Globally, higher education institutions were forced to use online assessments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the fast-paced transition to online assessments at the time, the authors saw a unique opportunity to explore accounting educators' experiences and perceptions of assessments conducted in accounting courses in South Africa during this period. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews. The findings indicate that participants felt unprepared, echoing the importance of institutional and educator readiness as a key consideration for online assessments. Participants raised concerns over the suitability of the assessments for an online environment, noting that the diversity of the student body must be considered. Lastly, participants raised concerns over the threats to academic integrity and the impact of online assessments on the equity and integrity of the academic project and the accounting profession. The findings of this study emphasise the importance for HEIs to design and develop specific principles and guidelines for online assessments.