| dc.description.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. | en |
