The survey found that accountants in countries as diverse as the Netherlands, Japan and Nigeria presented "a united front in favor of offering a wide range of services to their clients -- not just audit."

According to Summit, "trail-blazing" firms in North America are 100 percent against divesting their more lucrative corporate finance, business advisory, tax and consultancy services. Similarly, accountants in Africa (100 percent), Europe (89 percent), and Asia Pacific (78 percent) agree with this "multi-faceted" approach.

"Accountants the world over know their client's businesses and business needs better than anyone else. If accountants say that they should be offering their clients additional services, it's because clients want these services and will benefit by receiving them from a professional and trusted business advisor," said Summit's chief executive officer Geoff Barnes.

Summit concludes: "The institutes and jurisdictional bodies that make a career of debating this academic issue should sit up and take notice of this overwhelming body of opinion against audit-only firms from the front-line men and women who know how global business really works."

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