Technological innovation and the co-production of accounting services in small accounting firms

Grégory Jemine, François-Régis Puyou () and Florence Bouvet
Additional contact information
Grégory Jemine: HEC Liège
François-Régis Puyou: EM - EMLyon Business School
Florence Bouvet: HEC Liège

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: "Purpose: Increasingly, emerging information technologies such as shared software and continuous accounting are offering alternative ways to perform accounting tasks in a supposedly more efficient fashion. Yet, few studies have investigated how they affect the provision of accounting services, especially in the context of small accounting firms, which provide legal and tax services to entrepreneurs and businesses. Drawing on the service perspective, the paper critically examines how technological innovation challenges and reconfigures the co-production of accounting services in these firms.Design/methodology/approach:The paper answers calls issued in prior studies to conduct empirical research on emerging information technologies for accountants. It focuses on the specific context of small accounting firms and draws on interviews with small accounting firms' managers (n = 20).Findings:The study emphasizes five significant challenges that accounting firm managers face when using information technologies to support the provision of their services (ensuring reliability, factoring in their heterogeneous client base, repricing, training clients to use new technologies and promoting advisory services). Information technologies are shown to have a structuring role in the co-production of accounting services, as they lead to reconfigurations of the relationships between accountants and their clients. A range of four configurations is developed to highlight accountants' strategies to maintain collaborative relationships with their clients while integrating new technologies into their work practices.Originality/value:By conceptualizing accounting services as a co-production process, the paper offers new insights into the implications of emerging information technologies for small accounting firms."

Keywords: Technological innovation; Service perspective; Co-production; Small accounting firms; Emerging technologies; Continuous accounting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-01-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-acc, nep-cse, nep-ict and nep-sbm
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04325739
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Published in Accounting Auditing and Accountability Journal, 2024, 37 (1), 280-305 p. ⟨10.1108/AAAJ-08-2022-5981⟩

Downloads: (external link)
https://hal.science/hal-04325739/document (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04325739

DOI: 10.1108/AAAJ-08-2022-5981

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().