Communication skills and accountants : perspectives from the big four accounting firms

Abstract

Purpose: This dissertation aims to shed light on the communication skills of accountants in Malta, by assessing the perspectives of two different segments of the accounting profession. Firstly, the perspective of personnel from the Human Resources (HR) departments on behalf of the Big Four accounting employers, and secondly the accountants’ perspective, whereby accountants will be divided into two categories, being recently qualified accountants (RQAs) and experienced accountants. Design: A mixed methodology approach was adopted, whereby four semistructured interviews were conducted with HR representatives from the HR department of each of the Big Four accounting firms. Furthermore, 175 questionnaire responses were received from accountants employed with the aforementioned companies. Findings: Effective communication skills were thought to be important by HR representatives, RQAs and experienced accountants for the following reasons: employability, career advancement, and for the accounting firm to obtain a competitive advantage. However, findings also show that generally accountants are still less competent in communicating orally or in writing, especially RQAs. Overall, the individual accountant, the employer, and educational institutions, mainly tertiary and secondary educational institutions, were cited as the parties responsible for the development of sound communication skills of accountants. In this regard, the majority of accountants did receive employer-initiated communication training. Nonetheless, it was also found that accountants still fail to take self-initiative to develop and enhance their communication skills by voluntarily attending communication skills training sessions. Conclusion: Communication forms an integral part of the job of the accountant since accountants are responsible for communicating, interpreting and explaining the message/s being conveyed behind the numbers. Therefore, this study concludes that the general lack of communication competence may possibly prevent accountants from performing all their work responsibilities effectively. Value: This study has set forth suggestions on how the current situation could be improved. Several parties could benefit from the development of sound communication skills, including the individual accountant, the accounting firm for which the individual accountant works, and clients.