Paul Wells PhD, FCA, is a retired senior research lecturer in Accounting Information Systems at Auckland University of Technology teaching at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels along with research supervision. His 49-year career commenced as a teaching assistant at the University of Canterbury in 1977. Since then, he has worked as an accountant, lecturer, head of department and academic manager, examiner, quality assurance manager and researcher. Paul’s professional and research interests include accounting education, performance measurement in the not-for-profit sector and the influence of ICT on accounting practice.

His PhD investigated perceptions of accounting and understanding how and why these perceptions were formed. These findings led to multiple publications in academic and professional journals. He is currently an associate editor of Accounting Education and on the editorial board of the Journal of Accounting Education. and has co-authored three textbooks on introductory accounting. He is a fellow of AFAANZ, and has served on their Accounting Education Special Interest Group in a number of roles since 2004. In 2022 he received the AFAANZ Outstanding Contribution to Accounting and Finance Education Award.

Paul has extensive service in governance and accounting practice with a number of entities in the Not-For-Profit sector. This service has included service at local, regional and national levels with NZ Gymnastics, the Methodist Church of New Zealand and the St Aidan’s Presbyterian Property Trust.