| Abstract | Digitalizacija poslovanja poduzeća i njihovih računovodstvenih procesa donosi promjene u načinu na koji poduzeća djeluju kao i u načinu na koji zaposleni radnici izvršavaju svoje radne zadatke. Implementacija tehnoloških inovacija za cilj bi trebala imati unaprjeđenje djelovanja pojedinaca, poduzeća kao i cjelokupnog društva. Dosadašnja istraživanja ukazuju na primjetne promjene u radu računovodstvenih profesionalaca pod utjecajem digitalne transformacije poduzeća i njihovih računovodstvenih odjela, a koje je moguće dovesti u vezu s kvalitetom rada samih računovodstvenih radnika. Kako bi se ispitalo koje su ključne odrednice kvalitete rada računovodstvene profesije provedeno je predistraživanje te su podaci o potvrđenim ključnim odrednicama kvalitete rada računovodstvene profesije korišteni u drugom dijelu istraživanja. Prvom hipotezom testirana je povezanost digitalizacije računovodstvenih procesa poduzeća s kvalitetom rada računovodstvene profesije pri čemu su ujedno identificirani i ključni tehnološki postupci digitalizacije računovodstvenih procesa u poduzećima u Republici Hrvatskoj. Hipoteza je testirana zasebno za svaku odrednicu kvalitete rada računovodstvene profesije te je potvrđena za odrednicu kvalitete rada poznavanje, praćenje i usvojenost zakonskih odredbi i regulative iz područja računovodstva i ostalih povezanih grana ekonomije. Drugom hipotezom testirana je i uspoređena razina digitalizacije računovodstvenih procesa eksterno i interno orijentiranoga računovodstva. Hipoteza je potvrđena odnosno pokazalo se kako je razina digitalizacije računovodstvenih procesa eksterno orijentiranoga računovodstva viša od razine digitalizacije računovodstvenih procesa interno orijentiranoga računovodstva. Postoji li značajna razlika u stupnju digitalizacije računovodstvenih procesa između mikro, malih, srednjih i velikih poduzeća testirano je trećom hipotezom te je hipoteza potvrđena za varijablu vrijednost uloženih financijskih sredstava u digitalizaciju računovodstvenih procesa. Posljednjom je hipotezom utvrđeno da gospodarska razvijenost regije poduzeća nema utjecaja na stupanj digitalizacije računovodstvenih procesa. Rezultati provedenih istraživanja mogu biti od koristi poduzećima, regulatorima, računovodstvenim strukovnim udruženjima kao i profesionalnim računovođama te su ovime zadovoljeni postavljeni znanstveni i aplikativni ciljevi doktorskog rada. |
| Abstract (english) | Digitalization of business operations of companies and their accounting processes has brought changes in the way companies operate as well as in the way employees perform their work tasks. The goal of implementing technological innovations should be to improve the performance of individuals, companies, and society as a whole. Previous research indicates notable changes in the work of accounting professionals under the influence of the digital transformation of companies and their accounting departments, which can be linked to the quality of work of the accountants themselves. Technological innovations in the field of accounting in the last few decades have fundamentally changed the way accountants work. Data recording in accounting has been significantly accelerated, business books and financial reports have become more accurate and thus more reliable, accountants have been freed from repetitive tasks and can focus on more creative and complex tasks. As a result, the role of accountants in the company is also changing - from administrative workers who record data they are turning into advisors to the management, with information about the success and safety of a company's operations. In order to examine what are the key determinants of the quality of work of the accounting profession, a preliminary study was conducted using the Delphi method. Out of ten offered determinants of the quality of work, five key determinants were identified through the preliminary research:
• knowledge, monitoring and comprehension of legal provisions and regulations in the field of accounting and other related branches of the economy
• accuracy and reliability
• meeting deadlines and timeliness in the execution of work tasks
• level of support to the management
• digital skills.
The data on the identified key determinants of the quality of work of the accounting profession determined by the preliminary research were used in the second part of the research.
