Quality assurance monitoring of accounting practices: adding value for the client or adding cost to the firm?

Abstract

This thesis looks at how the accounting industry is regulated in Ireland. It looks at the legislation regarding the supervision of the industry and the bodies which are responsible for that supervision. It specifically looks at how accountancy firms across the country are monitored in terms of quality assurance. The effectiveness of the monitoring process is examined in order to discover how the current regulations impact on firms and what this means for the clients, those who need to have confidence in the quality of service that they are getting in order to successfully run their businesses at this time of economic recession. In order to conduct the research, the author decided that an interpretive philosophy was most appropriate because it would allow for a flexible approach to be taken when collecting the data. The data was collected by conducting in depth semi structured interviews which allowed the author the flexibility and opportunity to adapt to changes in direction whenever necessary. The results, based on interviews with accountants and those who monitor and supervise them, show that the monitoring process in regulatory areas such as auditing are effective. Professional accountants are very open and receptive to the monitoring process, are willing to learn and want to serve their clients as best they can. The study does however show a gap outside of the regulatory areas where monitoring is not mandatory for those who are performing accounting tasks but are not members of one of the professional accountancy bodies. As the level of non-regulatory work is increasing, this research highlights some of the challenges facing accountants and those who supervise the industry in the future.