ABSTRACT
The accounting profession in the post-socialist Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries has experienced a significant transition from a totalitarian regime to a market economy. Accountants’ competencies may be influenced by: the State–profession boundaries and efforts for professionalisation; the role and image of accountants in society; and changes in the economic, technological, social and organisational context. Research into accounting competencies should be informed by the local institutional challenges, not merely replicating studies performed in developed contexts. Does the socialist past still influence professional behaviour and competencies, given the lower status of accounting in CEE countries, inherited from socialist times?
