Indonesian Accounting Professionals and ASEAN’s Mutual Recognition Arrangement; An Exploratory Study of Employability Factors E Mayangsari 1 , M Hermawan 1 , V Juwono 2 1 International Business Program, Management Department, BINUS Business School International Undergraduate Program, Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta, Indonesia 2 Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Administrative Science, Universitas Indonesia 1 vjuwono@ui.ac.id ABSTRACT This paper attempts to explore employability factors of Indonesian accounting professionals in ASEAN region. A Career EDGE model is used as the employability framework. A qualitative approach is employed to obtain in-depth information and achieves insights from employer, employees, and experts. The finding showed that career development learning, experience (work and life), degree subject knowledge, skills and understanding, generic skills, emotional intelligence, self-confidence, and reflection and evaluation are factors that influence employability. Indonesian accountants need to enhance degree subject knowledge, skills and understanding, generic skills, and emotional intelligence, particularly in IFRS standards and communication skills. Managerial and theoretical implications are mentioned, as well as limitation and recommendation. Keywords: Accounting, Employability, Mutual Recognition Arrangement 1. INTRODUCTION In support of the ASEAN Economic Community, the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) was implemented in 2015 to enact professional certification and standardization among workers in select few professions; in particular, accountants. By having an internationally acknowledged skill verification, the MRA hopes to be able to circumvent the inherent differences in education system, cultural, and socio-economic situations across ASEAN member countries. A study by McCarthy [1] stated that graduates with verifiable skills would be able to find more opportunities than the ones without verifiable skills. Therefore, it is essential for ASEAN member countries to ensure its skilled professionals can attain a certain standard of quality and competency, to compete with the other employees from the other ASEAN members. One of the most critical means for private sector development to attract foreign direct investors and to raise the confidence of domestic investors is through achieving sustainable public financial management reforms, as well as promoting a more effective corporate governance, accountability, and transparency. Research by Zaidi and Huerta [2] revealed that there is a positive correlation between the adoption of IFRS and the economic growth of the adopting countries as observed five years into implementation. Coffee [3] further supported the idea that improvement in transparency and accounting standards signified an increase in quality WoMELA-GG 2019, January 26-28, Medan, Indonesia Copyright © 2019 EAI DOI 10.4108/eai.26-1-2019.2283142