Determinants of Preferred Financial Digital Format by New Zealand Accounting Practitioners

Abstract

An extensive literature has emerged in the past decade that examined financial reporting in a digital environment. This study extends this literature by examining the factors that may influence the preference of a digital presentation format. Using questionnaire design, this study examines whether public accounting practitioners' work experience and familiarity with a presentation format influence their preferred presentation format. The results show that work experience is not an important determinant of users' preferred presentation format. The results also show familiarity of two presentation formats; Portable Document Format (PDF) and Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) do not influence users' preferred presentation formats but familiarity with Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML) is an important determinant of preference towards HTML. These findings indicate that perhaps more promotion could be undertaken to increase users' awareness and understanding towards the presentation formats in the digital reporting environment.