Continuing professional development for the auditing profession: evidence from Indonesia
Creators: name: Laksmi, Ayu Chairina
Publisher: name: RMIT University
Year: 2024

description: Continuing Professional Development or CPD is a condition of membership in many professions, including accounting. This thesis intends to add to the literature regarding CPD for accountants, especially CPD for the IICPA members by investigating CPD understanding and engagement, and by investigating the influence of CPD drivers and outcomes to the members’ engagement to CPD using theoretical framework constructed in this thesis. It is also the aim of this thesis to provide findings to assist the IICPA and the MoF to develop CPD policy and improve activities. CPD engagement among accountants needs to be investigated in order to know how members understand of and engage in CPD activities. CPD engagement investigated in this thesis includes levels of participation, pattern of participation, preferences of participation and obstacles to participation. The findings on engagement suggest that there were members who did less CPD than required. For pattern of participation, this thesis found that the members undertook topics in accounting practice and standards, industry specialisation and regulations.<br><br>Face-to-face is the most preferred format of CPD. The main obstacle to participation in CPD is time, followed by the big seminar format, location, cost and the quality of speakers. A link between the members’ obstacles to participate in CPD activities with levels of participation was also found since the participants who did less CPD mentioned time, location, cost and the quality of speakers as their obstacles in participating in CPD. The findings of this thesis indicate that the policy regulatory bodies’ requirements received most agreement from the members as a CPD driver followed by lifelong learning and specialist skills. Lifelong learning received more agreements compared with specialist skills. The ethical requirements was also considered as a CPD driver but it received less agreement compared with the other drivers investigated in this thesis. The ethical requirements were not considered as a CPD driver by some members because they perceived that there was no relationship between the ethical requirements and CPD.<br><br>The findings on CPD outcomes indicate that keeping up to date, the improvement and broadening of knowledge and skills, the development of personal qualities necessary to execute professional and technical duties, and the sustainability of the profession as a whole are CPD outcomes for the members. The data analysis conducted also indicates a link between the members who did less CPD and their agreement with CPD drivers and outcomes. The policy regulatory bodies’ requirement, specialised skills, and lifelong learning as CPD drivers received agreement from the members who did less CPD; however, the ethical requirements received less agreement. The findings regarding CPD outcomes suggest that keeping up to date, the improvement and broadening of knowledge and skills, the development of personal qualities necessary to execute professional and technical duties, and the sustainability of the profession as a whole are CPD outcomes for the members who did less CPD. It can be concluded that the less agreement received by ethical requirements as a CPD driver seem to influence the levels of participation by the members.