Exploring perception of IT skills among Australian accountants: An alignment between importance and knowledge

This paper investigates the alignment between the perceptions of information technology (IT) importance and knowledge levels among accountants in Australia. Data were collected from a survey of 165 accountants. The results indicate that accountants have a high IT knowledge in email and communication software, and electronic spreadsheets, while knowledge in systems development and programming tools is low. Overall, the IT knowledge levels among Australian accountants are lower than the perception towards the importance of these technologies. The greatest alignment between importance and knowledge is in accounting software. On the other hand, the biggest gap is in security management skills. Accountants perceive that IT security is very important to their roles; however, they view themselves as lacking knowledge in this area. The results of this study can be used as a guideline to further develop training programs to improve the relevant IT skills among accountants.