A PERCEPTION OF THE ROLE OF A FUTURE ACCOUNTANT

Abstract

The purpose of this study isto analyze the perceptions of a future accountant’s role in business and to understand how education and the professional practice of accounting should change accordingly. This study comprised two hundred undergraduates from four different universities in Sri Lanka. The areas of the study were leadership, ethics and professionalism. Exploratory and factor analysis were used to analyze the collected data. The findings of the study indicated that undergraduates perceive that accountants should have an above was done in an environment where the accounting curriculum has substantially changed within the last two decades. The perception of accountants was however positive due to the promotional campaigns launched by professional accounting firms. A study conducted by Jackling et al. revealed that ethical issues were likely to occur in accounting practices, which perceptions have been confirmed in current studies on the perception of accounting.