Call for Proposals

Letter of Intent due: July 31, 2022
Proposal Invitation: August 28, 2022
Proposal due:  September 30, 2022
Decision Letter: December 15, 2022

The Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada has made a research fund available to members of the CAAA at Canadian institutions. There will be one call for proposals per year for each of the grants funded through this program.

Purpose

The broad purpose of this fund is to encourage Canadian academics to undertake projects to help transform the accounting profession by informing the Foresight Initiative (see below for more information) being championed by CPA Canada and CPA Provincial bodies. The research under this program need not lead to publication in a scholarly journal, although it may lead to one or more such publications. The research project may result in a report that is useful to accountants in practice and academics, as well as to advance thought leadership and understanding for further exploration.

Funding criteria  

The main funding criteria are that the work be:

• Relevant to transforming the accounting profession by helping address global and local societal, environmental, economic and technological challenges of the future and enable change within the profession to create future-ready CPAs
  • Completed on a timely basis
  • Of quality

The first criterion is to be ensured by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada's review of the letter of intent. The timeliness criterion includes providing a detailed timeline in the proposal showing expected dates for production of reports or working papers. The reports or working papers must be completed within 24 months. The quality is ensured by the expertise provided by the CAAA Research Committee’s examination / approval of the proposal.  

Guidelines

Applicants are requested to submit a one- to two-page letter of intent outlining the area(s) and objectives of the research using the form below. The letter of intent should also explain the relevance of the project to the transforming the accounting profession (the first criterion).

Do not send this letter of intent (LOI) to CPA Canada. Submissions for this grant are handled by the CAAA Secretariat. Feedback to applicants will be returned through the Chair of the CAAA Research Committee. LOIs passing the initial stage will be invited to submit a full grant proposal. We encourage research employing any research methods.

Transforming the accounting profession

We are living in a world of heightened risks and disruption.  This includes the reality of a swiftly evolving digital environment led by the overwhelming pervasiveness of technological change.  As well, the interdependence of society, economy, and the environment are becoming clearer with resultant implications for people, business, and the planet. 

How do we reorient players across the investment value chain towards a longer-term, multi-stakeholder perspective?  What types of policies, governance and skills are needed to keep pace with emerging technologies that are driving societal transformation?  These and similar questions are what the CPA profession in Canada is considering in the Foresight initiative.  

For the profession to determine the role it will play in the future, CPA Canada is working with experts in public practice, industry and public sectors, and academe to respond to these challenges. Key topics and how the topics intersect and integrate include:

• Driving sustainable development and inclusive growth – by identifying how the accounting profession can drive socially responsible business practices. The pandemic has amplified the importance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. The demand is growing for companies to produce ESG disclosures that are consistent, comparable, and reliable. Various bodies are coming together to work on harmonizing ESG disclosure. The IFRS Foundation Trustees is establishing a global Sustainability Standards Board and the Independent Review Committee of Standards Setting recommended establishing a Canadian sustainability standard setting board. Learn about these activities, including making sustainability a global reality, challenges and opportunities of net zero disclosures, how an organization valued its workforce, the IPSASB’s work to develop guidance to account for natural capital and the CPAs role in third-party assurance over sustainability information. Understanding the implications of ESG on accounting practices, regulatory bodies and associations, and its members would help to inform how CPA ethical, technical and professional standards may need to change.
• Mastering and shaping a data-driven economy – enables accountants to be comfortable in a world that will be data-rich, data-intense and data-driven. CPAs have a role to play in the development of data governance practices and ensuring the integrity of data. Explore how CPAs are rising to the challenge in a data-driven world and the Mastering Data series that looks at the foundations of the digital economy and the role of CPAs in using digital technologies and data management to improve business outcomes. As organizations implement digital transformation strategies, consider what your data is worth for it can be an asset to monetize. With the growing use and value of data, the need for comparable and reliable data may drive the need for data standards and new assurance services.
• Rethinking value creation – involves CPAs becoming proactive contributors by looking forward, harnessing data and developing real-time models for organizations, economy and society to help “build back better” in a post-pandemic world. Watch the Introduction to Value Creation: Opportunities for CPAs. Explore how CPAs can play a leadership role in strategic decisions about future value creation challenges. Use a global directory of value creation solutions to find the frameworks and guidance available in the marketplace to better understand the economic, social, and environmental impacts of activities and support strategic business decisions.  
• Re-examining accounting for intangibles – is about modernizing the information reported about unrecognized intangible assets. Organizations use resources to create and preserve drivers of value such as their workforce, customer relationships, brands and business processes. These intangibles are of strategic importance and accounting needs to provide reliable and comparable information for decision-making. Watch the CAR 2021 Conference session on Transforming Accounting for the 21st Century – Challenges and Opportunities for perspectives from practice and academe. Learn about the calls for action by the Canadian Accounting Standards Board and others in response to the International Accounting Standards Board's Third Agenda Consultation.  
• Thriving by adopting new technologies – involves organizations becoming more digital. CPAs can respond by developing a strong understanding of these technologies and how they impact the accounting, audit and assurance profession. Technologies to consider include AI and machine learning for complex business decision-making, robotic process automation, overcoming the barriers to digital transformation and blockchain and crypto-assets.
• Protecting trust and ethics in the digital age – is the role CPAs can play in this information technology revolution. They can be the stewards of trust by providing strong professional judgment and integrity for effective decision-making. Learn how CPAs’ ethical leadership during complexity and digital change can serve organizations and clients. Yet to do so, they must understand how to respect technology’s double-edged sword – actively pursuing opportunities while safeguarding against challenges. They must also ensure they are able to Identifying and mitigating bias and mis- and disinformation (cpacanada.ca) as these threaten objective decision-making and, more broadly, the public interest.  
• • Preparing the future-ready CPA – involves learning to be agile and adaptable to the changing expectations and needs of business and society. The new "CPA – Leading the Way: Competency Map 2.0" will equip CPAs to create and sustain economic and societal value for stakeholders by bringing logic, structure and trust to information, as well as to the process of measuring and managing performance. With skills and competencies in data governance, value creation and equity, diversity and inclusion, for example, CPAs will use critical thinking and an ethical mindset to help lead their organizations, clients, and stakeholders in this transformation. Learning is critical. Insights on how to create effective learning environments such as merits of in-person, remote or hybrid approaches, how to leverage and learn about emerging transformative technologies, and ingrain equity, diversity and inclusion practices in curriculum, would help prepare future-ready CPAs.

Submit a Letter of Intent

Questions should be directed to Louise Laroche

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