THE ACCOUNTANT_AUTUMN_2018_VER-7-L

FEATURE
THE PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANT
IN TODAY’S INDUSTRY
STEPHEN L MUSCAT
STEPHEN L MUSCAT FIA CPA,
WHO CURRENTLY HOLDS
THE CHAIR OF THE MIA PAIB
COMMITTEE, AND ALSO SITS ON
THE IFAC PAIB COMMITTEE, HAS
BEEN WORKING IN BUSINESS FOR
OVER 30 YEARS.
Being a Professional Accountant working in Business
(PAIB) today is a very exciting and challenging career due to
the transformation that most businesses are undergoing as
a result of technological advances.
In today’s and tomorrow’s scenarios accountants are
increasingly being asked to provide information and analysis
to support decisions about all aspects of an organisation’s
business. Providing insights solely on financial performance
is no longer enough, more so because the financials only
tell a part of a performance story, and do not reveal what is
ultimately driving or destroying value across all areas of the
business. As a result, accountants in business MUST get
involved in the operations of the business organisation they
work for.
Digital and data transformation is taking over the way
businesses are run and transforming business models, while
reinventing customer value propositions has become a
prerogative of the finance function to improving operations
through end-to-end digitization of processes, connectivity,
automation, and real-time communication. Technology and
digitization enable PAIBs and their finance departments to
spend more time proactively helping their business to achieve
sustainable success.
All types of organizations are disrupting or being
disrupted. IBM’s latest global C-suite study1 shows that threequarters
of CFOs cite existential threats of some kind to their
enterprises’ current business models. Six in ten CFOs point
to more innovative competitors delivering more compelling
value propositions. Three in ten indicate new entrants are
taking market share, and approximately one in six point to
some combination of product commoditization eroding
margins, or online and mobile channel threats.
The half-life of knowledge, which represents the amount
of time that elapses before half of the knowledge one has
acquired is superseded, is rapidly reducing. This therefore
means that new skills and ways of thinking must be taught in
professional education and training, even though much of this
learning is predominantly acquired over time in an ongoing
learning process, supported by different work experiences.
Moving jobs has become very common and today’s graduate
accountants are expected to change over 15 jobs during their
career. This will help create better accountants for the good
of business.
The accountant in business needs to be outwardlooking
and have a broader perspective and mindset to be
entrepreneurial and commercial; an able critical thinker
and problem solver. Accountants will also increasingly need
to work with colleagues from diverse disciplines across the
business, so good communication skills for discussing with
such multi-disciplinary teams is essential.
As a result of all this changing landscape, the accountancy
profession and professional accountants will need to maintain
their relevance. Many of their core professional values, skills
and knowledge remain relevant although the context in
which they are applied is radically different. Uncertainty
and ambiguity require a different mindset and approach.
Accounting for the business rather than the balance sheet
IS the starting point for relevance. This is bringing a shift
from accounting for the financial performance of a business
to accounting more holistically for the business. Boards and
46 Autumn 2018