IT Competences for Professional Accountants: Case Studies in Thailand

Abstract

Today, Information Technology (IT) is already having a major impact on business whilst the traditional roles of accountants is transforming. IT elements have been appearing to be crucial in triggering changes of accountants’ roles. Thus, this study aims to investigate IT competencies among professional accountants to enhance firm performance. This research was conducted with 53 respondents from ten organisations in Thailand. This qualitative research employed interpretive evidence. The results indicate that 19 IT competency factors within the organizational issues were defined. Specifically, these new factors were based on the research findings and the literature and uniqueness to IT competencies for professional accountants, including ERP software skills, BI software skills as well as accounting law and legal skills. The evidence in this study suggests that ERP software, spreadsheets, BI software and accounting software were ranked as much-needed skills to be acquired by accountants while communication skills were ranked as the most required skills and delegation skills as the least required. The findings of the research’s empirical evidence suggest that organizations should understand the appropriateness to develop information technology-related competencies for workers in general and for professional accountants in particular and to provide assistance in all processes of decision making