Abstract

Public accounting firms must balance conflicting goals, including returning a profit for their owners (commercialism) and serving the public interest (professionalism). However, little is known about how these firms address this conflict and how it impacts financial performance. This study examines how accounting firms identify themselves in their mission statements through communicating their commercial or professional orientation. Our results suggest mission statements vary based on the service line from which accounting firms derive the majority of their revenue and firm size. The mission statements of Tax and Management Advisory Services-dominant firms include more references to the commercial aspects of the public accounting enterprise, while Auditing and Accounting firms focus more on the professional aspects. Additionally, smaller (_larger_) firms are more likely to have mission statements that use language consistent with a professional (_commercial_) identity. We also find that commercialism-oriented components are positively associated with firm revenue growth and professionalism-oriented components are associated with lower revenue generation. We contribute to the mission statement literature by highlighting the association between mission statements and firm performance and to the accounting literature by providing empirical evidence of the role of mission statements in establishing the tone at the top of public accounting firms.