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challenges facing accounting profession

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challenges facing accounting profession
Purpose and Background
The accounting profession seems to be ever changing and is currently facing many challenges. It is a well-known truth that the world we live in is changing at a great speed. The accounting profession does not make an exception and it can be said that it is constantly changing, reorganizing and standing in front of many challenges of the modern world. Nowadays, accounting standards are undergoing the most significant reorganization in nearly a century with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s codification project. In addition, “the conversion to International Financial Reporting Standards that is being pursued by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the FASB” (Edward, 2009). Besides these apparent obstacles, I want to say that we still have many challenges that we need to overcome. For example, the convergence of GAAP with IFRS, more stringent government regulation, improvements in technology, ethics pressing issues, and Globalization. As an accounting practitioner, I think we need to overcome these challenges, find solutions to these problems and move the profession forward.
The Most Important Challenge
I think the most important challenge facing the accounting profession is technology. Technology revolution is taking over and defining every single aspect of the modern world and economy. Technology and specialized software in accounting is not considered as just a useful tool anymore, but it is seen as an integral part of the accounting profession. “Improvements in technology provide accountants with new tools, but also present new challenges such as the need to provide information faster” (Scott, 2014). As the speed of information increases, so do the demands for a more timely, up-to-date information. Accountants today are being asked to do more and do it faster than ever before. This trend will continue and will likely intensify as technology and the speed of communications continue to evolve. “The fast pace of commerce and
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