Challenges of objectivity and integrity to accountants

The challenge today for accountants is all about accountability objectivity and integrity, says one of the country’s top accountants.
“Our reputation is what differentiates us and it is our unique selling point. It is the foundation of the trust that the business community, regulators and the public have in us. We cannot, and must not, fail that trust because, today we have developed a new vision and share a vision of the global profession: to ensure that our members are recognized as the holders of the world’s most highly respected professional business qualification, he said.

This vision is not one that has been devised in isolation, but taking the public expectation and the demand into consideration, Indrajith Fernando, former President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Sri Lanka, who was recently inducted as the president of the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA).

Excerpts of his induction speech:
“We have achieved a fundamental step this year in this regard with the establishment of the SAFA Centre of Excellence (COE) on improving Transparency Accountability and Governance (iTAG).
If we are to earn the world’s respect, we need to encourage real recognition of the core elements: first, our reputation for integrity and excellence, and second, our broad business base?

The basics of business are instilled in our students by virtue of our requirement for practically based training to become a member. SAFA has taken to make training more relevant. We have extended the scope of training with the student exchange programs in the South Asian countries. It gives students a clear idea of what it means to be a Chartered Accountant and a Professional Accountant in Business and the chance to learn first-hand the ethical application of business practices in the training environment.
Over 70 percent of our nearly one million members and students of our member bodies are what we traditionally describe as ‘in business’, whether as finance directors or as business advisers, owners and finance professionals. This includes the material percentage of our members and students working and training outside the region.

Our capacity for diversity and innovation, our thought-leadership role and pioneering technical work is so much a part of the traditional strength. For example we faced the biggest challenge unparallel to any disaster in the history of Sri Lanka during 2004. SAFA member body ICASL in which institute I am a member the instant response was to appoint a Task force.

The task force promptly launched a project to assist rebuilding with Transparency, Accountability and Governance. The Toolkit prepared by the task force to assist projects was a result and this was acknowledged locally and internationally. I had the opportunity to present a copy of the toolkit to the then president Graham Ward. His kind appreciation and the acknowledgement was a source of encouragement especially to the authors.

Whatever tools we create to highlight our contribution to business, such as the SAFA Corporate Governance Code, the pioneering accounting standard for small and medium entities the proposed standards for NGO’s is the personal input of members across the profession that will best demonstrate our worth and maintain our reputation.

Regulators
If regulators have no confidence in our commitment to international standards and behavior in the public interest, they themselves will develop regulations over which we will have little influence. The world in my opinion is not divided by caste, race, religion or any other demographic factor. It is also not divided by the terrorist and the peace loving nations nor the terrorist and governments of jurisdictions nor even the terrorist and the peace keeping forces. The division is between the haves and the have not, the rich and the poor and the wealthy and the hard core poor.