Developing accountants: from novice to expert

The ability of accountants to appropriately perform in practice is linked to over-arching professional competence. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is the current solution with reference to maintenance and development of professional competence. A phenomenographic approach is used to explore how accounting practitioners perceive competence in the context of their professional status and how, through engagement with CPD, they maintain and develop their professional competence. Findings highlight participant practitioners experience a series of developmental blocks at varying experiential stages and report significant differences in relation to perceptions and practices at these experiential stages. The paper provides some insights into a potential competency framework and a learning mapping which may be used by professional accounting bodies in the development of further CPD guidance.Highlights: Adopts a phenomenographic approach to explore how accounting professionals perceive, maintain and develop professional competence with reference to experiential stages;Reports significant differences in relation to participant perceptions and practices from novice to expert experiential stages;Provides some insights into a competency framework and a learning mapping which could be adapted with reference to the professional development process.