The emergence and development of the accountancy profession in Cyprus: the case of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus (ICPAC)

Accountants have distinct status, niches and markets from other occupational groups. Moreover, they are professionalized differently in different contexts. Many former British colonies, for instance Nigeria, Australia and India, have adopted the British model of accountancy profession as it is shown in the extant accounting literature. However, little is known about the accounting profession in Cyprus; an island that was once a British colony and later became European Union (hereafter, EU) member. This thesis sets out to examine the emergence and development of the accountancy profession in Cyprus and the establishment of the local professional accountancy body, namely ICPAC. Using the lens of critical realism and supplementing it with the notions of capitalism, colonialism, imperialism and globalization, this research explores the societal relationships, interactions and structural factors that have influenced the local accounting profession and the establishment of ICPAC. The data of the study are derived oral history interviews and an analysis of archival sources. The study demonstrates that the accounting profession in Cyprus has emerged and developed with the help of the existing structures produced and reproduced throughout the years under the influence of local (e.g. the State, ministers, MPs, non-qualified accountants) and global (e.g. the EU, ‘Big Four’ firms, British professional bodies) forces. The evidence presented in the thesis illustrates how a small island with an emerging economy has been forced to change strategies, choices and plans based on colonial, local and later global influences. This transformation has had a profound impact on the emergence of the local accounting profession and on constructing the island’s identity. Cypriots continue to emulate the British accounting model, British professional bodies, their services and products. This thesis argues that the British legacies in the form of social structures have remained strong and uninfluenced throughout time. Cyprus still seems to be under British colonialism, perhaps in its new form, neocolonialism, in terms of the development and functioning of the accounting profession.