‘Employ certified accountants to curb fraud’
ICPAU President Protazio Begumisa passes out 529 Certified Public Accountants during the 9th graduation ceremony last week. Photo by Martin Luther Oketch
What you need to know:
- The executive director, students loan scheme, Mr Michael Wanayama, said public expectations are high and therefore, accountants need to do their work professionally and they should diversify and keep studying new ways of doing things.
KAMPALA. Organisations and companies have been advised by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU) leadership to employ professional accountants who are regulated by the institute to curb fraud and corruption.
They say regulated professional accountants are subject to sanctions and disciplinary measures by the institute which involves withdrawing accounting practicing certificate/dismissal of the person in case of fraudulent actions.
Presiding over the 9th graduation ceremony of the Institute in Kampala last week, Mr Protazio Begumisa, the ICPAU president, said: “Employing professionals is crucial for sound financial management; because accountants are regulated, there are sanctions in place and they are subjected to disciplinary measures to curb fraud and corruption in the organisation such a person is working for.”
He said the reason why ICPAU gets blamed is because the organisations employ accountants who are not professional and they do not belong to the professional body of accountants.
“It becomes very difficult for us at the ICPAU to regulate and discipline people who call themselves accountants who are not members of ICPAU,” he said.
Mr Begumisa said companies are employing people who have done Bachelor of Commerce (BCOM) or Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) as accountants but those people have never done professional course in accounts, and so they don’t qualify to be called professional accountants.
For one to enrol for Certified Public Accountancy he or she has to have the money to do so. Mr Begumisa advised organisations to sponsor their employees to enroll for professional accountancy course because the courses are not cheap.
The executive director, students loan scheme, Mr Michael Wanayama, said public expectations are high and therefore, accountants need to do their work professionally and they should diversify and keep studying new ways of doing things.
“The value of professional accountants will be measured by the extent to which they are perceived to be accountable not only to their own organisations but more importantly to the public. Therefore, they should always exhibit a high level of professional competency,” he said.
