Full-text resources of CEJSH and other databases are now available in the new Library of Science.
Visit https://bibliotekanauki.pl

PL EN


2025 | 49(1) | 145-162

Article title

The impact of digitalization on enhancing business processes in accounting firms. The case of Croatia

Content

Title variants

PL
Wpływ cyfryzacji na usprawnienie procesów biznesowych w firmach księgowych. Przypadek z Chorwacji

Languages of publication

EN

Abstracts

EN
Purpose: The push to digitalize accounting firms is driven partly by legislative requirements, which mandate the submission of financial and other reports using digital certificates and signatures as stipulated by laws and regulations. Additionally, accounting firms are proactively adopting various technological solutions to optimize their business processes, reduce costs, and expand the range of services they offer to clients. This research aims to determine the extent to which accounting firms are digitizing their business processes and whether they recognize the benefits of this digitalization. Methodology/approach: Data on the digitalization of accounting firm operations was collected through an online questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis with IBM SPSS v27 software were used to test the correlation of variables. The methodology also incorporated Wilcoxon signed-rank test and descriptive statistics. Findings: The research indicates a correlation between digitalization and improved business processes in accounting firms. Despite efforts to fully digitize their operations, accounting firms are still more focused on digitizing the services they provide to their clients rather than their own internal business processes. Research limitations/implications: The subjectivity inherent in questionnaires can pose a limitation to this research, as responses may be influenced by the respondents' personal perceptions and biases. To address this, we carefully designed the questionnaire to reduce ambiguity and ensure clarity. Originality/value: The results indicate a continuous process of implementing technological innovations in the accounting industry. The research emphasizes the need for legislative involvement in simplifying digital transformation and integrating legislative databases.
PL
Cel: Dążenie do cyfryzacji firm księgowych jest częściowo spowodowane wymogami prawnymi, które nakazują składanie sprawozdań finansowych i innych raportów przy użyciu cyfrowych certyfikatów i podpisów zgodnie z przepisami ustawowymi i wykonawczymi. Ponadto firmy księgowe proaktywnie wdrażają różne rozwiązania technologiczne w celu optymalizacji procesów biznesowych, obniżenia kosztów i rozszerzenia zakresu usług oferowanych klientom. Niniejsze badanie ma na celu określenie, w jakim stopniu firmy księgowe digitalizują swoje procesy biznesowe i czy dostrzegają korzyści płynące z tej cyfryzacji. Metodyka/podejście badawcze: Dane dotyczące cyfryzacji działalności firm księgowych zostały zebrane z wykorzystaniem kwestionariusza online. Do testowania korelacji zmiennych zastosowano analizę regresji wielokrotnej za pomocą oprogramowania IBM SPSS v27. Metodologia obejmowała również test Wilcoxona i statystykę opisową. Wyniki: Przeprowadzone badania wskazują na związek między cyfryzacją a usprawnieniem procesów biznesowych w firmach księgowych. Pomimo wysiłków zmierzających do pełnej cyfryzacji swoich operacji firmy księgowe nadal bardziej koncentrują się na cyfryzacji usług, które świadczą swoim klientom, niż na własnych wewnętrznych procesach biznesowych. Ograniczenia/implikacje badawcze: Subiektywizm nieodłącznie związany z kwestionariuszami może stanowić ograniczenie dla tego badania, ponieważ na odpowiedzi mogą mieć wpływ osobiste spostrzeżenia i uprzedzenia respondentów. Aby temu zaradzić, starannie zaprojektowano kwestionariusz w celu zmniejszenia dwuznaczności i zapewnienia jasności. Oryginalność/wartość: Wyniki badań wskazują na ciągły proces wdrażania innowacji technologicznych w branży księgowej. Badania podkreślają potrzebę zaangażowania ustawodawcy w uproszczenie transformacji cyfrowej i integrację legislacyjnych baz danych.

