En yrkesroll under förändring : En kvalitativ studie om digitaliseringens påverkan på redovisningskonsultens yrkesroll

The digitalization of society has developed rapidly in recent years and has not left any industry untouched. One of the professional groups that is greatly affected by the progress of digitalization is accounting consultants, where much of the basic work has become subject to automation. The study intends to investigate how the accounting consultant's professional role has changed as a result of digitalization by examining the change with the help of institutional theory. The purpose of the study is to create an understanding of how the accounting consultant's professional role has changed as a result of digitalization in accounting. To reach the purpose of the study, a qualitative research method with semi-structured interviews were chosen. The respondents in the study consist of eight accounting consultants with at least five years of experience in the industry and have been selected via a purposive sampling. Conclusions drawn from the study's results are that digitalization has affected the accounting consultant's professional role. Digitalization has contributed to an efficient work process and freed up time for other tasks. Based on the institutional theory, it is concluded that it is mainly two of the three pillars within the theory that has affected the change in the professional role. The normative pillar and the cultural-cognitive pillar have had an impact on the change that has taken place in the professional role, while the regulative pillar has not had as great an impact on the change. The results of the study demonstrate that the effects of digitalization have contributed to new standards being created within the industry and that the accounting consultants themselves have been involved and contributed to the development that has taken place within the industry