PERCEPTION OF ACCOUNTING LECTURERS ON THE FUTURE OF ACCOUNTING PROFESSION IN THE ERA OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

The emerging technologies have reshaped processes and procedures in many professions including accounting to the extent that no profession could afford to be left behind in adopting these technologies. This study determined the perception of accounting lecturers on the future of accounting profession in the era of emerging technologies. Three research questions guided the study and two hypotheses were tested. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study comprised accounting lecturers in polytechnics and colleges of education in Osun state. The sample for the study consists of forty (40) accounting lecturers purposively selected from polytechnics and colleges of education in Osun state. Data for the study were collected through a structured questionnaire on a four-point Likert scale. Internal consistency of the research instrument was tested using Cronbach alpha and a reliability coefficient of 0.87 was to obtained. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for the research questions, while t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings from this study revealed that emerging technologies have greatly influenced accounting procedures and practices. The findings also revealed that the emerging technologies provides opportunities for improvement and efficiency in the discharge of accounting duties. The study recommended that curriculum of accounting courses must be upgraded and redesigned to accommodate new skills required by the emerging technologies.Keywords: Accounting Lecturers, Accounting Profession, Future, Emerging Technologies