Factors Influencing Emerging CompetencieAmong Professional Accountants in the Cyber Era: Malaysian Evidence

The recent rise of big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technology is a wake-up call for the accounting profession. They face numerous challenges in adapting to the demanding cyber era. This study was conducted to examine the internal and external factors that drive the emerging competencies among professional accountants in Malaysia. A qualitative approach was employed with a semi-structured interview conducted with companies awarded Graduates' Choice Awards, Company of The Year, Best Workplace Practices Award and Corporate Social Responsibility Leadership Award in recent years. This study found that internal factors such as the company's vision, leadership change, individual achievement indicators, technology and business process are the main contributors influencing the changes in the accounting function. On the other hand, external factors such as political issues, the requirement to respond to green the environment, and the COVID-19 pandemic have caused the emergence of competencies among professional accountants. The competencies include soft skills, empathy, analytical, leadership, communication, emotional intelligence, integrity, and flexibility. This is consistent with the stakeholder theory by Freeman, which explains that different stakeholders' expectations lead to changes in how organisations operate. Indirectly forcing the accounting profession to respond accordingly. © 2023, Universiti Teknologi Mara. All rights reserved.

Digital Transformation of Accounting Profession: Post Covid-19 era

The accounting profession faces significant challenges and noticeable changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The rising demand for digital talent and the need to ensure critical thinking skills are applied in making decisions have become the main challenges for accountants nowadays. A drastic change from the official site to working from home due to lockdown is an issue to be discussed. Therefore, based on case studies, this paper aims to discuss the effects of COVID-19 on the accounting profession. The selection of the case studies is based on the company awarded as Best Employer and Most Attractive Graduate Employers to Work in Malaysia in recent years. By focusing on the importance of digital and critical thinking, a framework is developed to show the transformation of the accounting profession over the last 50 years and future insights for the accounting talent in the current context. The findings show that the Accountant's traditional role of preparing a complete set of accounts is still vital and relevant. However, accountants need to equip themselves with digital and critical thinking skills to become future-fit accountants in the near future, especially in the post-COVID 19 era.