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CPA Australia

Grant Awarded by Funding Body: CPA Australia

Year of Award: 2020

Funding: AU$$39,917 (GST exclusive)

Qty: 2

Chief Investigator: Professor Denise Jackson

1. CPA Australia (Global Perspectives Research Program), Sustainable Graduate Accounting and Finance Career Pathways: A Multi-Stakeholder Approach, $30,829 (GST exclusive)

Industry research team members:

To better understand and manage the alignment in career perspectives and pathways between different stakeholders (students, new graduates and employers) the project addressed the perceived disconnect between Accounting and Finance graduates’ career expectations and employment opportunities, and employers’ concerns to recruit and retain suitably qualified graduates. It also explored valued job-related criteria and what career success means in the accounting and finance profession. Addressing these issues revealed new insights and further advanced university, industry (broadly defined) and professional association practices that strengthen career sustainability.

Specific research questions:

  • What are the trends in Accounting and Finance graduate employment/self-employment across different sectors?
  • What are the key criteria when applying for graduate roles in accounting and finance, and why?
  • How do Accounting and Finance students, early career accountants (ECA's) and managers/recruiters of ECA's define career success?
  • What are the similarities/differences between the work experiences and career satisfaction of early career Accounting and Finance graduates in the Big Four and other organisations?
  • What are the main challenges facing managers/recruiters of Accounting and Finance graduates?

The multi-stakeholder research project comprised online surveys of a total of 945 participants (475 undergraduate and postgraduate students specialising in Accounting and/or Finance, 305 early career accountants, and 165 managers and/or recruiters of early career accountants in Australia)

2. CPA Australia (Policy and Advocacy), The impact of technology on the desired skill-sets and recruitment of early career accountants, $9,9088 (GST exclusive)

Industry grant research team:

This grant focused on how technology impacts on the skills and ongoing professional development of early career accountants. It examined the extent to which organisations are looking for, and value, different skills among early career accountants, because of trends in technology. The project team explored the views of both early career accountants and organisations as they canvassed such issues as;

  • The preparedness of early career accountants for technology,
  • Effective ways of building future-oriented capabilities relevant to technological trends and,
  • Which stakeholders (e.g., universities, organisations, and professional associations) are responsible for preparing early career accountants for technology

The project involved surveying 315 early career accountants and 175 managers and/or recruiters of early career accountants during 2020 across a range of organisation types and sectors. Ten of the early career accountants and ten managers were also interviewed to further illuminate their experiences and perceptions on the impact of technology on the skills of emerging accountants.

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