ABSTRACT:

Results of a five year longitudinal study of spreadsheet use by practicing accountants in the Manawatu province of New Zealand (NZ) are reported. The comparisons provide insights into changes in the nature of spreadsheet use by accountants. Questionnaire surveys in 1986 and 1991 of approximately 200 members of the New Zealand Society of Accountants (NZSA) found that practicing accountants using spreadsheets approximately doubled to 65 percent during the period between the two surveys. In 1991, there was a higher proportion of users among younger accountants and a substantially increased proportion of accountants having unlimited access to a spreadsheet at work and at home. In both surveys it was found that spreadsheets were used more for management accounting applications than for financial accounting applications, although significant increases for some financial accounting applications were identified over the study period. Respondents showed strong support for a wide variety of productivity benefits including number manipulation, translating reports from draft to final copy, improving users' confidence in the accuracy of reports, and completing tasks with less strain. The reasons that respondents frequently mentioned for not using spreadsheets in 1991 were that they did not find them relevant to their current work or they had never had time to learn. In 1986, respondents identified lack of equipment as the prime reason for not using spreadsheets.