Year

Issue

Pages

145-162

Physical description

Contributors

  • assistant director for financial operations, Polyclinic for the Rehabilitation of Listening and Speech SUVAG
  • University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics and Business, Accounting Departmen

References

  • Alam Md. S., Hossain D.M. (2021), Management Accounting in the Era of Digitalization, “The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business”, 12 (11), pp. 1–8; https://doi.org/10.13106/JIDB.2021.VOL12.NO11.1.
  • Anton C.E. (2023), Opinions of accounting companies managers regarding the digitalization process of accounting, “Bulletin of the Transylvania University of Braşov Series V: Economic Sciences”, 16 (65) No. 1.
  • Bahovec V., Dumičić K., Erjavec N., Čižmešija M., Kurnoga N., Arnerić J., Čeh Časni A., Jakšić S., Sorić P., Žmuk B., Palić I., Lolić I. (2016), Statistika, Element d.o.o., Zagreb.
  • Coman D.M., Ionescu C.A., Duică A., Coman M.D., Uzlau M.C., Stanescu S.G., State V. (2022), Digitization of Accounting: The Premise of the Paradigm Shift of Role of the Professional Accountant, “Applied Sciences”, 12 (7), 3359, pp. 1–25; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12073359.
  • Černe K. (2008), Student perception of the accounting profession from the aspect of international educational standards for professional accountants, “Economic Research – Ekonomska istraživanja”, 21 (1), pp. 69–85.
  • Damayanti C.R. (2019), Accounting and Its Challenges in the New Era, Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of Business and Public Administration (AICoBPA 2018), Series Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, vol. 93, Atlantis Press, pp. 81–83.
  • Dănăilă A.M., Tache E.S., Cucui I., Radu V. (2023), Digitalization process in exercise of the accounting profession, “Theoretical and Applied Economics”,30, Special Issue, pp. 9–18.
  • Gherman B.M., Molociniuc H.M., Grosu V. (2021), Digitalization of Accounting – Trends and Perspectives, “The Journal of Information Systems & Operations Management”, 15 (1), pp. 104–113.
  • Gonçalves M.J.A., da Silva A.C.F., Ferreira C.G. (2022), The Future of Accounting: How Will Digital Transformation Impact the Sector?, “Informatics”, 9 (1), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/informatics9010019
  • Halar P., Pavić I., Dečman N. (2023), Current Trends and Development Perspectives of the Accounting Profession: A Roadmap for the Future, “Sustainability, Organization, Business and Economic Research (SOBER)”, 1, pp. 115–132; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8060354.
  • Jans M., Aysolmaz B., Corten M., Joshi A., Peteghem M. (2022), Digitalization in accounting – Warmly embraced or coldly ignored?, “Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal”, 36 (9), pp. 61–85.
  • Knudsen D.R. (2020), Elusive boundaries, power relations, and knowledge production: A systematic review of the literature on digitalization in accounting, “International Journal of Accounting Information Systems”, 36, pp. 1–22; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accinf.2019.100441.
  • Koleva B., Mitreva M. (2023), Digitalization in accounting - danger, challenge or trend, “Academic Journal Management and Education”, 19 (1), pp. 13–20.
  • Kovalevska N., Nesterenko I., Lutsenko O., Nesterenko O., Hlushach Y. (2022), Problems of accounting digitalization in conditions of business processes digitalization, “Amazonia Investiga”, 11 (56), pp. 132 –141; https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2022.56.08.1
  • Kusumawardhani F.K., Ratmono D., Wibowo S.T., Darsono D., Widyatmoko S., Rokhman N. (2024), The impact of digitalization in accounting systems on information quality, cost reduction and decision making: Evidence from SMEs, “International Journal of Data and Network Science”, 8 (2), pp. 1111–1116; https://doi.org/10.5267/j.ijdns.2023.11.023.
  • Meraghni O., Bekkouche L., Demdoum Z. (2021), Impact of Digital Transformation on Accounting Information Systems – Evidence from Algerian Firms, “Economics and Business”, 35, pp. 249–264; https://doi.org/10.2478/eb-2021-0017.
  • Mutoharoh, Winarsih, Siti Zahrah Buyong, (2020), Digitalization of accounting information impact on MSMEs’ profitability and productivity, “Jurnal Riset Akuntansi dan Bisnis Airlangga”, 5 (2), pp. 867–884.
