Accountants urged to prepare for world of tomorrow

Feb 09, 2017 News

…as several longstanding ACCA members honoured

Longstanding local members pose for a group photograph with their colleagues from ACCA Caribbean at the Marriott Hotel last evening. Head of ACCA Caribbean, Orin Gordon, is second from right, while at far left, is ACCA Caribbean Member Manager Anouska Sammy

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) honoured Dr. Yesu Persaud, Mr. Komal Samaroo and other members of long standing, at a ceremony last evening at the Marriott Hotel.
Delivering the keynote address, Mr. Samaroo encouraged his younger peers to prepare for the world of tomorrow which he said will be very different from today as technological advancement continues.
“Life will change dramatically in the coming years as the full impact of information technology and other technologies as they start having impacts on the way things are done. And this will have a very serious effect on our profession. We as agents of change, accountants as agents of change must understand these changes, must be able to evaluate the impact of these changes on our organisation.”
Mr. Samaroo, who is also Chairman of Demerara Distillers Limited, said that the recognition that change is upon the profession needs to be embraced so that accountants can begin making necessary strategic adjustments so as to circumvent the dislocation that will be created.
To explain his point, he said that today, a large number of production plants around the world are operated remotely thousands of miles away, thereby reducing the need for manual labour.
“The point I’m trying to make is, as accountants, as people who measure results, as people who are engaged in planning, and people who read early warning signals, we need to start helping entities to navigate around those turbulent times.”
Mr. Samaroo said that steps must be taken to ensure that the calibre of accountants can be produced to function in a world that is poised for tremendous dislocation, even if it means reviewing the examination syllabus offered to students.
“As you read and see the changes that are coming, it becomes very a frightening phenomenon. And I believe one of the things all of us need to do is to try and keep abreast of these changes that are taking place.”
Additionally, Mr. Samaroo advised that accountants should try their best to engage their non-financial colleagues so that they can inform them of how performance is measured while at the same time learning about other aspects of management, for example industrial relations.
Also speaking at the event was Head of ACCA Caribbean, Orin Gordon who said that accountants will be one of the groups which will lead the charge as Guyana leaps into an exciting era of business. As a result, Gordon said that Guyana is going to need top notch accountants and rigorous accounting standards.
He said that ACCA Caribbean is particularly excited about Research and Development or Professional Research. This programme, he said, concerns deep analytical research which asks questions, produces findings and answers about what the professional accountant of the future will look like.
“What are the six main indicators of changing business globally; what are the business trends and what are they telling us?”
He said that some of the issues which will be reviewed under such research include training, retention, payments and remuneration expectation. Gordon believes that for the profession to move to the next level this is one direction accountants must take.
As it relates to the men whom were honoured last evening, it was highlighted that they made their way to success through solid old fashion virtues and rural backgrounds.
The ACCA honoured their new members, those holding membership for two to nine years, 10 to 19, 20 to 29 and over 30.
Among the over 30 group were Maurice Solomon (52 years), Dr. Yesu Persaud (52 years), Nizam Ali (48 years), Hari Norel Narine (44 years), Rameshwar Lal (42 years), Komal Samaroo (40 years) and Desmond Mohammed (38 years).