Top leaders of global accounting body CPA Australia Prof Dale Pinto, President and Chair of the Board, Kaushika Jayalath, Non-Executive Director, and Dinuk Hettiarachchi, Sri Lanka Liaison Representative, joined Echelon for a roundtable discussion on how the accounting profession can adapt, find relevance and be agents of positive change in a rapidly evolving and increasingly volatile world.
Take the upheavals in technology. Finance professionals now face increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks and other technological risks, such as the rapid rise of AI, that constantly compel them to keep up.
“The profession has an opportunity to be the change. The profession is well-placed to take advantage of the changes shaping the world. I am a glass-half-full person, but we have got to take the leap and learn these new skills,” Prof Pinto said.
There is cautious optimism about technology and its role in accounting, but it requires a shift in mindset. Accountants must embrace a continuous growth mindset, asking, How can I do this better? to stay relevant.
Talent management is another critical issue. Businesses find attracting, developing, and retaining talent increasingly challenging as professionals frequently switch careers.
Economic volatility further complicates matters, with high inflation, market uncertainty, and geopolitical instability adding to the unpredictability.
CPA Australia equips its members to navigate these challenges, offering the tools and support needed to thrive, lead and make a difference. To do so, they must develop a clear vision and enhance their capabilities to make a significant impact, and the CPA Australia discussants outlined how.
First and foremost, it is crucial to recognize that technology is the way forward. The sooner businesses adapt to this reality, the more effectively they can thrive. In Sri Lanka, the economy is predominantly driven by SMEs, often family-owned and passed down through generations or emerging as small startups. These businesses are typically led by the second or third generation, creating a potential perspective gap.
Adapting to new methodologies is essential for survival, yet the current leadership may hesitate to embrace these changes.
Accepting technology as the future is the critical first step, and armed with this mindset, numerous advantages and opportunities can arise, particularly with recent advancements in artificial intelligence, because despite the apprehensions and risks, the rapid technological developments open new business opportunities and professional bodies like CPA Australia are equipping their students and members to navigate and excel in this evolving landscape.
“The rapid developments in the AI space are mind-blowing. However, there will also be new business avenues that will come around it, and that is where professional bodies like CPA Australia will play a crucial role in helping professionals prepare for them,” Hettiarachchi explained.
Solid Foundations
In a constantly evolving world, one fundamental remains constant for the accounting profession: integrity, an attribute central to CPA Australia. This core value underscores the importance of being ethical practitioners and trusted advisors to clients, the community, and the government. CPA Australia upholds these values through four pillars.
First, the organization emphasizes education through its ecosystem. The flagship CPA programme includes a compulsory unit on ethics and governance to nurture a mindset for integrity, values and intellectual rigour beyond technical skills. Every participant in the programme learns to prioritize ethical considerations as part of their education. They also get the means to adapt to the changes around them.
For instance, as Jayalath explained, “It is not a case of technology creating an existential crisis for the profession, but rather, it is more about technology coming in and changing the skill sets required for the profession to be impactful and thrive.”
The second approach focuses on continuing professional development (CPD). Once qualified, members must maintain their qualifications through ongoing learning. CPA Australia offers modules on ethics in practice and ethical dilemmas, allowing members to work through real-world scenarios, understand challenges, and see how technology influences ethical considerations. This dynamic learning approach helps professionals navigate complex situations they may encounter in their careers.
Third, CPA Australia provides micro-credentials—small, bite-sized learning modules that include ethics ranging from four to ten hours. These modules ensure CPA members remain engaged with ethical concepts throughout their professional lives.
Additionally, CPA Australia has established peer review programmes, such as the best practice programme. These programmes support practitioners facing ethical dilemmas or client issues, offering an educational and developmental approach.
The accounting body enforces strict codes of conduct and a process to ensure compliance with professional standards and includes disciplinary measures. If ethical breaches occur, these rigorously enforced standards maintain the integrity and trustworthiness of the profession. Moreover, CPA Australia recognizes the importance of mechanisms for confidentially reporting unethical behaviour, known as whistleblower protections. For instance, a junior auditor in a large firm might find it challenging to report wrongdoing to senior staff. CPA Australia advocates for independent channels to ensure confidentiality.
Big Impact
This ethical grounding allows professionals to contribute significantly to their roles in the private sector, particularly amid economic challenges. Reflecting on the past few years, Sri Lanka faced considerable adversity, beginning with the Easter bombings in 2019, followed by two years of COVID-19 and an ensuing economic crisis. During this period, companies struggled, and a significant brain drain occurred as talent left the country to escape economic instability. In this context, the role of finance professionals becomes crucial.
The accounting profession in Sri Lanka can benefit from the experiences of advanced economies and support from professional bodies like CPA Australia. For example, regions with more advanced technology often have more capital for investment and the capacity to experiment and learn from failures—luxuries not always available in Sri Lanka.
Ethics in technology is another critical issue. In one instance, a technology corporation in Australia hired a top professional to lead a crucial function, and the hire was based not on an IT degree but because the person was a CPA member, highlighting the importance of ethical standards in areas like data privacy.
Even in the public sector, professionals can make a lasting impact. Beyond transparency, the example of Australia and other developed countries highlights the benefits of reducing compliance costs and cutting through red tape while securing the credibility and efficiencies of systems. It is important to remember that adversity also brings opportunities.
As a country and a profession, there is a chance to explore new business lines and prepare to capitalize on these opportunities, for which CPA Australia provides the necessary tools for professionals to build a vision and capabilities to rise above the challenges.