Is my brilliant career in accounting?

On October 2, 2025, Ann Tarca, Professor Emeritus of the University of Western Australia, presented the 86th University of Melbourne-CPA Australia Annual Research Lecture.

This is the oldest continuous lecture series in the University’s calendar and the world’s longest-running annual lecture in the accounting discipline.

The formalities commenced with the chair for the evening, Professor Vic Naiker, Acting Head of the Department of Accounting, inviting Professor Paul Kofman, Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics, to summarise the history of the lecture and introduce the speaker.

Professor Tarca’s career has included working as a chartered accountant, an academic at the University of Western Australia’s Business School, and a standard-setter with the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) and latterly at the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) from 2017 to 2025.

A woman on a podium
Professor Ann Tarca at the Annual CPA Lecture

As indicated in the title, Professor Tarca’s lecture focused on careers in accounting, her own and the value of a career in accounting for today’s graduates. The title of lecture is, in her words, a “shameless reference” to Miles Franklin’s novel and Gillian Armstrong’s subsequent film. One theme of the lecture was the impact of technology on the profession: the lecture commenced with some Slido questions about the audience’s current and future career options, and a teaser that Professor Tarca had asked ChatGPT whether she had had a brilliant career in accounting.

The core of the lecture was in three parts:

  1. Why choose accounting?
  2. Reflections on her career in standard-setting, framed as answers to a set of hypothetical questions; and
  3. Pointers for a career in accounting, framed as ‘success leaves clues’.

Why choose accounting? Perhaps preaching to the converted, the stereotype of accountants as boring was rejected, and the many benefits of a career in accounting were elaborated. In a well-known expression, it is the language of business: it is fundamental in providing the financial information needed to manage any type of business. Accounting is international; accountants are in demand around the globe. Accounting knowledge is a basic skill-set and a strong fundamental base for wherever a career may take one. There is no substitute for understanding the numbers and how they are constructed; but accountants can also become strategic decision makers and advisers, managers and leaders.

The middle section of the lecture covered Professor Tarca’s experience as an accounting standard-setter, which followed from a period of being an active academic researcher on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Many countries, companies and individuals have participated in the development, harmonisation and implementation of international financial reporting. This process includes extensive consultation with key stakeholders from the preparer, investor, auditor and regulator communities, as well as national standard-setters, and necessitates understanding different viewpoints and finding acceptable compromises.

The IASB has strengthened its relationship with the academic community and is keen to consider academic evidence in its processes. Academic literature reviews are a feature of the post-implementation reviews of new standards, and key avenue for demonstrating relevance and impact of academic research.

The challenges of standard-setting are not having enough information or the right information; the problem definition, and the cost-benefit considerations of proposed changes. Meeting and interacting with stakeholders was a highlight; and the critical importance of soft skills – communication, teamwork, strategic thinking and problem solving - was emphasised. New and exciting areas of reporting where research evidence is needed by policy makers continue to arise: cryptocurrencies, pollution pricing mechanisms, climate and nature reporting, to name a few.

Considerations for those in the audience on a future career in accounting were addressed, including the seeming ubiquity of Ai and how this may impact entry level positions. At this point it is simply unknown how thing will turn out, but while technology changes, the importance of soft skills remains. A YouTube video from 1967 was shown that made some startling predictions about technology but missed any social change in gender roles. The ‘success leaves clues’ mantra is to model a career on good examples and good mentoring. Find your passion, develop your skills and make a difference to the world.

Professor Tarca concluded with the answer to the question which was the title of her lecture: had she had a brilliant career in accounting? The unequivocal answer from ChatGPT was ‘yes’; but she cautioned it had come back with many factual errors in its answer and a great deal of positive bias. Her reasons for believing she had had a brilliant career were not the same ones as given by ChatGPT.

Following the presentation, Professor Naiker moderated a Q&A session, after which Professor Tarca was presented with the traditional University Medal by the Dean, Professor Kofman.

The proceedings were brought to a close by Mel Yates, President of the Victorian division of CPA Australia, himself the 2024 speaker for this Annual Research Lecture. He complimented Professor Tarca on the lecture which had taken the audience on a personal, professional and philosophical journey.

Written by Jane Hronsky

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