Can Accountants Be Trusted? - Misleading Debate

Economia has a rather misleading headline wrt a debate between Mark Spofforth, partner, Spofforths, and former ICAEW president and Ian Fraser, financial journalist and author of Shredded: The Rise and Fall of RBS.

The debate entitled "Can accountants be trusted?", aside from degenerating into a seemingly ill tempered slanging match, actually centres around the activities of large accounting/auditing firms rather than the activities and ethics of accountants per se.

A far more appropriate headline would have been "Can large firms be trusted?"

Next time economia might consider using the services of an invigilator in order to keep the debaters on topic, and calm.

Top 50 Most Influential On Social Media

The ICAEW is seeking nominations for the top 50 most influential people in finance on social media.:

"We want to gather the top 50 most influential names in finance on social media. Get voting now using the hashtag #economia50"

Congratulations to Liz Rylatt

Congratulations to Liz Rylatt (an ICAEW member) who will join the ICAEW as its finance director in January 2014 from the BBC.

AccountancyAge points out that the original advert for the job specified that candidates must be ICAEW qualified chartered accountants.

Are we to assume the any merger plans with non chartered bodies are well and truly on ice now?;)

Cold Calling

Why is did the ICAEW cold call me today to try to sell me an excel course?

Are membership fees now destined to finance the cost of cold calling members?

Advanced Stage Exam Results

The results of the ICAEW July 2013 Advanced Stage examinations were published by the ICAEW on Friday 30 August 2013.

In summary  the results were:

Paper	Entry	Pass Rate %
Business Reporting	2,472	78.7
Business Change	2,380	83.9
Case Study	2,116	75.4

Congratulations to those who passed, and commiserations to those who didn't.

Results of Bungled Elections

In May this year the ICAEW bungled the elections to council, and were forced to re-run the elections in S Essex, London, Manchester and N-W England.

The results of the re-run of the London elections can be seen via this link.

Well Spotted Elaine

Kudos to my chum Elaine Clark for spotting the typo in the Telegraph article about bean counters.

Can you spot the error?

Ageism and Accountants - A Lack of Sagacity

Sage, as per the dictionary definition, means "having, showing, or indicating profound wisdom".

Hmmm, in a remarkable display of exactly the opposite, Sage (that has been "in the business of helping businesses manage their finances, people, customers and suppliers and to plan for future success since 1981") has decreed the following (as per AccountingWeb):

"The pace of change within the profession has accelerated and created an environment where ‘Generation Y’ accountants are best placed to respond to the changing role and demands, according to the latest Pulse research from Sage."

Who are "Generation Y"?

Thsoe born between 1980 and 1993.

Therefore, according to Sage, if you are an accountant and older than that you may as well give up now as your clients/employers no longer need or want you.

For why?

Seemingly clients and organisations "now expect a prompt response to their enquiries and access to information whenever they need it, with online being the most popular method for business owners wanting to share data with their accountant for the first time."

Clearly those born before 1980 are incapable of using the net, and are non responsive to client demands!

How is it I am able to run so many websites and interact in real time on Twitter etc (given that I am so very old?).

Paul Tooth, managing director at Sage Accountants Division, dug himself into a real hole by saying:

“The accountancy profession is changing. Our research is a strong benchmark for the industry and it suggests it is no longer enough for accountants to be numerically proficient. In this hyper competitive environment practice professionals are offering much more to clients and fulfilling multiple roles including, virtual FD, IT consultant, HR expert, marketer and payroll specialist. "

Based on Sage's "research" please could they explain to me where they think people can find a 20 year old (born in 1993) qualified "accountant" with enough real world experience to act as virtual FD, IT consultant, HR expert, marketer and payroll specialist?

I ask, because Sage itself is currently recruiting a Commercial Finance Manager Sage CRM Fixed Term Contract.

The qualifications required include "experienced in working in a multi-national environment Qualified ACA/ACCA/CIMA with at a minimum of 5 years' experience in industry".

Know any 20 year olds with that type of experience?

Whilst I think about it, given that 1980 seems to be a significant cut off date for Sage, Sage may care to worry about its own age given that it has been around since 1981.

On that point Brendan Flattery (CEO of Sage) needs to think about his position, as he is a qualified accountant born in 1964.

Ageism in business is an absolute disgrace, the fact that a "professional" company such as Sage appears to endorse ageism makes me wonder exactly whether these companies really understand the businesses which they claim to "serve".

Thoughts and comments from those in the profession who are over 20 years old much appreciated!

The Road To Mandalay

The ICAEW and the Myanmar Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work more closely together.

As per the ICAEW:

"The MoU establishes a framework for the two bodies to work together to develop talent and advance the accountancy profession in Myanmar and South East Asia. ICAEW and MICPA will share views on the accountancy profession both nationally and internationally, with emphasis on co-operation in areas such as corporate governance, professional ethics, technical research, continuing professional development, professional accountancy training, quality control, education and examinations.

Together, the bodies will create a framework for MICPA to review and advance its strategy and plans. ICAEW and MICPA will also be developing learning programmes in areas of mutual interest – such as International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), International Standards on Auditing (ISA) and audit firm governance."

I assume that the ICAEW's push for global growth is one of the reasons why the subscriptions keep going up each year?

ICAEW - The Video

The ICAEW have published a jolly wee promotional video outlining (albeit very briefly) its foundation, founding fathers and place in the modern world.

I am pleased to see that phrase "chartered accountant" has been used.

However, it also claims that it was founded in the UK; is that entirely accurate given that Scotland has its own institute, and that the video shows only England and Wales in red (symbolising the region that the ICAEW was founded in)?