THE ACCEPTANCE OF ACCOUNTING AS A PROFESSION.
When discussing the professionalism of accounting, a question that often arises is, how does accounting compare to the other professions, for example law or medicine? Many statements have been made in the accounting literature on the acceptance of accounting as a profession in this relation, but generally these are opinions made by CPA's and very few non-accountant, objective analyses, are ever made. The present stage of the professional development of accounting could be measured by comparing it to some other vocation that has been accepted and recognized as a profession, which at some point in history has gone through a similar stage of development. To make this comparison, a list of authoritative criteria defining a profession should be used as a foundation for measurement. There seems to be no doubt that accountancy as practiced by certified public accountants is generally accepted as a profession. There are a few specific areas where accounting falls below law and medicine in the status of professionalism, but these cannot be labeled as areas of weakness. Rather it is an indication of growth; that accounting is still in its middle stage of development, analogous perhaps to law and medicine in their era of growth.
- DOI
- 10.2308/tar-7098048
- Volume
- 37 (1)
- Pages
- 92-95
- Language
- en
- Export
- BibTeX
- Sources
- openalex crossref