Opportunities knock for accountants in crisis

The Covid-19 pandemic has had unprecedented effects on individuals, businesses, governments and society. Accountants have felt the pinch too and this caused them not only to revisit the roles they play at their workplaces but also change the way they perform their duties.

The pandemic caused organisations to introduce remote working to minimise its effects on the employees. Many accountants had to quickly adapt to new technologies to navigate through the challenges created by the pandemic.

Covid-19 has also forced accountants to change priorities to adapt to the new normal. Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Mark Omona, the director Standards and Regulations at the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda, says work plans have been revised with more focus being put on emerging risks such as health and safety of employees, cybersecurity, risk management, business continuity, and cost reduction.

“The Covid-19 pandemic is therefore an awakening for professional accountants to upskill, become more agile and develop future-proof skills.”

Become strategic partner

Francis Kamulegeya, the country senior partner of PricewaterhouseCoppers, shares a lighter side of the crisis as an opportunity for accountants to position themselves as strategic partners and business advisers to both their clients and employers.

“Building a trusted business relationship is critically anchored on offering perspective on the financial information that is available in clear, plain language so that business owners understand the critical nature of their decision. Act with speed, this is not a time for perfection, as the environment is very fluid and everything is changing daily.”

Kamulegeya adds, “share updates about government incentives to help clients get through this crisis.”

Also help clients make the best of the resources available to them as they adapt to the new business models.

Fit for opportunities

Accountants of yesterday can only orient themselves for today’s opportunities by being proactive, adapting and evolving to address the needs of tomorrow’s clients and organisations.

Accountants have always helped to shape and support businesses and economies of all types and sizes. In order to provide value to their organisations, accountants should meet current needs and anticipate emerging demands.

To benefit from future opportunities, Omona acknowledges that accountants need to continuously educate themselves about emerging technologies and their influence on their work and the organisations where they work.

“They need to realise that routine and clerical roles within the accountancy profession will continuously be vulnerable to technological advancements. Therefore, continue to embrace and get acquainted with fourth industrial revolution (4IR) technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, robotics, machine learning and blockchain.”

In addition to the above, Omona insists that they respond to risks arising from the disruptions.

“They should enhance their cybersecurity skills and embrace new disciplines such as forensic accounting, which is likely to be one of the highly sought after skills in a highly automated world.”

Automation

As organisations undergo end-to-end digital transformation, which automates virtually all processes within the organisation, many organisations use accounting software to process accounting transactions and generate financial reports.

Omona admits automation in accounting generally leads to improved accounting and financial reporting by eliminating repetitive transactional and routine tasks such as bookkeeping and data entry and thus allowing the accountant to showcase their analytical, planning and management skills.

Nevertheless, digitisation presents challenges that should not be ignored since they threaten several accounting jobs with obsolescence as manual elements of accounting increasingly become automated. The only way accountants can deal with this is by embracing more strategic and analytical roles such as business controlling, financial planning and analysis.

Omona further explains that increased complexity is associated with automation. Accountants are often relied upon to interpret these complexities and provide actionable recommendations.

Automation increases the fragility of an entity to cybersecurity threats which may lead to financial loss if not well addressed. Digital and cybersecurity skills are likely to be must-have competencies for tomorrow’s accountant.

Quack accountants

It is important for the public to realise that professional accountants possess unique skills and competencies that are not available to any quack accountant. Moreover with the disruptive changes outlined above, the standard and nature of these professional competencies will continue to evolve and mature, Omona admits.

To identify and deal with quack accountants, the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (ICPAU) periodically publishes the register of members as well as licensed practicing accountants every year, and encourages members of the public to only engage with qualified and licensed accountants. 

The public is encouraged to identify quack accountants and report such persons that they may know of or may have dealt with that do not appear on these lists for ICPAU to deal with them.

Client’s needs

In times of economic crisis, Kamulegeya states that businesses need this expertise more to stabilise the financial situation and ensure that people are able to survive and bounce back.

Also make sense of this rapidly changing and complex crisis to visualise a better future and have clarity around how they can make it through the crisis.

The clients also need the accountants to help them face the brutal facts of the current reality while providing hope and options to make it through the crisis.

STEP IN

Accountancy in crisis

During a crisis, Kamulegeya states that clients need accountants to help them face the brutal facts of the current reality while providing hope and options to make it through the crisis.