Accounting is a professional occupation that is continually evolving and requires a dedication to continuing education to meet the legal demands of new regulations and to maintain professional competency. Continuing Professional Education (CPE) is required by state boards for certified public accountants (CPA) to meet these requirements and to maintain professional competence. CPAs are responsible for complying with all applicable CPE requirements, rules, and regulations of state boards of accountancy, as well as those of other professional organizations. The purpose of this study was to determine the opinions of CPAs about the current requirements for CPE and to determine their level of satisfaction with the content and delivery of CPE instruction. CPE has come under scrutiny in recent years with some professionals questioning if the needs of accounting professional and the objectives of continuing education are being met. This survey research included 23 Likert-type items and 5 demographic questions. The survey was administered to 203 licensed certified public accountants to obtain their opinions about continuing education. The 5 dimensions of the survey were: Value (cost benefit), Delivery (methods and quality), Benefit to Self, Benefit to Others, and Barriers (to obtaining CPE). These dimensions were compared across the demographic variables of gender, years of experience, type of business, number of employees, and position with their employer. No significant differences were found among the 5 dimensions between gender or among different positions. Significant differences did occur among the Dimension of Value opinions based on years of experience, among the Dimension of Value opinions based on type of business, among Dimension of Benefit to Self based on type of business, among the Dimension of Value based on number of employees, and among the Dimension of Benefit to Others based on number of employees.

Titel: Oberoende och rådgivning - En kvalitativ studie om rådgivningens påverkan på oberoendet Nivå: Examensarbete på grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Zaneta Olszak och Armelinda Ullini Handledare: Jan Svanberg Datum: 2024 – maj Syfte: Syftet är att förstå hur revisorer hanterar och resonerar kring rådgivningens påverkan på oberoendet. Metod: Denna studie består av en kvalitativ metod med en abduktiv ansats där sju semi-strukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med auktoriserade revisorer. Resultat & slutsatser: Resultaten tyder på att det är en fördel att tillhandahålla fristående rådgivning till revisionsklienter speciellt till små och ägarledda bolag på grund av begränsade resurser, i den mån det inte påverkar oberoendet. Vid egenintressehot anses det synliga oberoendet påverkas mer än det faktiska oberoendet. Det faktiska oberoendet anses försämras vid självgranskningshot. Gränsen mellan fristående och revisionsrådgivning anses inte alltid vara tydlig. Hantering av självgranskningshot sker genom arbetsfördelning och second opinion. Dessutom vid osäkerhet om gränsen mellan fristående och revisionsrådgivning efterfrågas en second opinion från kollegor.   Examensarbetets bidrag: Studien har bidragit med förståelsen för hur revisorer hanterar och resonerar kring rådgivningens påverkan på oberoendet, vilket inkluderar förståelsen om oberoendeproblematiken gällande gränsen mellan revisions- och fristående rådgivning. Resultatet kan även vara viktig för reglerare för att förbättra etiska normer och regelverk. Förslag till framtida forskning: Att undersöka skillnader i hur revisorer anser att rådgivningen påverkar oberoendet och hur oberoende problematik hanteras utifrån revisionsbyråns storlek. Ett annat förslag är att vidare fördjupa sig i att undersöka hur revisorer går tillväga gällande gränsen mellan revisions- och fristående rådgivning.  Nyckelord: oberoende, revisionsrådgivning, fristående rådgivning, auktoriserad revisor / Title: Independence and advisory services - A qualitative study on the impact of advisory services on independence Level: Bachelor's Degree thesis in Business Administration Author: Zaneta Olszak and Armelinda Ullini Supervisor: Jan Svanberg Date: 2024 - may Aim: The aim is to understand how auditors manage and reason about the impact of advisory services on independence.  Method: This study consists of a qualitative method and abductive approach where seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with Certified Public Accountants.  Results and conclusions: The results suggest that there is an advantage in providing independent advice to audit clients especially to small and owner-managed companies due to limited resources, as long as independence is not affected. In the case of self-interest threats, it is considered to affect more independence in appearance than it affects independence in fact. Independence in fact is considered impaired in the case of self-review threats. The boundary between non-audit services and audit advisory is not always considered clear. Management of self-review threats takes place through division of labor and second opinion. In addition, if there is uncertainty about the boundary between non-audit services and audit advisory, a second opinion is requested from colleagues. Contribution of the thesis: The study has contributed to the understanding of how auditors handle and reason about advisory services influence on independence, which includes the understanding of the independence problem regarding the border between audit advisory and non-audit services. The result may also be important for regulators to improve ethical standards and regulations. Suggestions for future research: To investigate differences in how auditors consider advisory services to affect independence and how independence issues are handled based on the size of the audit firm. Another suggestion is to delve further into examining how auditors approach the boundary between audit advisory and non-audit services. Key words: independence, audit advisory, non-audit services, Certified Public Accountant

