Blockchain: Exploring its Impact on the Business Models of Australian Accounting Firms

Abstract

This paper reports on a study that investigated how the business models of Australian accounting firms are impacted by audit clients using blockchain technology. Semi-structured interviews with a range of stakeholders including audit partners from big-4 accounting firms reveal that firms are gradually adapting their business models by offering value propositions that involve efficiency, complementarities and novelty, despite a formative blockchain ecosystem in Australia. This ecosystem is characterized by clients’ reluctance to use blockchain platforms for financial systems and a lack of clear direction on applicable accounting standards and consensus on blockchain standards and governance.