THE Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland has agreed to fund joint research on improving the use of information technology with University College Galway.

Dr Martin Fahy, of UCG's Accountancy and Finance Department, said yesterday that research to date suggested that many small and medium sized accountancy firms missed out on possible benefits from using IT systems.

This was because investment was being channelled into hardware and software rather than into staff training and organisation.

This was leading to greater inequalities in income and career prospects within the accountancy sector, according to Dr Fahy.