Bridging accounting research and practice: a value adding endeavour

The well-known bridge between accounting research and practice is one by which the work of academics and practitioners both effectively impact the other. However, this bridge is less well constructed and less effective than it could be. As members of a professional discipline, it is important for accounting academics, the practitioner community and professional accounting organisations to reflect on the relevance of the accounting academy’s research to practice. It is often asserted that accounting research lacks practical relevance, thereby losing potential impact from the academic to the practitioner community. Calls to bridge this ‘research gap’ between academic research and practice and enhance the connectivity between the two have intensified in recent times with professional organisations and accrediting bodies focusing on the relevance, utility and impact of research (AACSB, 2008; ACCA, 2010). This chapter summarises the extant dialogue on the ‘research gap’ in accounting discussing the identity and extent of the gap. While acknowledging the traits of published accounting research that attract criticism of a ‘research gap’, it also identifies the accounting academy’s research contributions that have informed and influenced practice across a range of accounting sub-disciplines.