By HELEN ZULU –
ACCOUNTANTS must go beyond traditional roles to help the economy attain productivity and growth in the country.
Mulenji Chartered Global Management Accountants chief executive officer Victor Nyasulu said this was as the profession faced pressure dealing with an ever-changing business environment while its intrinsic trust and credibility was being questioned.
Mr Nyasulu said volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity called for a new breed of accountants with skills adding to the competitive advantage of local enterprises and economy.
He implored the accounting profession to reinvent itself to remain relevant in the country.
“Volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity call for a new breed of accountants with skills adding to the competitive advantage of local enterprises and economy.
“Today, accounting has to be about value and information from data. Historical information is useful, but clients want accountants who understand them and proactively shape paths to success.
“The world is ever changing and there is increasing pressure to provide compelling value add to the number crunching,” Mr Nyasulu said.
He said although technical competence and professional knowledge was largely seen as a given, increasingly sights were set on non-technical attributes such as communication, including understanding of social media.
“It is for this reason that we have new titles in the profession such as ‘big data architect’ because data needs to be articulated in manner brings about positive performance results,” Mr Nyasulu said.
He also acknowledged that some elements of the accounting value chain would in future be done by computers, especially the mundane and repetitive tasks of data capturing.
“Rather than fear changes like that, it is an opportunity for accountants to reinvent themselves. Those changes won’t completely eliminate the need for human accountant, but will alter what they need to offer to clients,” he said.