  • Novak A., Barišić I., Mamić Sačer I. (2021), Edukacija o informacijskim tehnologijama u računovodstvu – analiza na području visokog školstva odabranih europskih zemalja, “Ekonomska misao i praksa”, 30 (1), pp. 243–265.
  • Reis J., Amorim M., Melão N., Cohen Y., Rodrigues M. (2020), Digitalization: A Literature Review and Research Agenda, Proceedings on 25th International Joint Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management – IJCIEOM 2019, Series Lecture Notes on Multidisciplinary Industrial Engineering, Springer, pp. 443–456.
  • Savić B., Pavlović V. (2023), Impact of Digitalization on the Accounting Profession, [in:] Benković, S., Labus, A., Milosavljević, M. (eds.), Digital Transformation of the Financial Industry. Contributions to Finance and Accounting, Springer, Cham; https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-23269-5_2.
  • Shuhidan S. M., Awang, Y., Taib, A., Rashid, N., Hasan, M. S. (2023), Technology Readiness Among Future Accountants Towards Digitalization of Accounting Profession, “Indonesian Journal of Sustainability Accounting and Management”, 7 (51), pp. 1–12; https://doi.org/10.28992/ijsam.v7s1.878.
  • Stancheva-Todorova E.P. (2018), How Artificial Intelligence is Challenging Accounting Profession, “Journal of International Scientific Publications”, 12, pp. 126–141.
  • Stoica O.C., Ionescu-Feleagă L. (2021a), Digitalization in Accounting: A Structured Literature Review, Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Economics and Social Sciences, pp. 453–464; published online on: 22 Nov 2021 in: Resilience and Economic Intelligence Through Digitalization and Big Data Analytics; https://doi.org/10.2478/9788366675704-045.
  • Stoica O.C., Ionescu-Feleagă L. (2021b), The accounting practitioner as a driver of digitalization pace, Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, 15 (1), pp. 768–782; https://doi.org/10.2478/picbe-2021-0072.
  • Taib A., Awang Y., Shuhidan S.M., Rashid N., Hasan M.S. (2022), Digitalization in Accounting: Technology Knowledge and Readiness of Future Accountants, “Universal Journal of Accounting and Finance”, 10 (1), pp. 348–357; https://doi.org/10.13189/ujaf.2022.100135.
  • Verhoef P.C., Broekhuizen T., Bart Y., Bhattacharya A., Qi Dong J., Fabian N., Haenlein M. (2019), Digital transformation: A multidisciplinary reflection and research agenda, “Journal of Business Research”, 122, pp. 889–901.
  • Wahyuni T. (2020), The role of information technology in supporting accountant profession in the era of industrial revolution 4.0, Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Vocational Higher Education (ICVHE 2018), Series Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, pp. 256–264.
  • Žager K., Dečman N., Rep A. (2020), The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Accounting Process, Proceedings of the 9th International Scientific Symposium “Region, Entrepreneurship, Development” Ekonomski fakultet Sveučilišta Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku, Osijek, pp. 1430–1444.
  • ACCA (2023), Digital Horizons: Technology, Innovation and the Future of Accounting, https://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/ACCA_Global/professional-insights/digital-horizons2023/PI-DIGITAL-HORIZONS%20v5.pdf (access 28.05.2024).
  • Bloomberg J. (2018), Digitization, Digitalization, And Digital Transformation: Confuse Them At Your Peril, https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbloomberg/2018/04/29/digitization-digitalization-and-digital-transformation-confuse-them-at-your-peril/ (access 28.05.2024).
  • IFAC (2019), Future-fit Accountants – CFO & Finance Function Roles For The Next Decade, https://www.ifac.org/knowledge-gateway/attractiveness-profession/publications/futurefit-accountants-roles-next-decade (access 28.05.2024).
  • Takamizawa L. (2024), Harnessing Innovation: Exploring the Responsible Use of AI in Finance and Accounting, IFAC (2024), https://www.ifac.org/knowledge-gateway/discussion/harnessing-innovation-exploring-responsible-use-ai-finance-and-accounting (access 28.05.2024).

Document Type

Publication order reference

Identifiers

YADDA identifier

bwmeta1.element.desklight-c5949ca7-e252-4158-b957-96090ec7729c
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.