Relationship between competency as per the international education standards for accounting professionals and the awareness and understanding of the Thai financial reporting standards for small and medium sized enterprises: A case study of accounting professionals in Thailand's southern region

Abstract

     The aims of this empirical research were to investigate the competency levels according to the International Education Standards (IES) for Accounting Professionals and the awareness and understanding (perception) level with regard to the Thai Financial Reporting Standards (TFRS, a new set of local accounting standards to take effect in 2017) for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) of accountants in southern Thailand; to test the differences in the perception of the TFRS for Non-Publicly Accountable Entities (NPAEs) and for SMEs; and to examine the relationships between five IES competencies and the perception of the TFRS for SMEs. The sample size was 425 accountants working in one of the 14 southern provinces of the country. Descriptive analysis and multiple regression were employed for analysis of the data. The research findings revealed that of the five IES competencies, the skills competency was the most prominent in the participating accountants, followed by the relations, analysis, ethics, and knowledge competencies. In addition, the perception levels of the TFRS for NPAEs and SMEs were both medium and no significant difference was found between the perception of the TFRS for NPAEs and SMEs. Nonetheless, statistically significant relationships existed for gender, age, work experience, and analysis competency with the perception of the TFRS for SMEs. Age, work experience, and relations competency significantly influenced the perception level of the TFRS for NPAEs. This research was the first to investigate Thai accountants’ perception (awareness and understanding) of the TFRS for SMEs