Empirical research on the connection between the digitalization of accounting processes and the quality of work of the accounting profession followed the preliminary research and was carried out using a survey questionnaire. The data collected by the questionnaire was statistically analyzed, with descriptive analysis and multiple regression analysis used as the main statistical methods. Digitalization of accounting processes, measured by the number of implemented digitalized technological procedures, is the first independent variable, while the second independent variable is the value of financial resources invested in the development of digitalization of accounting processes. The dependent variable is the quality of work of the accounting profession. The connection between the digitalization of a company's accounting processes and the quality of work of the accounting profession was tested by the first hypothesis of the doctoral thesis. At the same time, the key technological procedures of the digitalization of accounting processes in companies in the Republic of Croatia are also identified here. The hypothesis was tested separately for each determinant of the quality of work that was identified as a key determinant during the preliminary research. A higher degree of digitalization of a company's accounting processes is positively related to some, but not all, determinants of the quality of work of the accounting profession. The hypothesis was confirmed for the knowledge, monitoring and comprehension of legal provisions and regulations in the field of accounting and other related branches of the economy determinant. There is a connection between the number of implemented technological procedures of digitalized accounting processes and the quality, knowledge, monitoring and comprehension of legal provisions and regulations in the field of accounting and other related branches of the economy determinant, measured by the variables ‘number of hours per week within the working hours of an accountant spent on monitoring the provisions and regulations in accounting and other related branches of economy’ and the ‘use of a software solution’, which implies warnings about current changes in legal provisions and regulations in the field of accounting and other related branches of the economy. The first hypothesis is partially accepted, and the connection is statistically significant for the knowledge, monitoring and comprehension of legal provisions and regulations in the field of accounting and other related branches of the economy determinant. The hypothesis was not confirmed for the other determinants of the quality of work of the accounting profession. The second hypothesis tested and compared the level of digitalization of accounting processes of externally and internally oriented accounting, and the hypothesis was accepted, that is, it was confirmed that the level of digitalization of accounting processes of externally oriented accounting is higher than that of internally oriented accounting. The testing was carried out by using the Wilcoxon test of differences, whereby a statistically significant difference was established in the share of implemented technological procedures for the digitalization of accounting processes in externally and internally oriented accounting. On average, companies have implemented 44% of the technological procedures for digitalizing the accounting processes of externally oriented accounting and 31% of the technological procedures for digitalizing the accounting processes of internally oriented accounting. Externally oriented technological procedures of digitalization of accounting processes are those whose application is aimed at reporting to external users. Unlike the external, the implemented internal technological procedures of digitalization of accounting processes are those whose application is aimed at reporting to internal users. Internally oriented accounting is mostly based on estimates, current, and future events. Externally oriented accounting is based on past events and is primarily oriented towards reporting to external users on the achieved business results. The third hypothesis tested whether there is a significant difference in the degree of digitalization of accounting processes between micro, small, medium, and large enterprises. This hypothesis was partially confirmed. It was confirmed for the ‘value of financial resources invested in the digitalization of accounting processes’ variable. This implies that larger companies invest more financial resources in the digitalization of accounting processes, and as the size of the company decreases, the value of the financial resources invested in the digitalization of accounting processes decreases as well. The hypothesis was not confirmed for the digitalization level variable measured by the number of implemented technological procedures for the digitalization of accounting processes, and in this aspect, there is no statistically significant difference among companies of different sizes. The last hypothesis has established that the economic development of a company's region has no effect on the degree of digitalization of accounting processes. When testing the fourth hypothesis, the independent variable was the geographical location with four categories, each category belonging to one region of the Republic of Croatia, while the dependent variable was the degree of digitalization of accounting processes. The fourth hypothesis of the research problem was tested by using the Kruskal-Wallis test of differences. Based on the results of the Kruskal-Wallis test of differences between regions, it was determined that there is no statistically significant difference in the number of implemented technological procedures for the digitalization of accounting processes. This implies that companies in all regions have an equal number of implemented technological procedures for the digitalization of accounting processes. Based on the same test, it was also determined that there is no statistically significant difference in the values of financial resources invested in the digitalization of accounting processes, i.e. companies in all regions equally invest financial resources in the digitalization of accounting processes.
The process of digitalization of accounting processes is a continuous sequence of implementation of technological innovations in accounting systems that can be observed in the past few decades, and which will certainly continue to be present within accounting systems in the future as well. Partial digitalization of accounting processes is primarily the result of the still extremely high costs of technological implementation. Digitalization of accounting processes is still not fully established in many companies and requires the efforts of the accounting profession in the implementation of digital transformation. Although the results of digitalization are still not visible in terms of connection of various platforms and systems, which would make the work of accounting professionals easier and simpler, digitalization has certainly changed the structure of the work tasks of accountants and improved the quality of their work. The collected and analyzed data on the degree of digitalization of accounting processes and the quality of work of the accounting profession can be useful to companies, regulators, professional accounting associations as well as to professional accountants. The conducted research has fulfilled the scientific and practical goals of the doctoral thesis. |
