Commercial Bank CFO highlights the importance of a Chartered Accountant at CA Sri Lanka’s orientation seminar
View(s):The importance of a chartered accountant from an employer’s perspective was highlighted by the Chief Financial Officer of Commercial Bank Mr. Nandika Buddhipala at an orientation seminar organized recently by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka)
Mr. Buddhipala, who was the chief guest at the orientation seminar for CA Sri Lanka certificate level trainees, gave a detailed overview on the expectations an employer has when recruiting a chartered accountant to an organization.
The orientation seminar was held to educate over 325 students who have commenced their practical training period, which is part of the CA Sri Lanka curriculum.
During his presentation, Mr. Buddhipala who is also a member of CA Sri Lanka emphasized that trust together with integrity and ethical behaviour was of paramount importance for a chartered accountant.
“Every chartered accountant is expected to possess a set of skills, which are conceptual skills, human skills and technical skills,” he noted.
With conceptual skills, a chartered accountant possess the skills to analyze, be creative, take initiative on various matters, have the ability to plan and organize and also possess the important skill of problem solving. With human skills, a chartered accountant is empowered with interpersonal and communication skills while also possessing the ability to lead, motivate and develop team spirit. As chartered accountants play a leading role across various businesses, technical skills are a must which covers important areas such as 
International Financial Reporting Standards, new accounting developments, tax, compliance, risk management, IT, auditing, regulations and business environment.
CA Sri Lanka President, Mr. Sujeewa Rajapakse noted that chartered accountants are no longer restricted to traditional number crunching positions as a majority of chartered accountants today play a major role across many boardrooms in Sri Lanka often in top capacities such as Managing Director, CFO, CEO or director.
He also disclosed that the Institute has over 650 training partners representing all sectors in the country. “We have an impressive network of training partners, consisting of top conglomerates, banks, auditing, insurance and other finance companies, hospitals and public sector organizations among many other sectors. Steps have also been taken to continuously increase the number of organizations onboard our training portfolio for the benefit of our active student population which amounts to over 41, 000,” he added.
During the orientation seminar, an interactive session was also conducted by by Travis Roche, Financial Controller of Interblocks Ltd, who spoke on the “Importance of Soft Skills Development.”
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