Accountants for business - a challenging role ahead

Aruni RAJAKARIER- Country Manager - ACCA Sri Lanka

ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) has a new theme for 2010. Over the next year, we will champion the theme of Accountants for Business, of how the finance professions help small, medium and large business grow, prosper and survive.

The role of financial professionals to Sri Lanka's development is therefore crucial.

A sound, solid and healthy business sector is important for the whole of the country, and finance professionals have a central part to play here.

One of the hallmarks of sustainable enterprise and development is a strong finance function. Organisations, whether in public or private sectors, benefit strongly from the discipline of financial management, and especially when it is central to the business function, where it is part of its very culture.

Finance professionals add value in whatever roles they are employed, and are promoters of sound business practices, champions of sustainable business development and they also identify new opportunities that can lead to high-performing organisations.

Economically, accountants add considerable value to business by driving down costs and identifying areas for value and profitability - and never more so than in the current global economic environment.

They can help an organisation steer itself through difficult trading conditions, while seeking to keep their eye firmly on their longer-term goals.

They can identify opportunities and threats.

ACCA believes that accountancy is entering a golden age - and not just because financial skills are needed in a time of difficult economic conditions.

Recent surveys by ACCA show that demand remains high for accounting skills around the world, in developed and developing nations.

The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) has become more important in recent years as a guardian of financial performance and a key player in creating long-term value.

It is no accident that professional accountants are found on the boards of listed companies around the world. And the outward-facing role of CFOs has broadened.

The CFO is increasingly the guardian of the brand, ensuring that the company adheres to good sustainable practices.

Accountants are no longer just reporting to the shareholders and to comply with regulation. They must play their part in maintaining and building the reputation of the business.

Accountants are also essential to supporting the small business sector. SMEs make a positive contribution to economic growth, requiring well-rounded finance managers and advisers to ensure small businesses survive and grow.

When it comes to education and training of finance professionals, ACCA creates the 'complete finance professional', with the skills required for financial reporting, management accounting, compliance with tax and other regimes, risk management and performance analysis. They are grounded in professional and ethical practices and with the knowledge appropriate to provide well-rounded advice to company owners and managers. They are fit for business.

The accountant for business, whether an employee of the organisation, or a firm contracted to provide bookkeeping and accounts preparation service, provides a vital financial disciplinary function in ensuring the business is financially sound and sustainable.

The accountant in business has a pivotal relationship with other key stakeholders essential for the ongoing success of the organisation, from presenting financial statements for quoted companies, in a timely fashion and professionally prepared in compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), is absolutely essential.

And also the accountant in business can often be a motivator for those many employees in the organisation who are not financially minded, but who yet are charged with a financial or budgetary responsibility.

Understanding the motivations of others, demonstrating in practical terms why finance matters to them can be a source of huge value to the organisation, in terms of controlling cost, and of optimising income.

We are in a golden age in terms of the relevance of accountants to business.

Over the last 18 months, as a systemic global banking collapse has evolved into a significant worldwide recession, with some countries seeing a rocky recovery, a range of presumptions about accounting, organisations and society have been radically called into question.

What business needs now is discipline over the immediate short term, but also the confidence of knowing they possess a business model which is sustainable. Finance professionals now have every opportunity to emerge as leaders - but ultimately it will depend on their willingness to rise to the challenge.