Accountants urged to uphold high standards

Accra, May 18, GNA - Mr Suganthan Allotey, President of Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA); Ghana, on Wednesday called on Accountants to exhibit high standards of professionalism to ensure that its image was not dragged into public ridicule.

He said as professionals they should continue to uphold the core values of integrity and accountability and also demonstrate best practice in corporate governance.

Addressing this year's Annual General Meeting (AGM) of ACCA in Accra, Mr Allotey reminded the members that, "in recent times good governance and accountability had become crucial and the pivot of all enterprises".

He said the role of the Accountants was to interpret financial issues to help individuals to understand what pertained in the public and private sectors to enable them to make informed judgment in any situation.

Mr Allotey said it was always perceived that the Accountant's duty was synonymous with corruption adding: "All of us need to get involved in the fight against this social canker to ensure that its incidence is mitigated."

He said the Association was embarking on rigorous reforms to ensure that members were equipped with the needed skills to carry out their duties effectively.

Mr Allotey said it had adopted a policy to change their educational structure and training every five years to ensure that it fell in line with international standards of the profession.

"Development in the profession is ever assuming diverse trends and we must keep our capacities updated," said.

He said the profession could no longer be premised on the old and archaic system of accounting, adding: "New complex areas had surfaced and to remain in the field practitioners should adapt to the changing system."

The meeting took stock of activities of the Association in the past year, assessed its success and failures discussed ways of meeting the challenges in the years ahead.