The work of the accountant: a study conducted in federal educational institutions of Santa Catarina

Abstract

This research aims to characterize the accountants' perception of the work they perform in Federal Teaching Institutions of Santa Catarina (IFE / SC) and their contribution to management and society. The survey subjects are 41 (forty-one) full-time accountants in the IFE / SC. This research is based on a qualitative methodological approach and as a tool for data collection the questionnaire strategy was used. Thus, the instrument of data collection was elaborated with the intention of identifying the level of training of accountants of the IFE / SC, as well as the time of performance in the institutions; the accountant's understanding of the job done, their professional development and accounting; and the accountant's perception of the space that accounting has in the institution and the participation of the accountant in the management of the institution and in society. To perform the content analysis, we made use of the categorical observation described by Bardin (2009), who organizes the categories from the totality of the text. In order to support the considerations, the main authors MOW (1987), Migliaccio Filho (1994), Silva (2003), Alves et al. (2007), Tolfo et al. (2007), Tonin et al. (2007), Cardoso et al. (2006) and Slomski et al. (2010). From the verified answers, the prerogatives of the accountant's occupation were identified, since the activities performed are centered in the strong presence of a routine in which a mechanized, repetitive work is evidenced whose premise is centered in the individualization and not in the comprehension of all the work process. Despite the emphasis on repetition, the answers point to the work performed, to the primacy of technical knowledge and to ethics in what is done, even if it leads to what has been accomplished. Regarding professional development, the responses indicate the continuing training centered on routine accounting practices. Regarding the space that accounting occupies in the institutions, the accountants' understanding is that this space grows and that the services performed by the accountant contribute to the decision making of the management. In this way, it is verified that professionals understand the product of the work done and the real benefits for the institutions. However, the results point out that accountants have difficulties in understanding the reach of the service to society, and this impacts in the sense of the value that this has for the professional.