Privalomo Lietuvos buhalterių kvalifikacijos egzaminavimo pagrįstumo vertinimas
Mandatory qualifying examination of accountants in Lithuania: an assessment of feasibility

Summary/Abstract: Straipsnyje privalomas Lietuvos buhalterių kvalifikacijos egzaminavimas vertinamas trimis aspektais: kiek privalomas buhalterių egzaminavimas yra paplitęs kitose ES šalyse, ar rinkoje egzistuoja kitos kvalifikacijos patvirtinimo alternatyvos bei kaip esamą reikalavimą vertina Lietuvos apskaitos rinkos ekspertai. Tyrimo rezultatai rodo, kad privalomas Lietuvos buhalterių kvalifikacijos egzaminavimas nėra pagrįstas nei vienu iš analizuotų aspektų. Lietuvos apskaitos rinkai labiau tinkama būtų rinkos savireguliacijos alternatyva. Due to the rapid pace of globalization and business relationships management of companies become more and more complex and provoke many changes in the way business is run. It also increases the need for true and fair accounting information as the main source of information about an entity. Therefore the role of reliable and honest accountants in management of companies and worldwide economy is important as never. Therefore, knowledge, skill and qualification of accountants are important topics of discussion among researchers and professionals. According to the national Law of Accounting as of 2016 Lithuania introduces new requirements regarding qualification of chief accountants. According to these requirements all the accountants who sign financial statements of an entity have to pass two compulsory exams and have to comply with the requirements of Code of Professional accountants. However, despite the fact that provisions of the law come in force in less than two years, accountants’ qualification examination system is not yet clear. It raises many questions to the participants of Lithuanian accounting market, such as what will be the content of the exam, should such exams be specialized based on size and sector of entities, etc. Analysis of Lithuanian and foreign scientific literature revealed a lack of up to date scientific research on qualifying examination for accountants. However, as such Lithuanian requirement sets many discussions among practitioners and as it will strongly influence future of accounting profession in Lithuania, a scientific discussion on the problem is required. The aim of this paper is to assess if Lithuanian requirement for mandatory qualifying examination of accountants is feasible. Feasibility of the mandatory qualifying examination of accountants is assessed by analyzing three aspects: if such mandatory examination is common among the other EU members, if other alternatives to prove qualification exist in the market, and how such requirement is evaluated by Lithuanian accounting experts...

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