Whether Diversity in Training in Public Practice Cause Internal Differentiation in Careers within the Profession? Evidence from Sri Lanka

The study aims to empirically elicit the training processes in a Big Four Audit Firm (hereafter ABC Audit Firm) and an Indigenous Audit Firm (hereafter XYZ Audit Firm). Based on the qualitative approach to research, the data was collected through face-to-face interviews and documentary reviews. The theoretical framework was developed based on Abbott’s (1988) writings in the sociological analysis of professions. The data was analyzed using the key concepts of the theoretical framework. Based on the data analysis technique; thematic analysis, the themes, and sub-themes, emerging from the empirics collected from multiple sources, were matched with the key concepts of the theoretical framework developed for the study. The study elicits the distinctions in the training processes of a Big Four Audit Firm; ABC vis-à-vis an Indigenous Audit Firm; XYZ, which provide diverse career paths to prospective accounting professionals in public practice. These diverse career paths have led to an internal differentiation within the accounting profession. However, the public continues to be of the mistaken belief that, the profession is a homogenous group. The study provides insights to the prospective accounting professionals in public practice when selecting an audit firm to obtain training. The study also provides insights to an Indigenous Audit Firm on how its training processes can be further developed. The study contributes to the accounting professionalizing research agenda by eliciting the nature of the training obtained by the prospective accounting professionals in public practice.