Prepare for economic challenges, ACCA tells firms

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants has called on organisations to be prepared for change, and put in place processes that will help them adapt to new events and changing contexts.The global accounting body said 2012 and years to come would be full of challenges, especially for accountants who refused to diversify.The Chief Executive, ACCA, Ms. Helen Brands, said, at the Chief Executive Officers breakfast meeting in Lagos that ACCA had spent some time considering some different scenarios that could occur over the next few decades.Brands said, In particular, weve looked at changing influences in the global economy, the effects of resource scarcity, changes in regulation, and changes for the structure of businesses. Firstly, it seems likely that the world will have a far flatter distribution of global power.Were already seeing some of this happening, the G7 became the G8 and now were seeing the G20 take a much more prominent role. Secondly, the world is heading towards a resource-crunch. The scarcity of natural resources will be a problem that has the potential to cause difficulties as grave as the financial crisis.According to the ACCA boss, diversity is crucial for the accountancy profession.Its about ensuring that employers seek the right individuals from the widest possible talent pool. The business world needs to be diverse and accountants need to be diverse to serve it. The accountancy profession cannot hope to serve business properly if all accountants have the same experiences and backgrounds, she said.Brands noted that diversity was about finding the right mix of talent to represent different experiences and to help bring a range of different opinions and insights to decision-making processes.She said, Diversity isnt an issue of ethics, morals, gender, or culture, but an opportunity to drive innovation and embrace different experiences, viewpoints, and mindsets within a team. This can enable organisations to innovate, to challenge perceived wisdom, and to challenge business as usual.
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