. Higgs ◽  
Karen L. Hooks
Keyword(s):  
Future Research ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sociology Of Professions ◽  
Rich Description ◽  
Public Accounting Firms ◽  
Current Article ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Significant Attention

The behavior of auditors in the context of their employment by public accounting firms has received significant attention in the accounting literature. The current article extends this literature by providing a framework that identifies what auditing professionals contribute and receive as a result of their work efforts, as well as related influences. Using agency theory modified with fundamental ideas from the sociology of professions literature, we develop a model of the auditor-public accounting firm employment relationship. This framework is grounded in a timely, contextually rich description of the public accounting work environment, and the pressures and incentives faced by auditors. Propositions for future research are suggested that arise from understanding the auditor-firm relationship.

The Robots are Coming...But Aren't Here Yet: The Use of Artificial Intelligence Technologies in the Public Accounting Profession

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen M. Bakarich ◽  
Patrick O'Brien
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Machine Learning ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Process Automation ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
The Public ◽  
Extensive Training ◽  
Qualitative Responses ◽  
The Impact

In this paper, we survey public accounting professionals to gauge the extent to which Artificial Intelligence (AI), specifically Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Machine Learning (ML), are currently being utilized by the profession, as well as perceptions about the impact and receptiveness to this technology. Quantitative and qualitative responses from ninety participants, representing various firms, service lines, and positions, indicate that both RPA and ML are currently not being used extensively by public accountants nor by clients of public accounting firms, and firms are conducting some, but not extensive training on these technologies for employees. However, respondents strongly indicated that AI will significantly impact their daily responsibilities in five years and that employees in the profession are very receptive to these changes. Additionally, we find that firm size appears to be the most significant factor impacting differences in responses. These results indicate that while large-scale AI adoption has not yet come to public accounting, substantial changes are on the horizon.

scholarly journals Auditors As Advocates For Their Clients: Perceptions Of The Auditor-Client Relationship

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 73 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Gregory Jenkins ◽  
D. Jordan Lowe
Keyword(s):  
Considerable Importance ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Accounting Profession ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Senior Managers ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
The Public ◽  
National Accounting ◽  
Client Relationship

<span>Recently auditors have come under increasing criticism for appearing to act as advocates on behalf of their audit clients. Such criticisms strike at the very heart of the public accounting profession the publics trust of the auditors. Given the considerable importance of this issue we conducted a survey of one national accounting firms auditing managers and senior managers to ascertain their attitudes regarding such advocacy. Results suggest that some members of the firm view their role somewhat differently than the traditional watchdog role commonly ascribed to them. Implications of our study as well as suggestions for future research are discussed.</span>

Efficacy of Social Media Utilization by Public Accounting Firms: Findings and Directions for Future Research

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brenda Eschenbrenner ◽  
Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah ◽  
Venkata Rajasekhar Telaprolu
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Business Objectives ◽  
Success Stories ◽  
Big 4 ◽  
Public Accounting Firms ◽  
Second Tier

ABSTRACT Social media presents a new platform for businesses to communicate and interact with others, both internally and externally. Social media may be utilized for activities such as sharing success stories and providing industry updates. Although a plethora of opportunities to achieve business objectives with social media usage exists, the efficacy of its use by public accounting firms is unclear. This article identifies the business objectives that Big 4 and second-tier firms are pursuing with social media. Primary business objectives being fulfilled by social media include Knowledge Sharing, Branding and Marketing, and Socialization and Onboarding. The findings suggest that Big 4 firms are pursuing Knowledge Sharing on Facebook™ and Twitter™ to a greater extent than second-tier firms, while second-tier firms pursue Socialization and Onboarding on Facebook and Branding and Marketing on Twitter to a greater extent than Big 4 firms. Suggestions for business opportunities and future research are also identified.

A Contemporary Analysis of Accounting Professionals' Work-Life Balance

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Buchheit ◽  
Derek W. Dalton ◽  
Nancy L. Harp ◽  
Carl W. Hollingsworth
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Support ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Work Life Balance ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Important Distinction ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Accounting Professionals ◽  
Big 4 ◽  
Public Accounting Firms

