۱- Introduction

۲- Literature review

۳- Theoretical perspective

۴- Research method

۵- Findings

۶- Discussion

۷- Conclusion

References

Abstract

A rapidly growing emerging economy such as Indonesia has an increasing need for qualified accountants to service the many needs of business. However, the current dearth of qualified accountants is becoming critical, and this situation will only get worse as Big 4 firms, midtier firms and local firms struggle to recruit enough trainees to qualify as professional accountants. This study examines the plight of the Indonesian accounting profession by investigating why accounting students are shunning the profession, possibly leading to the demise of the Indonesian profession as we know it today. The study shows that although career intention constantly changes as new experiences are encountered, background factors matter. Ethnicity, living in an urban or rural environment, and where one is educated all matter to career intention. Further, one’s own self-efficacy, such as English language ability, and other people’s views are all influential in where we want to work. To address this looming crisis in the profession the Indonesian government needs to implement policies that ensure that the education curriculum addresses English language literacy, especially in rural areas; and the profession needs to engage more with remoter universities in rural locations to recruit high achieving students to provide greater diversity in the profession.

Introduction

A growing global economy needs professional accountants to provide services to business and give assurance over financial reporting through the auditing function (Jui & Wong 2013). There are many pathways to become an accountant, most notably in professional accounting firms (PAFs), in business or in the government (Warrick, Daniels & Scott 2010). In many countries including the UK, Australia and the United States, the preferred option is to join a professional firm (Ahmed, Alam & Alam 1997; Bagley, Dalton & Ortegren 2012; Ferguson & Hatherly 1991) and sit professional exams. However, some accounting graduates do not choose the profession or to undertake additional study and further examinations after graduating (Crossman 2017). Each career path has different expectations in terms of financial and personal costs, long-term prospects, working hours and job security. As well as these expectations, career choices may also be influenced by a sense of one’s own ability, innate personal interests and family demands. In Indonesia, many accounting graduates enter the employment market each year, but a relatively small percentage choose a public accounting career path (Sawarjuwono 2013; Yuliansyah & Suryani 2016). The dearth of public accountants poses a problem for Indonesia as an economic power, both regionally and internationally. In December 2015, Indonesia became a founding member of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) opening up free trade and the free movement of services, such as accountancy, between member economies (Ifa & Afm 2016). With an already low number of public accountants per capita in Indonesia (World Bank 2014) the future of the accounting profession is threatened, especially as there are only 1067 individuals in the whole of the Indonesia with the professional qualifications to sign an audit report. To service the businesses that will enable Indonesia to be economically competitive within the AEC region and at the global level (Ded & Ifa 2016), the Indonesian government and the profession1 need to take urgent action to increase the quantity and quality of professionally qualified accountants.