•This study attempts to identify the challenges faced by accounting education during the COVID-19 pandemic.•Our results raise important questions regarding the TL system in place before the crisis.•Significant differences exist between the perspectives among the countries, which provides insights regarding the pandemic’s effect on our educational systems and a true picture of universities’ educational performance.•This study provides insights, recommendations, and valuable information on responses to the pandemic that can benefit educational systems in the future. The main objective of the current study is to examine the perspectives of undergraduate accounting students on the transition to distance learning (DL) as emergency remote learning from traditional learning (TL) during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the learning dimensions of DL compared to TL. The sample includes 782 responses from six countries (France, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Tunisia, and the UK). In accordance with prior studies, we construct a questionnaire that explores the perceptions of students regarding the TL-to-DL transition process and the learning dimensions of DL vs. TL. The majority of respondents believe that the DL transition process, due to the pandemic, has generated concerns to some extent in all countries. However, in terms of the dimensions of DL vs. TL, significant differences exist between the perspectives among the countries, which provides insights regarding the pandemic’s effect on our educational systems and a more accurate picture of universities’ educational performance. Our results raise important questions regarding the TL system in place before the crisis, as well as highlighting the importance of using technology to deliver educational services. This study provides cross-country evidence, from the perspective both of developed and developing countries, on the impact of the pandemic on students’ learning habits and educational methods.