LE3 .A278 2021

2021

Kennedy, Michael

Acadia University

Bachelor of Business Administration

Honours

Business Administration

Business

Blockchain technology’s original purpose was being the underlying technology for the Bitcoin cryptocurrency; however, its use cases and applications extend to many industries and functions such as accounting, auditing, and risk & management consulting. Current research lacks an industry informed perspective of blockchain technology’s impact on the field of accounting. The paper aims to provide an overview of how blockchain will affect the roles of accountants, auditors, and risk & management consultants, as well as various industries and functions that impact accountants. I investigate the following research question: What do employees of a public accounting firm expect the impact of blockchain technology to be on the field of accounting and industries in Canada? A review of the literature was conducted and interviews with respondents helped identify research gaps, differences of opinion, and offered a new perspective to the current body of literature. Interviews with four blockchain specialists at a Big 4 accounting firm in central Canada were conducted. Thematic analysis was used, and five key themes were identified. This paper explores the five themes current and potential impacts of blockchain on the field of accounting, the challenges organizations are facing when implementing blockchain, industries that will be significantly disrupted, impacts on the roles of accountants and if new skills are needed in order to work with blockchain, and which types of blockchains (private, public, or hybrid) are best for accounting use cases.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:3618