THE VICTORIAN COMMUNITY SECTOR’S ACCESS TO ACCOUNTING SKILLS

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Abstract

Accounting skills are important for the continued viability and growth of organisations. However, many organisations in the community sector are faced with problems unique to the sector making the acquisition of accounting skills particularly difficult. This paper explores the issues faced by Community Organisations (CO) to gain access to appropriate accounting skills. The study is centred upon answering three questions: 1) What are the accounting skills required by community organisations? 2) What level of understanding of accounting is there in the Victorian community sector? 3) How accessible are accounting skills to the community sector? The answers to these questions were obtained through interviews with people involved with the community sector either as managers of intermediate organisations or community organisations. The findings of this research show that access to accounting skills in the sector is uneven. The evidence also suggests that the uneven access is the result of a number of barriers including: a lack of funding; a lack of time; limited availability of appropriate accounting courses; a lack of awareness by volunteer and paid staff, and board members of the need for basic accounting knowledge. Recommendations to overcome these barriers are also made.

Keywords: Community Organisation, Accounting Skills, Capacity, Viability

How to cite this paper: Kluvers, R. (2014). The Victorian community sector’s access to accounting skills. Corporate Ownership & Control, 12(1-6), 581-588. https://doi.org/10.22495/cocv12i1c6p5