Patterns underlying required competencies for CPA professionals: a content and cluster analysis of job ads

ABSTRACT

In today's dynamic environment, the adaptation of the accounting profession to meet actual socio-economic needs is a challenging, and yet necessary, task. This study analyzes the technical competency requirements signalled in 171 online job advertisements for accounting positions by Canadian organizations and contrasts them with the CPA Canada competency framework, which serves as the basis for the training and accreditation of professional accountants. Following a content and a cluster analysis of the job ads, three well-separated and meaningful profiles of positions are uncovered based on technical competencies that Canadian organizations required when hiring accountants: the financial reporting, the tax aggressiveness, and the performance management profiles. From a practical standpoint, this study provides the Canadian accounting professional body, as well as educators in the accounting field, with insights regarding the expectations of the job market. The study also has implications in accounting education beyond the Canadian context.

KEYWORDS:

• Accounting profession
• accounting competencies
• job advertisements
• signalling theory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

ORCID

Sylvestre Uwizeyemungu http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1532-8848

Placide Poba-Nzaou http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7007-764X

Notes

1 A consensus seems to emerge from the literature that the most significant competency gaps between the accounting education system and the job market are related to soft competencies as opposed to technical competencies (Dunbar et al., 2016; Kavanagh & Drennan, 2008). However, prior research does not specify if and to what extent some bundles of technical competencies are required more than others. Thus, this study focuses on technical competencies with the intention to fill that gap.

2 Cf.: https://www.betterteam.com/job-posting-sites-canada; https://www.thebalancecareers.com/top-best-job-websites-2064080

3 This was the version of CPA-Canada competency framework at the time of this research, at the end of the year 2018. Since then, CPA-Canada has released a new competency framework effective from 2019. The most significant change in the 2019 framework is the acknowledgement of IT-related competencies.