CAIP is committed to building and maintaining strong links with the accounting and business community. These relationships will lead to the development of innovative solutions that produce positive outcomes for our partners which are relevant internationally.
The Department of Accounting's Centre for Accounting and Industry Partnerships is committed to building partnerships and enhancing collaboration between the University and the business sector by offering an environment that fosters rigorous research across the entire spectrum of accounting for both scholars and practitioners.
CAIP acts as the interface between the University and the business sector to enable our partners to draw on the knowledge and expertise of the Department's researchers and teachers. These pre-eminent professionals are in touch with the latest developments in policy and business practice as well as the most advanced analytical tools of their disciplines.
Through research projects, guest lecturing, symposia and a range of other activities, we work with our partners to develop and maintain lasting partnerships. This close association with industry and government ensures our courses provide training and skills valued by both graduates and employers and enables us to effectively communicate our expertise and research results in line with our objectives.
We support and address the specific needs of our partners by providing specialised research expertise and tools, and by streamlining university processes through a solution approach that covers project development, research solutions and project management.
Partnering with our world class academics gives you -
- Recognition and brand visibility for your organisation on campus and beyond
- Access to academic methodology,experience and cutting edge research expertise
- Cost effectiveness in leveraging the research budget
- Help in solving specific problems
- Access to specialised resources
- Engagement with talented students
- Networking opportunities
You can gain access to research in the fields of accounting, auditing and accounting information systems which can help shape your business decisions. We offer client driven research as well as professional advice, expert witness services, testing and surveys.
Industry, business, and government organisations are invited to bring ideas forward with a view to finding a research partner within the Department.
Connect with us to:
- Engage with the faculty and students
- Being an industry guest speaker or an Executive-in-Residence allows you to share learning, contribute to skill training, promote leadership and increase the visibility of your brand and company leaders.
- Collaborate with our talented researchers to engage in research projects that meet your requirements through the Australian Governments Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Projects scheme. The Linkage Projects offers companies the chance to leverage their research dollars by supporting industry-lead research projects.
See the Research, Innovation and Commercialisation and the ARC sites for further information.
- Participate in our events
- Get more information
We look forward to working with you to establish a mutually-beneficial partnership that will value add to your organisation.
Engagement
Engagement is the two-way flow and uptake of ideas between the University of Melbourne and the broader community. Our staff and students work with government, business, and the community to mutually share the benefits of research, teaching and learning.
CAIP initiates and supports partnerships between our industry partners (companies, firms, standard-setters, government entities and non-for-profits), academics, and high-calibre graduates seeking to make an impact in the business environment. We want to know the issues that are relevant to our industry partners so that we can understand how the Department can enhance its impact with the broader community.
By building strong and lasting relationships with the business world, our level of interaction with the local, national and international business community is growing each year.
Recent examples of engagement can be found on our Events, Research and Executives-in-Residence pages.
Links to the Faculty of Business and Economics and University publications.
- FBE Newsroom is an online resource for news, events and media from the Faculty of Business and Economics
- Pursuit is the University of Melbourne's news platform that explores major social issues in which University academics and researchers contribute to public debate and also contains research news, informed opinion and analysis, alumni news and profiles, stories on student life and activities, Arts reviews and previews, sport, previews of multimedia programs and listings of Public Lectures and other events.
Our strategy is to foster interdisciplinary research with key members of the accounting and business community to conduct leading research focusing on our key research themes, which include:
- Audit Support Systems and Assurance
- Carbon Emissions Reporting and Assurance
- Corporate Reporting
- Differential Reporting
- Enterprise Systems
- Forensic Accounting
- Insolvency and Corporate Recovery (Turnaround)
- Management Performance and Control Systems
- Sustainability Measurement Reporting
Research Projects
Below is a snapshot of CAIP's current collaborative, interdisciplinary and industry focused research projects.
