Association seeks re-structuring of accounting profession in Nigeria

The Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) has called for a re-structuring of the accounting profession in order to remain relevant.

 

The ANAN President, Rev. Cannon Prof. Benjamin Chuka Osisioma, made this known in Enugu, South-east Nigeria, at a 3-day Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (MCPD) programme with theme, ” Re-engineering Accounting Profession in the Post COVID-19 Era”.

 

“If we don’t change our methods and stands, we become irrelevant.

 

“If we’re just counting money, there are manufacturing equipment that will do it better than us.

 

“If we’re just balancing books, they now have software that will do it better and faster.

 

“We’re saying that there are things that must command our attention today, if we must remain relevant. Call it the future-ready accountant. Call it the digital accountant or accountant that will fit into the fourth industrial revolution that is about to unfold in the world.

 

“So, we’re preparing our members to fit into the new emerging world.

 

“ANAN has also introduced forensic accounts in Nigeria and given substance to the meaning of forensic audits.

 

“We’re really trained on forensic tool kits so that we will go through the affairs of government and organizations and fish out financial irregularities.

 

“We are raising this issue of forensic investigation because that is one of the major banes of this nation.

 

“People don’t realize that money has footprints. When you steal money, it leaves footprints. A forensic accountant is trained to find out the footprints of stolen money and trace it. It’s called money trail. It has a direction. Find where it is.

 

“ANAN is training people to trace stolen monies. If we don’t, this nation will be crippled by corruption, fraud and embezzlement in high and low places.

 

“We’re taking it very serious and we’re applying ourselves to that task,” Prof. Osisioma stated.

 

The Governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi who was represented by Dr. Paschal Okolie, Technical Assistant to the Governor on Financial Matters and Chairman, Local Organizing Committee, said that Enugu State reposes a lot of confidence in ANAN members.

 

“They have not disappointed us as a State because in all the areas your members are working in Enugu, they are proving themselves trustworthy.

 

“Continue to upgrade the training of your members as Enugu remains one of the greatest beneficiaries of your continuing professional development programmes,” Okolie said.

 

Meanwhile, the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) says there is an urgent need to rejig the curriculum of accounting programme in the universities and polytechnics to inculcate modern accounting systems such as Sage 50, Quick books online, Xero, Sage Intact tax software, and Thompsons Ultratx to mitigate technological challenges.

 

The Chairman, ANAN Enugu State branch, Prof. Uche Ugwuanyi, while addressing the 4th session of the 2021 Mandatory Continuing Professional Development, MCPD programme, said that it had become imperative to re-engineer the noble profession of accounting to improve operational performance and reduce cost by identifying and eliminating non value added tasks.

 

“It is pertinent to reiterate that accountants, like many other professionals, were amazed with the mantra ‘working from home’ during the lockdown both in private and public sectors of Nigeria economy.

 

“That is why the impact of COVID-19 pandemic has made the deployment of ICTs important in the flow of data transfer between subsystems, the inputs data test, the output data sharing, etc.”  Ugwuanyi noted.

 

Prof. Ugwuanyi, however, said that the iota valve of accounting is domiciled in the application of state of the art technologies in computation, data analysis and report of findings including the back end operations such as auditing.

 

“Account systems and processes can benefit from re-engineering in terms of enhanced operational and individual productivity, increased task handling and data-sharing efficiency, improved access to business information, higher profits and increased responsiveness.

 

“Interestingly, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a new order of doing things, thinking differently and breaking new grounds.

 

“It is now a clarion call for all of us to embrace the challenges and opportunities this pandemic presented to us. Consequently, most business owners are contending with scarce fund and low loan/ credit performance, hence the need for business process re-engineering that will improve operational performance and reduce costs by identifying and eliminating non-value added tasks,” Prof. Ugwuanyi noted.