A Developing Economy Perspective of the ‘Traditional Roles’ of the Professional Accountant within South African SMEs
A Developing Economy Perspective of the ‘Traditional Roles’ of the Professional Accountant within South African SMEs

Summary/Abstract: This paper explores the perceptions of professional accountants and SME owners with regards to the traditional compliance roles of professional accountants within South African SMEs. Semi-structured interviews with 20 experienced professional accountants and 20 SME owners highlight practical issues within the role of the accountant in statutory financial reporting and taxation advisory functions. The traditional roles are not consistently seen as an organic part of an SMEs business process, despite multiple arguments that professional accountants can add value within SMEs. Interviewees are also unconvinced that a professional accountant’s traditional role is taken seriously within the current SME context, further limiting the interconnection between value adding services and compliance services. This adds to the limited body of interpretive research on the role of professional accountants within SMEs and offers practical insights for professional accountancy organizations, policy makers, professional accountants, SME and academics.

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