More than just figures

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Accountancy profession need to adapt amidst challenging times — ACCA

Dean Westcott

KUCHING: With rapid changes – both good and bad –  going on in the global economy, accountants are now charged with even more responsibilities than just delivering facts and figures.

Moreover, those in the profession should be ready to embrace changes in order to be relevant in these challenging times, said Association of Chartered Certified Accountants’ (ACCA) deputy president Dean Westcott.

“The association carries out a Global Economic Conditions Survey on a quarterly basis, where all evidence coming back to us has shown that in all parts of the world, accountants are still in strong demand.

“Of course, accountants are important at times when economies are booming – but they are equally as important when the times are tough, and the economies are in recession,” he told reporters after gracing a special dinner here, held in conjunction with the 18th World Congress of Accountants (WCOA 2010).

The event, held once every four years, opens today at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre until this November 11. ACCA is amongst the gold sponsors for the congress.

Commenting on the country’s need for accountants and financial services professionals towards attaining a developed nation’s status by 2020, Westcott related an interesting observation he made on his way here from the UK recently.

“I noted that your Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak) had just announced a huge investment programme to bolster growth in Malaysia. That growth alone presents a large area that require good business advice – in which ACCA-certified accountants would be very well-placed to provide such advice. I could only see the demand growing alongside the growth in the Malaysian economy,” he added.

But the accounting community would still have to exhibit its value-adding capabilities, he pointed out.

“We have to do more. Accountants nowadays need to provide foresight, not just hindsight. We need to be able to tell businesses where they are going, not where they have come from.

“If we as a profession, can achieve this, then these challenging times would suddenly become rich with opportunities. In this respect, what I can say is that ACCA qualification is very well-precisioned to meet this need,” he stated.

With 140,000 members in 170 countries around the globe, Westcott felt encouraged that much of its membership growth had been exhibited quite strongly here in Southeast Asia, particularly Malaysia.

“In Malaysia, we have close to 9,000 members nationwide – out of which about 500 of them are from Sarawak. It has always been our objective to be the largest accountancy body globally not only in size, but also in reputation and influence.

“Based on our records in recent years, we are achieving that.”

Meanwhile, Westcott also highlighted the prominence of Islamic finance in today’s economy, in which the sector would have its own platform during the WCOA 2010 in Kuala Lumpur.

“ACCA is well-aware of the rapid global rise seen in the Islamic financial and banking sector. As such, there are a number of sessions in the congress that will actually focus on Islamic finance.

“As far as human talents and capability are concerned, indeed we we do have it. ACCA does provide several workshops that cater for demands towards syariah-compliant financial services,” he said in his parting note.