Accounting professionalisation in Brazil: Resistance and co-optation in the introduction of a professional entry exam (1999–2010)

Abstract

Using actor–network theory, this study investigates how the CFC ( Conselho Federal de Contabilidade – Federal Council of Accounting) in Brazil transformed into a full-fledged professional accounting body with entry controls. The CFC lacked an entry control mechanism after its establishment in 1946, but introduced a professional entry exam in 2010 after failed attempts between 1999 and 2004. In 2004, resistance from higher education accounting students and the Brazilian Ministry of Education led to the suspension of the non-legislated entry examination that the CFC had administered since 1999. After 2004, the CFC co-opted resisting actors and reframed its move by invoking the emerging national agenda of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption. The CFC used this agenda to facilitate co-optation with the state by justifying the need to bring Brazil’s accounting regulatory landscape into line with international best practices suited to IFRS-based reporting.