Home⇛International Journal of Multidisciplinary: Applied Business and Education Research⇛vol. 6 no. 4 (2025)

From BSA to CPA: Accounting the Journey Towards Becoming Certified Public Accountants in the City of Koronadal

Ned Angelo A. Tadlas | Sarah May S. Java | Princess Erlynn P. Palacio | Nicole M. Rejas | Diona Kaye Maria M. Relampago | Hessa S. Sarmiento | James Edward T. Gonzales | Carlos F. Gaygay Jr

Discipline: Education

 

Abstract:

This study aimed to describe the experiences and perceptions of Cer-tified Public Accountants (CPAs) regarding their Bachelor of Science in Accountancy (BSA) course, their careers as CPAs, and their sources of motivation. A total of five (5) CPAs residing in the City of Koronadal were interviewed using a Descriptive Qualitative Design. The partici-pants were selected through purposive sampling based on inclusion criteria. Data collection involved researcher-made, open-ended inter-view guide questionnaires, and interviews were conducted online via Google Forms. Thematic analysis, following Braun and Clarke’s (2006) approach, was used to analyze their responses. The results revealed that participants during their time as accountancy students perceived the said profession as prestigious and financially rewarding. However, they faced significant challenges, including the mental demands of coursework, social isolation due to academic pressures, and financial constraints that affect their studies. When they became CPAs, their motivations shifted as they now balance extrinsic factors such as fi-nancial stability and family support with intrinsic motivations like personal growth and career fulfillment. Despite this, they continue to encounter stress, time management difficulties, and the pressure of continuous learning to stay competitive in the field. This study un-folded that while the accounting profession is challenging, motivation helps students and CPAs overcome obstacles and find success. Aspir-ing CPAs should develop strong financial expertise and perseverance. Likewise, CPAs must pursue continuous learning and mentorship, ed-ucators and policymakers should enhance practical training and sup-port systems, and future researchers are encouraged to expand their sample sizes for deeper analysis.



References:

