A conceptual model of accountants’ communication inside not-for-profit organisations

A conceptual model of accountants’ communication inside not-for-profit organisations

Accounting communication within organisations can be critical to organisational success, yet aside from formal reports, it has largely been overlooked by accounting researchers. Not-for-profit organisations play a significant societal role and have features that distinguish them from for-profit corporations. This paper aims to further our understanding of accountants’ everyday communication in the unique not-for-profit environment, developing a theoretical model of influences on accountants’ communication. In the qualitative tradition, interviews were conducted with accountants working in not-for-profit organisations in three Australian states. Using the lens of strong structuration theory and applying thematic analysis to the interview transcripts enabled the generation of themes relating to the influences on not-for-profit accountants’ communication within their organisations. These influences included the resource constraints of the not-for-profit environment, accountants’ organisational position, their perceptions of their colleagues’ needs and their role perceptions. Drawing on strong structuration concepts, a model is developed to demonstrate the influences on accountants’ communication.