G. Burrows et C. Black, PROFIT-SHARING IN AUSTRALIAN-BIG-6 ACCOUNTING FIRMS - AN EXPLORATORY-STUDY, Accounting, organizations and society, 23(5-6), 1998, pp. 517-530
Although partnership reward systems, particularly in Big 6 accounting
firms, are important to several areas of accounting research, only ske
tchy information about the firms' profit-sharing schemes is extant. Ag
ainst this background, we report on an exploratory investigation into
the organizational structures of Australian Big 6 accounting partnersh
ips and the profit-sharing arrangements practised in their Melbourne o
ffices. The equivocal theoretical prescriptions concerning profit shar
ing methodologies-particularly the contrasting approaches of equal and
performance-based allocations-are reflected in the findings, which al
so reveal hitherto undisclosed aspects of the firms' internal operatio
ns and partner reward systems. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All righ
ts reserved.