Better skills? Better service?: Malaysian evidence

The purpose of this study is to identify any gap and rank the future accountant´s skills and competency based on The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), International Education Statement (IES) No. 3 [6] from academics and practitioners view in Malaysia. The study was conducted on 55 academics from five universities and 60 practitioners as accountants from business enterprises, government sector and Chartered Public Accountant firms. The findings indicate that the large gap was found for 15 from 24 types of skills. The results provide insights on how education institution can equip students adequately for skills required for the service and tasks that they are expected to fulfill in practice.