  1. Brune,  A.,  Thomsen,  M.,  &  Watrin,  C.  (2019). Tax  avoidance  in  different  firm  types  and the  role  of  nonfamily  involvement  in  pri-vate family firms. Managerial and Decision Economics, 40(8), 950–970. https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.3082 Tadlas et al., 2025/From BSA to CPA: Accounting the Journey Towards Becoming Certified Public Accountants in the City of KoronadalIJMABER1830Volume 6| Number 4| April|2025
  2. Cammayo, E., & Gonzales, J. (2024).Employabil-ity  of  accountancy  graduates  of  a  Philip-pine public university.https://doi.org/10.11591/ijere.v13i1.2662
  3. Forson,  J.  A.,  Ofosu-Dwamena,  E.,  Opoku,  R.  A., & Adjavon, S. E. (2021). Employee motiva-tion and job performance: a study of basic school  teachers  in  Ghana. Future  Business Journal, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s43093-021-00077-6
  4. Kacmarova,  M.,  Vargova,  D.,  &  Babincak,  P. (2022). Fear of poverty –verification of its relationship  to  socio-economic  status  and selected personality variables. https://doi.org/10.31577/cas.2019.01.52.
  5. Perry,  E.,  ACC.  (2022). Using  Fear  as  a  Motiva-tor: How Does it Work?https://shorturl.at/pfh
  6. Wd.Yudi, M. M., et al., (2020). Accounting students’ motivation for getting professionally qual-ified. Environment-Behaviour  Proceedings Journal, 5(15), 41–48. https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v5i15.2454
  7. Bidwell,  A.  (2015). College  Freshmen  Socialize Less, Feel Depressed More. https://shorturl.at/OMjyZ.
  8. Byrne,  D.  (2021).  A  worked  example  of  Braun and Clarke’s approach to reflexive the-matic    analysis. Quality    and    Quantity, 56(3), 1391–1412. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-021-01182-y
  9. Calma,  R.,  &  Abiog,  L.  (2020). The  Factorsthat Influence Students’ Decision inChoosing the BSA Program.https://rb.gy/r4vzog.Campos, M. M. (2021, March 28). What  are the Effects  of  Multitasking  in  the  Workplace?D&V Philippines. https://ti-nyurl.com/4j426xeb.
  10. Chafe  R.  (2017)  The  Value  of  Qualitative  De-scription in Health Services and Policy Re-search. Healthcare Policy12: 12–18. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Chew-Helbig,  N.,  (2023). Gestalt  Therapy:The Paradoxical Theory of Change.Psychother-apist. Psychotherapy Nicole Chew-Helbig.https://nikhelbig.at/gestalt-therapy-the-paradoxical-theory-of-change/.
  12. Çollaku, L., Aliu, M., & Ahmeti, S. (2023). The re-lationship between job burnout and inten-tion  to change  occupation  in the  account-ing  profession:  the  mediating  role  of  psy-chological   well-being. Management   Re-search Review, 46(12), 1694–1710. https://doi.org/10.1108/mrr-10-2022-0726.
  13. Crofton, J. (2024, February 20). The importance of   continuous   learning   for   accountants. https://tinyurl.com/mr2yx4n4.
  14. Daud,  N.,  Norwani,  N.  M.,  &  Yusof,  R.  (2018). Students’ financial problems in higher ed-ucation  institutions. International  Journal of  Academic  Research  in  Business  and  So-cial Sciences, 8 (10). https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v8-i10/5312.
  15. Ditkaew,  K.  (2022).  The  effect  of  lean  account-ing    implementation    on    organizational performance. International    Journal    of Asian  Business  and  Information  Manage-ment, 13(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.4018/ijabim.309134
  16. Gonzalez,  A.  (2023,  May  9).  The  Philippines  is Running   Low   on   Accountants   and   US Firms  Should  Be  Worried. Going  Concern. https://shorturl.at/yki0V.
  17. Heller, I. (2022, April 21). Why accountantsare actually   the   future   of   finance. Forbes.https://rb.gy/qa9ti4.
  18. Hussin,  S.  N.  A.,  Wan,  N.  Z.  N.,  Aziz,  A.  a.  A.,  Ra-zak, S., San, S., & Saidi, N. (2024). SHAPING FUTURE    PROFESSIONALS:    EMPLOYER PERSPECTIVES   ON   ACCOUNTING   STU-DENT COMPETENCY IN INTERNSHIPS. In-ternational   Journal   of   Entrepreneurship and  Management  Practices, 7(25),  310–324. https://doi.org/10.35631/ijemp.72502
  19. Jain,  P.  (2020). Top  5  reasons  to  be  a  CPA. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-5-reasons-cpa-simandhar-educationJain, P. (2023). Ethics in Accounting: Navigating Professional  Standards  and  Responsibili-ties. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ethics-Tadlas et al., 2025 /From BSA to CPA: Accounting the Journey Towards Becoming Certified Public Accountants in the City of KoronadalIJMABER 1831Volume 6| Number 4| April| 2025accounting-navigating-professional-standards-education
  20. Lee,  J.  Y.,  &  Patel,  S.  J.  (2020).  An  Innovating Business  Model  for  the  Higher  Education Sector:  A  Plat  form  Based  Approach  to University  Career  Services.  Industry  and Higher Education, 34, 91-99. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950422219881069
  21. Leonard,  C.,  Moolman,  J.,  &  Shuttleworth,  C.  C. (2023,  September  6). Factors  that  moti-vate  millennial  accountancy  professionals in  industry  to  become  academics.  Leonard |  Journal  of  Economic  and  Financial  Sci-ences. https://jefjournal.org.za/in-dex.php/jef/article/view/872/1622
  22. Mokhampanyane,  M.,  &  Schlebusch,  G.  (2021). Factors  Affecting  First  Year  Accounting Students’ Performance at a South African University   of   Technology. International Journal    of    Innovation    Creativity    and Change, 15(11). https://www.re-searchgate.net/profile/
  23. P,   K.   (2020). Negative   effects   of   homework.CreditDonkey.https://shorturl.at/bxOGk.
  24. Phelps, T. (2024, season-04). The source of your motivation. NASP. https://www.nasp.com/blog/the-source-of-your-motivation/
  25. Prajapati,  P.  (2018,  March  9). Accountants:  Is multi-tasking  damaging  your  practice’s productivity?https://ti-nyurl.com/578xfma6.
  26. Raharja, S., & Liany, D. (2020). Factors affecting accounting  students  in  choosing  an  ac-counting   career   path. Jurnal   Dinamika Akuntansi, 12(2), 100–113. https://doi.org/10.15294/jda.v12i2.24169.
  27. Ramos,   A.  (2015). Evaluation  of  the  Perfor-mance of Isabela State UniversityAc-countancy Graduates in the CPABoard Examination: Vol. II. https://rb.gy/z01qx7.
  28. Sandelowski M. (2000) Whatever happened to qualitative description? Research in Nurs-ing   &   Health23:   334–340.   [PubMed] [Google Scholar]Siddiqui,  W.  (2023,  December  12).  Top  5  chal-lenges facing accountants today. https://tinyurl.com/542542hp.
  29. Tamayo, E. (2023). A PHENOMENOLOGICAL EX-PLORATION     OF     ACCOUNTANCY     STU-DENTS’ STUDY HABITS IN A STATE UNI-VERSITY[Research Study].https://doi.org/10.26480/eldn.01.2023.50.61.
  30. Vergara,  J.,  et.  al  (2015). Accountancy students’ attitudes  and  methods  and  academic  per-formance    in    board-related    subjects. https://nbmconference.word-press.com/wp-content/up-loads/2017/11/242-258.pdf.
  31. Villegas,  H.  (2024).  WORK-LIFEBALANCE  IN THE  ACCOUNTING  FIRM  AS  PERCEIVED BY    ACCOUNTING    PROFESSIONALS    IN THE CITY OF MAKATI, PHILIPPINES. Cor-porate  Sustainable  Management  Journal (CSMJ). http://doi.org/10.26480/csmj.01.2024.15.17
  32. Wang,  D.,  Liu,  X.,  &  Deng,  H.  (2022,  November 30).  The  perspectives  of  social  cognitive career  theory  approach  in  current  times. PubMed Central.Yap, F., PhD. (2023). Accountancy Students’ Per-formance  in  the  CPALE. http://journali-jisr.com/sites/default/files/issues-pdf/IJISRR-1286.pdf.
  33. Yaqoob,  S.,  Ishaq,  M.  I.,  Mushtaq,  M.,  &  Raza,  A. (2023).  Family  or  otherwise:  Exploring the  impact  of  family  motivation  on  job outcomes  in  collectivistic  society. Fron-tiers in Psychology, 14.https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.889913
  34. Yusuf,  S.,  &  Al-Majdhoub,  F.  (2020). THE-FI-NANCIAL-PROBLEMS-AND-ACADEMIC-PERFORMANCE-AMONG-PUBLIC-UNIVER-SITY-STUDENTS-IN-MALAYSIA. https://doi.org/10.61688/ajpbs.v1i2.52
  35. Zaki, A. (2023, November 20). 95% of account-ants  are  satisfied  with  their  current  role. CFO. https://tinyurl.com/68m4pmpa.

Tools


Copyright © 2025  KITE Digital Educational Solutions |  Exclusively distributed by CE-Logic