The Cand.Merc.Aud. Study as Theoretical Part of the Education for State-authorized Public Accountants

Abstract

The value of an auditor's work relies on society's confidence in the auditor's competence; this is achieved through knowledge and skill, which are the products of education, training, and experience (Flint, 1988).

The education to become a state-authorized public accountant(SAPA) is regulated by Danish and international laws. It is required to complete a Master of Science (MSc) in Business Administration and Auditing to attend the exam for State-authorized Auditor. This thesis aims to study the professional competencies Copenhagen Business School desires to develop in the students for becoming stateauthorized public accountants and how they succeed.

This research is a case study done through a constructive paradigm. I studied the legislation and Acts in this area to understand this phenomenon. Qualitative interviews are conducted for the collection of data. Interviews with the Head of Studies at CBS, Kim Klarskov, and Stine Grothe, a member of the SR-Akademi council, were conducted to develop the understanding of this topic. Furthermore, I interviewed three prospective candidates and three SAPA who completed their exams in 2022.

Using Brenda Porter's theory on the expectation gap, I found that the subject areas the students must complete during their master's program are the same as listed in the Act describing the exam to become SAPA. However, the distribution of ECTS points between the subjects varies from the Act's focus. Based on the data, I concluded that an expectation gap exists in the deficient standards.

The SR-Akademi, which offers a training course for candidates who wish to become SAPA, is experiencing a lack of theoretical knowledge among the candidates. The candidates attending the SR-Akademi get surprised by the difficulty level at the SR-Akademi. Therefore, it is concluded that there is a deficient performance among the master candidates.

Ryan & Deci's motivation theory is used to study the motivation among the respondents. I found that many respondents focused on completing the master course instead of learning the theory. They prioritize work over study. It has been observed that the respondents with employers showing more interest seem to achieve a higher benefit from the studies than those whose employers showed little or no interest in the respondents studying for their Masters.

CBS is changing the master's program this fall. Their focus is to increase participation among the students. They hope their actions will benefit the students and increase their performance. However, CBS cannot do it alone, as this study shows that a motivated student with employer support is also essential.