WHAT CONSTITUTES A PROFESSION

The question of what constitutes a profession is quite problematic. Most observers continue to frame
the critical traits that an occupation must possess (Greenwood 1957). Millerson (1964) found very
little commonality within characteristics of 21 occupations. Early research has shown that the
process of becoming a professional involves much more than simply passing examinations and being
registered to practice (Dingwall and Lewis, 1983; Abbott, 1988). Rather, becoming a professional is a
complex accomplishment which involves induction of formal and informal norms which through the
process of socialization.

Specialised Knowledge:
The most important thing of a profession is their ability to provide solution to clientele problems
(Freidson 1970 ). Professionals help in understanding the nature of problem and provide solution
that is different from practitioners. Some professionals face competition with other occupations.
Successful professions are those that can get the work, by virtue of the grants of government or by
open competition. Thus, the expertise available to the profession serves as an important dimension
of professional claims.

Professions vary in the extent that their knowledge bases are convincing and scientific. Professional
knowledge includes both scientific knowledge and knowledge that has been developed through
professional socialisation. A particularly stylized language that has been sanctioned for use,
especially when communicating with the clientele, tends to conform behaviour to vested interests
(Edelman 1977). Professionals must have the right values to operate at the edges of knowledge. The
proper values are those that are thought to be compatible with the application of technical
knowledge (Weber, 1968).

Specialised Accounting Knowledge in Accounting

Accountants possess specialised knowledge. They must have ability to deploy this knowledge on
behalf of client which should meaningfully reduce the uncertainty about classification of financial
transactions and enhance the usefulness of financial reporting.

Professions are obliged to provide a reasonably reliable solution, and accounting maintains a
reputation of certainty but also have a margin of flexibility. A question arises about the accountability
of auditors which involves the public to just trust the experts. the profession has not invested
adequately to improve audit procedures. If more efforts would have been invested to improve the
audit procedures it would have led to better audit standards. Resultantly audit firms are more likely
to escape legal liability of their work.

The tendency of accountants to stray too far from their core monopoly has also caused
deprofessionalization tension. Although some believe that creativity and professionalism can be
harmonized (e.g., Al-Beraidi and Rickards 2006 ), the motif of the profession for many decades has
been one of conservatism. The idea that accountants should serve as a constraint upon the reckless
tendencies of capitalism is deeply embedded in the public interest elements for the profession.

Also In sales culture, social competence and social class are much more valuable than differential
technical expertise (Hanlon 1996 ). To the extent that the public interest only can be furthered by the
willingness of accountants to stand up for good accounting, it is diminished when subjugated to
client economic interests in their use of accounting (Belkaoui 1989 ).

In sum, knowledge claims made by public accountants bear serious claims specially as they pertain to
audit work.
Community of Practice
The second major attribute of professions is their ability to construct and maintain a community of
practice. People in the professions should feel such similarity to each other and adopt values and
beliefs those have been officially adopted by the community. In other words, the collective
judgement of reference groups is consequential in determining the content of behaviour.

Professions that function as communities provide members making professionals superior than
others (Harring 1976). This perception creates an image that the work performed by professionals
can be considered as more righteous than performed by outsiders.

In some professions, a legal system exists for ongoing monitoring of member adherence to the
standards of behaviour that were consented upon admission.

Community of Accounting Practice

People selling accounting services to public join community of accounting practice. Voluntary
associations of financially autonomous accountants evident that the profession serves as a
meaningful basis of affiliation.

the rate of voluntarily association with the community has been in decline for some time. If
promotional activities for the profession are over-subscribed, other good causes find little
involvement from accountants. Also association with potential clients may limit affiliation with fellow
accountants.

Mostly, Accountants are attracted by opportunities in general management, and therefore are drawn
away from the community of practice. specialized accounting knowledge makes accountants valuable
for higher managerial positions which tends to reduce accountants’ involvement in their chosen field
as they reach mid-career.