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Carbon accounting for managed urban environments: Creating a conceptual process-based model (LP130100081)
In recent years, managers of organisations globally have become more accountable for the impacts of their organisations on the environment. This is no more pertinent than in the case of carbon. Accordingly, this project, the first of its type, will develop a process-based carbon model for a managed urban environment and explore alternative means by which the information produced by the model may be communicated to interested parties. By doing so, it will develop an enhanced basis for understanding, measuring and reporting of carbon emissions which will assist decisions by organisations to reduce carbon emissions as well as, more generally, the decisions made by external stakeholders in allocating scarce economic resources.
The project will develop a process-based model of the carbon cycle of a complex urban system – Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG), Melbourne, and validate the model in the RBG, Sydney. It will test alternative means by which carbon emissions information may be reported to provide information that is useful for the decisions made by diverse stakeholders.
Researchers A/Prof Bradley Potter (Accounting), A/Prof Paul Coram (Accounting), Prof Naomi Soderstrom (Accounting), Prof Ian Woodrow (Botany), Prof David Cantrill (Royal Botanic Gardens and National Herbarium of Victoria), Geraldine Magarey (Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia) Award $349,352 from Australian Research Council 2013 - 2016 Partner Organisations Royal Botanic Gardens and National Herbarium of Victoria; Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia -
An approach to preserving accounting and business archival materials: enhancing accessibility to inform research and practice (LP100200261)
CPA Australia is one of the oldest professional accounting associations in the world. Its archival records provide invaluable insights into the development of the profession and the business community it services. The preservation and management of this heritage will be of benefit not just to the profession but also in enhancing our understanding of the evolution of the corporate foundation of the economy. This project will involve the development of a framework for managing the archive and facilitating access through the use of digital technologies. The outcomes will contribute to preserving and understanding the nation's business history as well as facilitating integration with international accounting and business archives.
Researchers A/Prof Bradley Potter, A/Prof Monica Keneley, Prof Colin Ferguson, Mr Phillip Cobbin, Prof Brian West, Dr Mark Wilson Award $210,000 from Australian Research Council 2010 - 2013 Partner Organisations CPA Australia, National Archives of Australia -
The reliability of corporate reporting of greenhouse gas estimates: Determinants, consequences, training for accountants and policy initiatives (LP100100076)
Fundamental to the successful re-allocation of resources to address climate change is that greenhouse gas estimates reported by firms are reliable. The first outcome from this research is the development of tools to assist and train the Australian accountancy profession in the estimation of reliable emissions. The second outcome is identification of factors associated with the inaccuracy and bias of greenhouse gas emissions reported by companies and the consequences of the inaccuracies for the share market's valuation of emission liabilities. These research findings will identify issues that need to be addressed by regulators to ensure that the greenhouse gas estimates reported by companies are reliable
Researchers A/Prof Matthew Pinnuck, Prof Gregory Clinch, Prof Carol A Adams, Prof Ivan Marusic, Prof Gordon Richardson, Prof Peter M Clarkson, Dr Michael J Brear Award $132,000 from Australian Research Council 2010 - 2012 Partner Organisation CPA Australia
Australian Accounting Hall of Fame
Accounting in Australia has a long and distinguished heritage. From the early years of European settlement to the present day, accountants and accounting have played important roles as the country pursued economic and social advancement. Throughout this long and distinguished history there have been many individuals whose achievements, both alone and in combination with others, have been significant and whose impact on the discipline has been profound. The Australian Accounting Hall of Fame seeks to identify and recognise these individuals and their contributions. Click to read more about the Australian Accounting Hall of Fame.
The Centre for Accounting and Industry Partnerships extends its warmest appreciation and thanks to the major sponsors 
and 
of the Australian Accounting Hall of Fame Dinner and Awards Ceremony for their support and assistance.
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Nomination and Selection
Nominations for 2024 open on 1 August. Click here for more information on the nomination process.
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Register
The 2024 Australian Accounting Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony details will be available here from January 2024.
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Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame inductees and previous years' event information.
