Does knowledge matter?: Malaysian experience

This empirical study is obviously to identify what knowledge should be included in the curriculum so that accounting students would be adequately prepared for future roles in the profession. The respondents for this study are from accounting practitioners such as business enterprise, government sector and chartered public accountant firm whilst academics from Malaysian public universities. The objective of this study is to bridge the gap if any between differences in views of practitioners and academics in Malaysia. Our findings show that in terms of knowledge, accounting practitioners perceived more importance on Finance, Information System and Statistical and Quantitative Methods. Meanwhile, academics perceived more importance on Taxation, Business Strategy and Law. Our gap analysis also reveals wide disagreement between the perceived importance and the actual delivery of the accounting education program in providing 10 out of 19 knowledge to accounting students in Malaysia. The results provide insights on how education institution in Malaysia can equip students adequately for knowledge required for the service/tasks that they are expected to fulfill in practice.