The Impact of an Accountant’s Academic Qualifications on the Quality of Accounting Information: An Analytical Study Using Artificial Intelligence as a Mediating Variable

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now part of accounting systems, changing the way that accounting data is handled and the quality of the financial reporting. The impact of the qualifications of accountants and the adoption of AI has been studied separately in previous studies and the mediating variable of AI between the two variables, accounting education and information quality, has not been studied yet. This research aims to explore the relationship between the academic qualifications of accountants, AI in accounting systems, and accounting information quality between the two major variables explored in this study. The study design adopted for this study is quantitative research which involved 353 respondents in Saudi Arabia. The proposed measurement and structure models were tested using a software program known as SmartPLS which is partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), including mediation analysis. The results indicate that the academic qualification of an accountant does not directly significantly affect the quality of accounting information but it has an indirect significant effect via AI. Moreover, AI has strong positive effects on the quality of accounting information and acts as an important mediator between the academic qualification of the accountants and quality of accounting information. This research’s results have shown that the use of the AI capabilities in an accountant’s education and professional training is important in improving the quality of financial reporting. It also adds to the socio-technical systems literature by highlighting AI’s potential to link human capital and accounting information quality in the evolving digital accounting environment.