En brist på auktoriserade revisorer är ett problem som har uppmärksammats i Sverige och på global nivå under en längre tid. Syftet med denna studie är att förklara vad som påverkar svenska ekonomistudenters intentioner att inrikta sig mot att bli auktoriserad revisor, genom att nyttja Ajzens teori om planerat beteende. Tidigare forskning har indikerat att studenters intentioner för en karriär som auktoriserad revisor fungerar väl i syfte att förutse vilka som faktiskt kommer att fullfölja ett visst beteende. Sådan forskning saknas dock inom den svenska kontexten, vilket medför svårigheter att skapa en grund för praktiska lösningar. För att testa faktorer som är relevanta till studenters intentionsbildande nyttjas binär logistisk regression, med ett dataunderlag som utgörs av enkäter skickade till ekonomistudenter på nio lärosäten i Sverige. I studien framkommer det att ett intresse för redovisning och revision är den starkaste drivkraften i intentionsbildandet. En uppfattning om att yrket medför god inkomstpotential bidrar också till en ökad benägenhet att inrikta sig mot att bli auktoriserad revisor. En uppfattning om att yrkesvalet medför hög social status har mot förväntan en starkt reducerande effekt på benägenheten att ha en intention. Resultaten visar att studenters intentioner huvudsakligen påverkas av deras utfallsförväntningar. För praktiska lösningar indikerar resultaten att det är mest lämpligt att fokusera på att skapa intresse för redovisning och revision, samt att skapa en tillfredställande bild av yrkets inkomstpotential. Det är inte att rekommendera att inrikta sig mot att marknadsföra yrkets sociala belöningar, då detta skulle vara kontraproduktivt. / A shortage of practicing certified public accountants (CPA) is a problem that has been observed in Sweden, and on a global scale, for a relatively long time. The purpose of this study is therefore to explain what influences intentions to pursue a CPA certification among Swedish students of economics, by utilizing Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior. Previous research has indicated that students’ intentions to pursue a CPA certification serve as a functional predictor for actual future behavior. This direction of research is still largely unexplored in the Swedish context, making it hard to form a basis for practical solutions. Relevant factors are tested using a binary logistic regression analysis, applied to survey data from students of economics at nine Swedish universities. The study shows that genuine interest for accounting and auditing constitutes the strongest motivator for students’ intentions. Perceptions of the career as financially rewarding also increase the likelihood of having an intention, to a lesser extent. Against expectations, the study also finds that perceptions of high social status for CPAs has a strong diminishing effect on the likelihoodof having an intention. The study therefore finds that students’ intentions can largely be explained as a result of their outcome expectations. The implication for practical solutions is that fostering interest for accounting and auditing is of high importance. Projecting an image of the career as financially rewarding is also important, albeit to a lesser extent. Trying to make the career seem rewarding through increased social status is not recommended, given its apparent counterproductive effect.

The accounting profession continually has problems with hiring and keeping qualified staff; and many accounting scandals have shown a lack of ethical behavior on the part of Certified Public Accountants (CPA). This suggest a misfit between those in the profession and the ethics that the profession strives towards. Research has shown that the congruity of personal values with organizational values, person-organization fit (P-O fit), is an important factor in the hiring, socialization, and retention of employees. In addition, ethical behavior has been found related to P-O fit. Accounting educators have been called upon to address these problems by inculcating accounting students with the values of the accounting profession. This research firstly reports on the results of a comparison of the personal values of upper level accounting students in Georgia with the personal values of CPA leaders in Georgia. Personal value priorities were measured with the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS). The findings indicated that these samples of Georgia CPA leaders (N = 193) and accounting students (N = 516) significantly differed in the priority given to 24 of the 36 (66.7%) RVS values. This result suggests a lack of P-O fit between accounting students and the accounting profession. Secondly, this research reports on the effectiveness of two education interventions designed to improve the P-O fit of accounting students: a Curriculum Modification Intervention and a Value Self-Confrontation (VSC) Intervention. These education interventions were delivered online as part of the content of two distance learning classes on accounting ethics. The curriculum of both classes were augmented with content aimed at increasing the priority given to the value of courageous. The two classes were designated as either Group 1 or Group 2. Group 1 received only the Curriculum Modification Intervention. Group 2 received both the Curriculum Modification Intervention and the VSC Intervention, which was targeted at increasing the priority given to the four values of capable, courageous. honest, and responsible—values related to the Code of Professional Conduct and Bylaws (2012) of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The results indicated that Group 1, from the beginning to the end of class (short-term value change), did not increase the priority given to courageous. Thus, the stand-alone Curriculum Modification Intervention did not result in the desired effect. Group 2, on the other hand, did increase the short-term priority given to all four of the targeted values. Moreover, Group 2 increased the long-term priority given to two of the four targeted values: capable and courageous. The higher priority given to these values at the end of class persisted for 15-16 weeks. The effect sizes indicated practical significance. These results suggest that the VSC Intervention was effective at inducing both short-term and long-term value change in the priority given to values of importance to the ethics of the accounting profession. These findings have implications for CPA firms, specifically with regard to hiring ethically “fitting” staff and fostering an ethical culture in accounting firms. The results of this research also provide input that may be helpful in improving accounting pedagogy, especially the pedagogy of accounting ethics education and distance education. Key words: person-organization fit, P-O fit, CPA firm turnover, personal values, value change, value self-confrontation, VSC, Rokeach Value Survey, RVS, Certified Public Accountant, CPA, ethics education, accounting students, online education, distance learning. / Business Management / D.B.L.