From Conformity to Excellence – Study on Quality of Services in Accounting Profession in Romania
From Conformity to Excellence – Study on Quality of Services in Accounting Profession in Romania

Summary/Abstract: Professional bodies that manage distinct segments of the accounting profession in Romania, respectively CECCAR, CAFR, CCF and ANEVAR are focused on the public interest and expectations of the business environment.The quality of services specific to accounting profession is primarily aimed at compliance with the ethical and professional standards, without depending only on regulatory and monitoring activities exercised by professional bodies but being determined by the mentality of professionals and their ability to meet customer expectations and assess their future needs. In our research we analysed the evolution of quality classes obtained within each professional body during 2009-2014, by ranking the performance of entities that were submitted to quality audit.Though we found an upward trend for promotion in the higher quality classes, we consider that supervision only seeks the degree of compliance with professional and ethical standards in the field. Competition requirements in the accounting profession in the digital era, together with the globalization of markets and standardization of financial communication at regional and global level, are demanding from the professional accountant far more than compliance with existing standards. To study the potential for shifting from compliance to excellence in the accounting profession we conducted an empirical study using survey as a quantitative research method. The survey results revealed that the vast majority of those surveyed are organized in private offices and do not have quality control procedures and only a small proportion of respondents considered necessary to implement a quality management system.We deepened our researches and identified a compliance of professional standards with the requirements of a quality management system based on PEVA cycle and we concluded that the decisive step from compliance to excellence can be achieved by an effect of size, brought along by the association of professional accountants in small and medium entities and assumption of a quality culture in the companies providing accounting services.

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