The changing role of Accountants in South Africa

At a recent SA Institute of Professional Accountants conference, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said that, the role of accountants has become more important to general society in the current economic times.

Historically accountants had the role of providing information to shareholders‚ but their role has now extended to informing persons in labour‚ government‚ the banking sector‚ regulators and general society.

Accountants are crucial in giving information to the state that would allow for growth and revenue‚ so that government could operate without increasing the deficit.

The skills situation in South Africa seems to be in a crisis and it's extremely concerning that also in Accounting we are starting to see a decline in students. Saica have for the first time this year noticed a massive drop in the number of students enrolling for B.Comm Chartered Accounting.

Changing business practices and an array of emerging technologies have transformed the role of accountants. What this means practically are those accountants now have to work hard at acquiring skills needed to function successfully in a new environment.

These skills include:

Delivery of Information
Never before has this been more crucial than today where information needs to be real time, accurate and precise. Part of this means that accountants need to understand how to make use of technology effectively in order to successfully communicate complex issues.

Interpersonal skills
The demands on accountants are a lot different today, as they are tasked with working with a variety of managers, suppliers and clients. The ability to work together with different role-players are key to success in your career.

Although change is never easy, accountants with the right combination of financial knowledge, skills and technical expertise can look forward to a successful career.

If you are looking for industry leaders in financial recruitment that understands your needs, speak to Communicate Recruitment. We have a variety of vacancies available that include accounting jobs, auditing jobs, financial manager jobs and more.

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