ICT skills drive blockchain adoption in financial reporting

The study recommends prioritizing ICT capability building inside finance and audit teams. The strongest path in the model is the one that turns digital fluency into actual tool usage. Upskilling initiatives anchored in accounting workflows: ERP integrations, permissioned-chain pilots, and reconciliation automation are positioned to move adoption from interest to practice.

The strongest predictor of using blockchain tools in corporate reporting is ICT awareness among accounting professionals, while data security and the use of blockchain itself significantly lift perceived quality of financial reporting and auditing, according to a new study that also flags non-trivial barriers around regulation, systems integration and stakeholder acceptance.

The article, “Factors leading to the adoption of blockchain technology in financial reporting”, that appears in Frontiers in Blockchain, analyzes how ICT awareness, data security, data privacy and training relate to blockchain tool usage and downstream impacts on reporting and audit practices.

Why this question matters for finance and audit

Blockchain is a tamper-resistant ledger that can improve accuracy, reduce fraud and speed access to verified records, capabilities directly relevant to financial statement reliability and audit efficiency. The authors note  that rising interest beyond cryptocurrencies, with organizations exploring permissioned deployments for secure, transparent record-keeping in regulated settings.

At the same time, today’s reporting systems still face manipulation risks and reconciliation overheads that blockchain could mitigate. Industry use cases and prior literature suggest gains in transparency and auditability, but the field lacks consensus on the practical drivers of adoption inside finance functions. This study addresses that gap with new evidence from practitioners and early-career professionals in accounting and audit.

Methodologically, the team fielded a cross-sectional questionnaire and tested relationships with AMOS-SEM. The sample comprised 170 respondents spanning interns, accountants, auditors, financial analysts and IT specialists; reliability testing showed Cronbach’s α between 0.831 and 0.917 across constructs, with KMO = 0.936 and a highly significant Bartlett’s test, indicating data suitability for factor analysis and structural modeling.

What actually drives adoption inside reporting teams?

The structural model isolates three statistically significant paths.

• ICT awareness: Blockchain tool use (β≈0.489) shows that professionals fluent in digital tools are far more likely to adopt blockchain in their workflow.
• Data security: Financial reporting and auditing outcomes (β≈0.442) indicates that stronger security posture correlates with better perceived reporting and audit quality.
• Blockchain tool use: Financial reporting and auditing (β≈0.568) links adoption directly to improvements such as accuracy, transparency, and reduced audit time.

Other hypothesized drivers did not clear significance in this sample. Data privacy and training were both linked to greater tool use, but neither link was statistically significant. Likewise, ICT awareness had no significant direct effect on reporting and auditing. The pattern suggests that, at current maturity levels, hands-on digital fluency and security assurances matter more for immediate adoption and value than general training or privacy attitudes alone.

The findings line up with narrative evidence from the discussion: current blockchain tool usage among respondents sits around 40%, interest in future adoption is high, and organizations that emphasize practical, context-specific training still stand to benefit, even if training, by itself, was not a statistically decisive lever in the model.

Besides direct effects, the study maps tight covariances among ICT awareness, data security, data privacy and training, pointing to a reinforcing cycle where skills and governance investments advance together. For finance leaders, this implies that programs combining ICT upskilling with security/privacy controls are likely to accelerate adoption more reliably than standalone interventions.

What should regulators, audit committees and vendors do next?

The study recommends prioritizing ICT capability building inside finance and audit teams. The strongest path in the model is the one that turns digital fluency into actual tool usage. Upskilling initiatives anchored in accounting workflows: ERP integrations, permissioned-chain pilots, and reconciliation automation are positioned to move adoption from interest to practice.

Next up, foreground data security as a strategic enabler. The analysis associates better security with better reporting and audit outcomes, and the paper’s review connects blockchain’s cryptographic protections to reduced tampering and earlier risk detection. Strengthening access controls, key management and audit trails should be treated as prerequisites, not afterthoughts.

Third, treat privacy and training as essential complements rather than primary levers. Although their direct paths to usage were not significant here, both remain operationally important and strongly correlated with other factors in the ecosystem. Well-designed training tied to real tasks, and privacy practices aligned to jurisdictional requirements, will still shape acceptance and long-term resilience.

Further, plan for implementation headwinds. The discussion highlights hurdles around regulatory compliance, technology integration, and stakeholder acceptance that can stall otherwise promising pilots. Early engagement with auditors and regulators, clear governance for permissioned networks, and phased integration with existing ledgers and analytics will be critical to scale.

The authors call for longitudinal and mixed-methods research to track how adoption and perceptions evolve as standards, regulations and toolsets mature.