The CPA Australia - University of Melbourne Annual Research Lecture
The CPA Australia - University of Melbourne Annual Research Lecture is acknowledged, among the university's many disciplines and extensive public programs, as its longest-running continuous annual research-lecture series. The operative word is ‘continuous’. The few lecture series with longer histories have all experienced hiatuses at some stage, whereas since its inception in 1940, the annual accounting research lecture has been held without fail, a tribute to the commitment of the key personnel in the two organisations. What has now emerged is that it is almost certainly the world’s most-enduring annual accounting lecture series. Thus the lecturers over the years, together with the university and CPA Australia (and its forerunner bodies), can consider themselves as joint ‘world record holders’.
(Extract from Wisdom from the Podium A History of the CPA Australia - University of Melbourne Annual Research Lecture by Geoff Burrows (Melbourne University Publishing, 2008, page 1).
Annual Research Lectures Endowed by CPA Australia:
Annual Research Lectures Endowed by the Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants:
| Year | Speaker | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Russell Lundholm, University of British Columbia | Reporting on the Past - A New Approach to Improving Accounting Today |
| 1998 | Peter D. Easton, University of Notre Dame | The Use of Financial Accounts for Corporate Valuation Purposes |
| 1997 | W. Peter Day, Lumina Ltd | The Future for Accounting Standards in Australia |
| 1996 | Keith Houghton, The University of Melbourne | Opportunistic Accounting Policy Choice and Distressed Companies - A Nightmare for the Profession? |
| 1995 | Margaret Abernethy AM, The University of Melbourne | Health Care in Victoria |
| 1994 | Barry H. Spicer, The University of Auckland | Experiments in Corporatization - Insights from the Transitions of New Zealand State-Owned Enterprises |
| 1993 | Warren P. Hogan, University of Technology Sydney | Market Value Accounting in the Finance Sector |
| 1992 | Ken T. Trotman, The University of New South Wales | The Impact of Analytical Review Research on Audit Practice |
| 1991 | Robert E.G. Nicol, The University of Melbourne | The Dividend Puzzle - An Australian Solution |
| 1990 | Keith Houghton, The University of Melbourne | Business Failure - Symptoms and Solutions |
Annual Research Lectures Endowed by the Australian Society of Accountants
| Year | Speaker | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Bernard Marks, The University of Melbourne | The Corporate Tax Labyrinth - Simplicity and Complexity |
| 1988 | Ron Weber, The University of Queensland | Paradise Lost? Information Technology and the Accounting Profession |
| 1987 | Robert H. Chenhall, Monash University | Management Accounting - The Research Challenge |
| 1986 | Richard G. Humphry, Australian Stock Exchange | Forces for Change in the Public Sector Resourse Management - The Role of Accountants |
| 1985 | Jean St G. Kerr, The University of Melbourne | Owners' Equity - Concept and Practice |
| 1984 | Malcolm C. Miller, The University of New South Wales | The Direction and Structure of Financial Reporting in Australia - Learning from the Accomplishments and Failure in the US |
| 1983 | T.J. Valentine | The Financing Factor and Company Financing - Campbell and After |
| 1982 | Robert R. Officer | Valuation Problems in an Inflationary Environment |
| 1981 | D.R. Rickard | Perceptions of Profit |
| 1980 | D. Steele Craik | A Perspective in Government Auditing - Past, Present and Future |
| 1979 | F.K. Wright | Is There a Science of Cash Management? |
| 1978 | Murray C. Wells, The University of Sydney | Is it Futile to Impose Accounting Standards? |
| 1977 | John D. Balmford | Accounting Standards - Development and Prospects Since 1972 |
| 1976 | W. Winiata | Developments in International Finance |
| 1975 | M.S. Henderson | The Management of Liabilities |
