Accounting body lost in transformation
IN THE past few years, the country has been awash with news relating to wrongdoings in the accounting sector.
Recently, the profession made a dramatic comeback to local news. I was aghast to learn that instead of remedying the damage caused by the previous malfeasance, the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) launched a charter in which it is alleged to self-assign itself as the official voice for the accounting profession by recommending greater black participation in the vocation. I have no problem with the latter objective.
The charter proposes that companies and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) can only hire chartered accountants (CAs) affiliated to Saica. The body is recommending that CAs affiliated to it would be given privileges of employment over CAs belonging to other professional bodies.
How bizarre, especially when one considers that all of this was proposed in the name of transformation.
Against a backdrop where literally millions of people are unemployed, where even CAs are finding it difficult to hold down good jobs, where the country is crying out for appropriate skills and competencies, where a large coterie of Saica members have been accused of malfeasance and unethical behaviour, the organisation has prioritised an outlandish charter.
The time has come to subject the accounting profession and practice to sustained critical analysis.
The global economy is at a turning point with the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).
Technology, in particular, is changing the nature of work and the role of accountants while the nature of jobs and the skills that will be needed in the near future are in flux.
Organisational success increasingly relies on creative and adaptable accountancy bodies to lead, shape and be innovative.
For these professional bodies to be truly transformative, they have to shift their emphasis firmly towards intellectual and emotional creativity and problem-solving, together with innovative accounting regimes which challenge professionals to be adaptable and supportive of innovation.
I contend the case for a breed of accountants that are driven by the transformative ambition of developing their cognitive powers for the betterment of all.
Higher education institutions and accounting organisations should be viewed through the lens of the skills required in the accounting world of tomorrow.
By drawing on mainstream thinking, it articulates a narrative about what transformative accounting could mean in the context of the 4IR.
To be transformative means an accounting programme should be ambitious in what it expects of learners.
Professional accounting bodies such as Saica urgently need to heed the fact that we are on the cusp of 4IR and to anticipate its potential for transformation.
Accountants who become wellversed in the new technologies and social settings arising from them are likely to remain strongly in demand.
It’s simply a case of moving ahead and working towards relevance and success in a highly disruptive, agile and transforming world.