The first cross-country, cross-industry survey measuring corporate accounting and transparency practices of private firms

About the Project

We are researchers in Finance and Accounting from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business interested in understanding how private firms around the world approach their accounting and financial management processes.

We've conducted this study with thousands of firms across dozens of countries around the world. We've gathered a wide range of perspectives on how organizations approach financial management globally, and we hope you will consider participating.


We are interested in learning from individuals directly involved in these areas — including accounting managers, financial managers, CFOs, CEOs, and business owners. Our goal is to understand how companies approach financial management, how processes are organized, and what kinds of challenges and practices are common across different firms.

Participants will receive a customized market report to benchmark their firm's practices against those of others.

Participation Details

Participation is straightforward and involves a 30-minute online survey focused on how accounting and financial processes are handled in your organization.

We are seeking responses from participants working at the following type of firm:

- Private, for-profit company

- Company with 2 to 5,000 full-time employees

We understand that business structures vary significantly. We have found that participants who are typically best suited to speak to the accounting and managerial topics covered by our survey in-depth include:

- Business owners or CEOs

- CFOs, Senior finance or accounting managers

- Senior accountants or other related roles

Your participation in the study is voluntary, and there are no right or wrong answers to any question. All responses will be kept strictly confidential and will only be used for non-commercial research purposes to ensure there are no risks from participating.

What we Deliver

A customized report to benchmark your firm's performance against other companies by country, industry, size, and more

This report will show how your firm compares across areas like:

  • Recording transactions and managing financial data
  • Internal information sharing and managerial decision-making
  • Communicating with external stakeholders
  • Structuring your compliance and risk functions

Summary of Benefits

  • A customized report to benchmark your firm practices against those of others
  • Opportunity to contribute to exciting research on accounting and financial management practices
  • Many participants have also shared that the survey was a valuable opportunity to reflect on their own practices

Meet Our Team

We are a young and dynamic team of academic researchers and industry professionals

  • EMANUELE COLONNELLI
    Professor of Finance and Entrepreneurship
    The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
    Project Co-Director/Co-Founder
  • THOMAS RAUTER
    Professor of Accounting
    The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
    Project Co-Director/Co-Founder

Current Research Associates

  • Chi-Chi Onyekonwu
    UC Santa Barbara
  • Vivian Perathoner
    Chicago Booth
  • Ava Speros
    Chicago Booth
  • Sara Veronesi
    Columbia University
  • Xi Wang
    Chicago Booth
  • Olivia Xiong
    Harvard University

Project Alumni

  • Katie Allsop
  • Federica Ansbacher
  • Adrian Beaumont
  • Foster Coleman
  • Niklas Gieb
  • Federico Guglielmotti
  • Jonas Heim
  • Gary Huang
  • Jack McEnaney
  • Patty Pan
  • Pavan Prathuru
  • Andres Pulido
  • Julia Villena
  • Leonardo Wang
  • Goksu Zeybek
  • Ziang Zhang