The Partnership Experiences In Auditing Firms - Evidence From The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The accounting profession in Saudi Arabia has developed greatly. However, little is known about the making of a partner in accounting firms in Saudi Arabia, which is the central issue of this research. This qualitative study aims at describing the essence of experiences of becoming accounting partners in Saudi Arabia. The researcher employs phenomenology approach to understand the lived experience of accounting partners and how would such experience affect their career. It mainly aims to describe the different experiences of fifteen (15) Saudi partners working in various accounting companies in Saudi Arabia. The researcher conducted interviews to explore the most important challenges of the accountants to become a partner. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed. Based on the analysis, there is an essence of experiences of the partners; such skills enable new accountants, especially those who desire to join the accounting profession, were described. The findings revealed the need to have good mentors, being professionally qualified, i.e. having the SOCPA certification, and the capability to deal with the work environment as an essence of the 15 experiences that were interviewed. The researcher also found that there are different skills that the partner must have include responsible leadership, professional communication, good marketing skills and an excellent command of English. The findings of this study could be useful to Saudi accountants where the challenges and difficulties that they may face during their journey to become partners, could encourage them to go through the partnership journey and eliminate many of unreal thoughts about this journey. In addition, the findings of the current study could be useful to the official parties that organizing the accounting profession in Saudi Arabia, such as SOCPA, by highlighting the issues that impede the Saudi accountants to become partners, which may lead to mitigation of professional requirements by the SOCPA.