Modern Accounting Specialist in New Economic Reality: Cases of Lithuania and Latvia

Rapid changes in the economic environment, the development of new technologies, and global crises have an impact on and produce new requirements for many professions, including accounting specialists. An analysis of the competencies necessary for the modern accounting specialist provides insights into the required abilities from a labour market perspective. This article investigates the necessary knowledge and competencies of modern accounting specialists using a survey. Responses are analysed according to the respondents’ country, work experience, current working position and the size of the enterprise. We evaluate the personal, professional and social competencies as well as necessary types of professional knowledge. Research results may be summarised based on the traditional viewpoint of an accounting specialist. Despite their differing attributes, and with only some slight differences, respondents emphasised the need for accounting specialists to have certain classic knowledge and noted the need for traditional competencies.