An optimum blend of skills, experience and intelligence is now needed by professional accountants, an in-depth global research project from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has established.
A report on the research project, titled Professional accountants – the future, says that more regulation, greater globalisation, increasing risk and significant technological advancement will continue to redefine the role of the accountancy profession, requiring financial professionals who are committed to being ahead of the curve: trained to the highest of professional standards and being able to look beyond the numbers whilst possessing a global mindset.
Responding to the research’s findings, Atul Shah, the Senior Members Council Member at ACCA Kenya and the CEO of PKF in Eastern Africa, said: “We have seen a revolution in accountancy over the past decade. Finance professionals are not just stereotypical number-crunchers but business leaders, trusted expert counsels and key strategic advisers at the highest levels of organisations in the public and private sectors”.
“With this transformation comes a requirement for a whole new set of skills. On top of technical and ethical excellence, professional accountants now require creativity, emotional intelligence and the vision to lead,” he added.
With input and insight from over 2,000 business and finance professionals around the world including Cooper Parry, the report is the most in-depth analysis of the profession – and where it is headed – ever conducted.
To define what the finance professional of the future must look like, ACCA has developed a set of seven Professional Quotients – a mix of technical knowledge, skills and abilities intertwined with interpersonal behaviours and qualities.
These are:
- Technical and ethical competencies (TEQ): The skills and abilities to perform activities consistently to a defined standard. Often based on a professional qualification.
- Intelligence (IQ): The ability to acquire and use knowledge: thinking, reasoning and solving problems.
- Creativity (CQ): The ability to use existing knowledge in a new situation, to make connections, explore potential outcomes, and generate new ideas.
- Digital quotient (DQ): The awareness and application of existing and emerging digital technologies, capabilities, practices, strategies and culture.
- Emotional intelligence (EQ): The ability to identify your own emotions and those of others, harness and apply them to tasks, and regulate and manage them.
- Vision (VQ): The ability to predict future trends accurately by extrapolating existing trends and facts, and filling the gaps by thinking innovatively.
- Experience (XQ): The ability and skills to understand customer expectations meet desired outcomes and create value.
“The message to current and aspiring accountants is that a blend of all these attributes makes the perfect finance professional, ready for the global business challenges they will face,” Atul said.
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