DIGITALIZATION IN ACCOUNTING: HOW CLOUD-BASED SYSTEMS CHANGE THE TASKS, ROLES, AND REQUIRED COMPETENCES OF ACCOUNTING PRACTITIONERS IN SWEDEN

Sammanfattning

The accounting profession is undergoing rapid digitalization. Digitalization is very broad in this industry and refers to a collective set of technologies, including artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain, cloud computing, machine learning, and robotic process automation. Cloud-based systems are the central tools for performing day-to-day tasks and are integrated with other technological infrastructures. This thesis mainly focuses on a specific accounting technology, cloud-based accounting systems. Prior research on cloud-based systems has mainly focused on adoption factors, firm-level outcomes, and skills gaps in education. However, there is limited knowledge at the practitioners’ level of how they experience task and role changes and which competences they consider significant. This thesis follows an exploratory, inductive, and interpretivist research design and is based on six semi-structured interviews with practitioners who work in cloud-based accounting systems in Sweden. The interview material is analysed using MAXQDA for thematic analysis. The findings from participants are organized into four main themes: working in cloud-based accounting systems, cloud-based systems and changes in tasks and roles, competencies in cloud-based accounting systems, and learning and adaptation to change. The results demonstrate that routine and manual tasks are largely automated, while practitioners’ tasks are shifting toward meaningful work, where human engagement is more required. This shift has led to changes in the practitioner role toward controller, analyser, and advisor. Advanced accounting knowledge remains fundamental, but must be combined with system and technology competencies and strong communication and collaboration skills. All the competences are developed through a combination of formal education and workplace learning rather than a single source, where willingness to learn and self-directed learning support them to develop those competences. These findings contribute by adding a practitioner-level perspective to prior digitalization and cloud-based accounting models, thereby extending the theoretical and competence framework. Practically, the findings highlight the necessity for continuous learning and closer alignment between university and workplace learning, for instance, by suggesting the inclusion of a mandatory internship programme in the accounting curriculum.