| 1974 | R.C. Clift | Accounting Information and the Capital Market |
| 1973 | M.S. Cohen | Publication of Financial Forecasts |
| 1972 | S.A. Zeff | Forging Accounting Principles in Australia |
| 1971 | G.W. Beck | Accountants - As Others See Us |
| 1970 | Philip Brown, The University of Western Australia | Those Half-Yearly Reports |
| 1969 | Louis Goldberg | Company Auditors Reports - Some Aspects of their Function in Communication |
| 1968 | G.G. Meredith | Analysis of Capital Investments Under Risk and Uncertainty |
| 1967 | Reginald S. Gynther | Accounting for Price Changes Theory and Practice |
| 1966 | B.J. McMahon | The Effects of EDP on Accounting in Victoria |
| 1965 | W.J. Stewart | The Measurement and Reporting of Company Performance |
| 1964 | John McBain Grant | The Cost of Capital |
| 1963 | A.D. Barton | Company Takeovers in Australia, 1953-1963 |
| 1962 | K.B. Stonier | The Influence of Electronic Data Processing upon the Accountants, Accounting Thought and Practice |
| 1961 | E.B. Smyth | Profitability and the Conventional Applications of the Rate of Return Concept |
| 1960 | T.R. Johnston | The Role of Financial Reporting in a Partially Controlled Economy |
| 1959 | R.K. Yorston | Reporting Financial Information to Employees |
| 1958 | Louis Goldberg | Assumptions in Discussion on Depreciation |
| 1957 | R.J. Chambers | The Implications of Asset Revaluations and Bonus Share Issues |
| 1956 | R.L. Mathews | Government Actions and Social Accounting |
| 1955 | W.J. Vatter | The Fund Theory of Accounting |
| 1954 | S.R. Brown | Accounting and the Law |
| 1953 | M.E. Murphy | Correlation of Accounting and Economics |
Annual Research Lectures Endowed by the Commonwealth Institute of Accountants
| Year | Speaker | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 1952 | K.C. Keown | Working Capital and Its Importance in Company Finance |
| 1951 | R.L. Mathews | New Horizons in Accounting |
| 1950 | R.J. Chambers | Relationship between Accounting and Financial Management |
| 1949 | F.S. Bray | Social Accounting |
| 1948 | L.A. Braddock | Accounting Profits and Taxable Income |
| 1947 | Ronald A. Irish | Evolution of Corporate Accounting |
| 1946 | W.D. Scott | Differential Costs |
| 1945 | A.A. Fitzgerald | Theory and Practice in Accounting for Commodity Stocks |
| 1944 | N.S. Young | Matching of Costs and Income |
| 1943 | L.A. Schumer | Revaluation of Cost Accounting |
| 1942 | J.A.L. Gunn | On the Margin of Accountancy |
| 1941 | A. Clunies Ross | Accounting Concepts in Australian Legislation |
| 1940 | A.A. Fitzgerald | Field for Research in Accountancy |
References:
Wisdom from the Podium A History of the CPA Australia - University of Melbourne Annual Research Lecture by Geoff Burrows (Melbourne University Publishing, 2008).
Several lectures were summarised in “Insights” published by the Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Melbourne under the editorship of Joe Isaac and more recently, Geoff Burrows. These articles are as follows:
2007 Stewart Leech, The use and misuse of intelligent systems in accounting: the risk of technology dominance. Insights Vol. 4 (November 2008): pp. 37–41.
2009 Mary Barth, Research that Informs the standard-setting process. Insights Vol. 7 (April 2010): pp. 37–43.
2010 Miklos Vasarhelyi, The coming age of continuous assurance. Insights Vol. 9 (April 2011): pp. 23–29.
2011 Annette Kimmitt and Adam Wood, The sustainability of the audit profession: a practitioner’s perspective. Insights Vol. 11 (April 2012): pp. 13–19.
2012 Naomi Soderstrom, Sustainability reporting: past, present and trends for the future. Insights Vol. 13 (April 2013): pp. 31–37.
2013 W. Robert Knechel, Audit quality and regulation. Insights Vol. 15 (April 2014): pp. 66–72.
2014 David Tweedie, Changing the image of the profession: economic reality in accounting and the increasing value of the audit. Insights Vol., 17 (June 2015): pp. 5–13.
For more information, please contact caip-info@unimelb.edu.au.