The new community that exists among accountants is not one of equals. Instead, some accountants
manage the careers of others. Successful obtaining of full certification has become less important to
the firm. Firms now view it as a troublesome constraint or distraction that employees need to attend
to early in their careers. Although the completion of the exam still serves as personal
accomplishment, the firms have essentially abandoned the belief that it contributes to the value of
an employee.

Self-Regulation Ideology
The third dimension of a profession is the assertion of self-regulation. Successful professions have
achieved the ability to police their own practitioners with a set of self-constructed rules. All
professions must assert that self-regulation is superior to control by external groups or through more
general societal mechanisms.

Self-Regulatory Ideology in Accounting

Accountants have historically controlled both the standards of financial reporting and audits. In
normal times, external parties in the public and private sectors trusted self-regulation of accounting
profession. However, following the Enron and Arthur Andersen disasters of 2001– 2002, the self-
regulation privilege was lost, and Public Companies Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) took charge
to regulate accounting profession. Professional oversight by the government was dictated by the
Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 amounted to no less.

Financial accounting standards had been best ways to report economic reality, and Auditing
standards are used to find the best means to obtain sufficient evidence to support an audit opinion.
The self-regulation process in professions includes the obligation of disciplining members by
maintaining and enforcing a code of ethics that supplements the conduct expected by general public.
As enforced, the code of ethics tends to protect accountants from excess competition (Loeb 1972 )
and to prevent criticism from the profession (Canning and O’Dwyer 2001 ).

Autonomy Demands
Self-regulation at the profession-wide level translates into the demand for autonomy at the
individual practitioner level. Classic professionalism requires vesting full authority to the individual to
use the knowledge of the discipline on behalf of clients.

The autonomy to exercise judgment is believed to be essential to the job satisfaction of the
professional (Raelin 1989 ; Meiksins and Watson 1989 ). Thus, in a perfect world, individual
practitioners are primarily motivated by their ability to pursue the goals of the profession, most
notably as they further the public interest.

Autonomy Demands of Accountants

Our conception of the modern accountant is more likely to be as an employee in a large firm, and
less likely to be a sole practitioner. In other words, it has become increasingly difficult to imagine who
is not constrained by the demands of the company they work for.

The epitome of professional autonomy in accounting occurs when a practitioner refuses to cooperate
with a client who wants a particular treatment that is inconsistent with authoritative guidance. In
addition to incurring the displeasure of the client, this accountant may have to face resistance from
firm members regarding this stand.

The real autonomy concern in the accounting profession involves the problem of excessive
connection to the client. For audit engagements, independence represents the essential value
offered by the professional to society. Accordingly, the greatest image problem suffered by the
profession involves independence compromises (Strier 2006 ).

Public Interest Dedication

The most important criteria of the classic view on professionalism involves the expectation that
practitioners make positive contributions to the public interest. Work in persistence of the public
interest can range from the minimal “do no harm” to a more proactive expectation of pro bono
contributions to the disenfranchised.

Most professionals have made extensive investments in their education and skill development, and
therefore feel entitled to ample pecuniary returns. This striving may also cause a shift in values that
allow less room for serving the good of the whole society.

Public Interest Dedication of Accountant

Accountants tend to be honourable citizens who work tirelessly, avoid legal trouble and pay their
taxes. However, to the extent that their chosen profession has been given special privileges,
accountants can be expected to make larger societal contributions.

Collectively, accountants should work toward the protection of the integrity of the capital markets.
Ensuring that information is reliable prevents capitalism from its own worse tendency and safeguards
the operation of Adam Smith’s invisible hand. However, casting accountants as the guardians of a
trust became riskier when they started to see corporate managers as their true clients. This subtle
shift justified doubt in accounting and auditing judgments in favour of management.
The maintenance of the public interest may no longer be part of the culture of public accounting. As
Public interest contributions are not well articulated during the formal education and training of
accountants (Olson 1978). How much room exists for these notions in the atmosphere of technical
expertise is still debatable.