SYNOPSIS In recent years, work-life balance surpassed compensation as the most important job satisfaction factor among AICPA members (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants [AICPA] 2004). Despite the continued importance of this issue in the accounting profession (AICPA 2011), prior research has not examined work-life balance perceptions across different segments of the profession. We survey 1,063 practicing CPAs in order to assess the comparative work-life balance perceptions across (1) Big 4 versus smaller public accounting firms, (2) audit versus tax functions, and (3) public accounting versus industry work contexts. Consistent with predictions based on institutional logics theory, we find that work-family conflict and job burnout perceptions (our proxies for work-life balance) are highest in the Big 4. We are the first study to measure both support-for and viability-of traditional alternative work arrangements (AWAs), and we report an important distinction between these two constructs. Specifically, while CPAs across all public accounting firms (i.e., Big 4, national, regional, and local firms) report similar levels of organizational support-for AWAs, Big 4 professionals report significantly lower perceived viability-of AWAs (i.e., the ability to use AWAs and remain effective at one's job) compared to accounting professionals at smaller public accounting firms. Further, we find no differences between audit and tax professionals' perceptions across any of our work-life balance measures. We also document nuanced differences regarding work-life balance perceptions in public accounting versus industry. For example, contrary to conventional wisdom, work-life balance is not uniformly “better” in industry (e.g., burnout is actually lower in smaller public accounting firms compared to industry). Finally, we use open-ended responses from a follow-up survey to provide several recommendations for firms to improve their work-life balance efforts.

Robotic Process Automation in Public Accounting

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Cooper ◽  
Darin Kip Holderness ◽  
Trevor Sorensen ◽  
David A. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Process Automation ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Robotic Process Automation

scholarly journals The Influence of Reputation of Public Accounting Firms on the Integrity of Financial Statements with Corporate Governance as the Moderating Variable

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nera Marinda Machdar ◽  
Dade Nurdiniah
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Institutional Ownership ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Accounting Firm ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Accounting Firms

This research aimed to determine the effect of the reputation of the public accounting firm on the integrity of financial statements by including leverage and firm size as the control variables. This research also investigated the effects of corporate governance moderation that was proxied by the independent commissioner, institutional ownership, and audit committee in strengthening or weakening the reputation of the public accounting firms on the integrity of the financial statements. The population was manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in 2013-2015. The sample utilized the purposive sampling method and resulted in 34 manufacturing firms, so the total observations were 102 firms in all observed years. This research performed statistical data processing with EVIEWS 8. There are two main findings of this research. First, the reputation of public accounting firm affects the integrity of the financial statement. Second, corporate governance that utilizes the independent commissioners and institutional ownership strengthen the effect of the reputation of the public accounting firm on the integrity of the financial statement. However, corporate governance using audit committee weakens the reputation of the public accounting firm on the integrity of financial statements.

scholarly journals Turnover Intention in Public Accountant Firms of East Java

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
I Putu Hendra Setiawan ◽  
Nurkholis Nurkholis ◽  
Bambang Hariadi
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Role Conflict ◽  
Turnover Intention ◽  
Role Ambiguity ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Mediation Effect ◽  
Pay Satisfaction ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Public Accountant

This research aims to investigate empirically the influence of pay satisfaction, role conflict and role ambiguity on auditor turnover intention, which are mediated by job satisfaction. A number of 168 auditors who work for Public Accounting Firms in East Java participated in this research. The data is analyzed using PLS (Partial Least Squares). The result shows that pay satisfaction positively influences job satisfaction and negatively influences auditors’ turnover intention. Role conflict does not have any direct influence to job satisfaction but has a direct positive influence toward turnover intention. Role Ambiguity positively influences job satisfaction and negatively influences auditors’ turnover intention. Besides, this research also reveals that job satisfaction has a partial mediation effect between pay satisfaction and auditors’ turnover intention and has a full mediation effect between role ambiguity and auditors’ turnover intention, but it has no mediation effect between role conflict and auditors’ turnover intention.

FAKTOR-FAKTOR YANG MEMPENGARUHI AUDIT DELAY PADA PERUSAHAAN MANUFAKTUR YANG GO PUBLIK DI BEI

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 117
Author(s):  
Astuti Yuli Setyani
Keyword(s):  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Variable Size ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Accounting Firm ◽  
The Public

"> This study aims to examine empirically the effect of firm size, solvency, profitability, and thequality of public accounting firms (KAP) to the audit delay on manufacturing companieslisted in Indonesia Stock Exchange. This study focuses on companies listed on the IndonesiaStock Exchange. The data used are secondary data, the audited financial statements of 47companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2009-2012. To test the hypothesis,performed multiple regression analysis that begins classic assumption test includingnormality, linearity, multicollinearity, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation. The data usedhas met all the classical assumptions. Partial test results show that the variable size andvariable quality of the public accounting firm (KAP) that affect audit delay, while variablesolvency and profitability variable does not affect the audit delay.Keywords: audit delay, KAP, company’s size, profitability, solvency

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