The 6th Bosnyák János Memorial Conference dedicated to current accounting issues

The 6th Bosnyák János Memorial Conference was held on 17 February 2023 in the Faculty Club Hall of Corvinus University of Budapest. At the opening of the conference, at the wreath-laying ceremony in front of the smiling, dark bronze relief of János Bosnyák, in his moving memories Professor Emeritus of Corvinus, Tamás Bánfi, recalled the career, personality and talent of the Vice-Rector, Director of the Institute, Head of Department, and Chairman of the National Accounting Committee, who passed away tragically eleven years ago. He emphasised that he taught his students to think critically, to be open-minded, and to form their own opinions, and that he selflessly helped his colleagues, which earned him the respect of everyone. 

In the morning plenary session, we first heard a presentation on the objectives of the Integrity Authority from President Ferenc Bíró, and Head of the Internal Audit and Integrity Directorate, Melinda Karácsoni-Pej, who also answered a number of fascinating questions on the expected methodology and effectiveness of the Authority. The second speaker was the Chancellor of the University of Debrecen, Zoltán Bács, who summarised the endless accounting tasks and lessons learnt from the bumpy road of model change. He was followed by a presentation by the Assistant Professor at the University of Pécs, Eleonóra Budai, who presented the results of the study on the resilience² of the Hungarian accounting system in the period 2008-2022. Professor at Neumann János University, Zoltán Zéman, shared his thoughts on the relationship between digital innovation and controlling methodology. 

After lunch, the conference participants had the opportunity to have a direct, informal, and personal exchange of views in two sections. In the ‘Green Accounting’ section, Associate Professor at the Budapest University of Technology, Elvíra Böcskei, spoke first about values and interests in the triple dimension of sustainability, followed by Assistant Professor at the University of Szeged (SZTE), Edit Lippai-Makra, who gave a presentation on the changes in the regulation of corporate sustainability reporting. Associate Professor at the Budapest University of Economics and Business (BGE), Andrea Madarasiné Szirmai, spoke on the financial issues of IFRS and financial sustainability, while Associate Professor at Corvinus, Anita Reizingerné Ducsai, discussed the nonfinancial reporting obligations of banks, insurance companies and stock exchange companies, and the dilemmas of compiling ESG reports. This section was closed by two doctoral students from Corvinus, Anett Zanócz, and István Fábics, who gave presentations on ESG reporting by large banks and measuring the usefulness of non-profit reporting, respectively. 

The other section included two presentations on audit and three on regulatory accounting issues. The Head of the Corvinus Department of Accounting, János Lukács, analysed the state of the audit market. Assistant Professor at Corvinus, Éva Gulyás, reported on their joint research with one of her former students, Ádám Papp, on bankruptcy models applicable in auditing. They were followed by two Assistant Professors from Corvinus, Tünde Szabóné Veres and Kíra Martin, who are doing research on transfer pricing. Associate Professor at BGE, Barbara Kardos, summarised the results of their survey on microentity reporting and digitisation, conducted among Hungarian accounting professionals. The Assistant Professor at the University of Szeged, Balázs Tóth, presented research opportunities related to the public finance accounting information system. 

In a style reflecting on the namesake of the conference, the afternoon programme ended with an educational plenary session, where Professor at the University of Miskolc Tibor Pál, spoke about the usefulness of launching a one-year master’s degree in financial management,  Master’s Lecturer at Corvinus, Eleonóra Tarpataki, about the changes in accounting education after the pandemic, Associate Professor at Corvinus, Gergely Fazakas, on the lessons of students’ investor psychology, and, finally, three doctoral candidates from Corvinus, Réka Kertész, Lilla Kovács, and Kristóf Menyhért, gave a presentation on the situation of professional education for young people in Hungary. The conference ended with Tamás Bánfi’s³ reflections on one of János Arany’s early poems and a pirate edition of one of his poems. 

Author: Dr. János Lukács, Head of Department of Accounting  

References: 

¹ Sculpture by Dóra Vanda Demcsák, whose Wagner plaque can be seen in front of the Marriott Hotel. 

² It comes from the merger of the Latin words re (back) and salre (to jump). It means flexible resilience to critical changes, unexpected obstacles, and surprises. 

³ Tamás Bánfi generously presented the conference participants with a signed copy of his book APOCALYPSE? or Back in PARADISE?