HIGHER CALIBRE: A person with professional accountancy qualifications will have technical edge and more opportunities for career advancement compared to an accounting degree graduate
ARE you at a point in your life where you are wondering what to study and what profession to pursue?
Why not consider a career in accountancy?
Believed to be among the oldest professions in the world, records of account-keeping have been traced as far back as 8,500 BC with evidence found in Mesopotamia in the form of cones, disks, spheres and pellets.
Over the years, accounting has obviously become increasingly sophisticated. The modern era of accounting is recognised to have begun in Great Britain where professionals went beyond bookkeeping to investigate businesses and disclosures of financial affairs.
Accountants are today regarded as the financial eyes and ears for business organisations. They provide financial information needed to aid the decision-making process. They work in public practice, industry and commerce, and academia. And because they are versatile, they can be employed in practically any sector. In Malaysia, accountants are among the top five money-earners together with lawyers, doctors, engineers and surveyors.
Malaysian Institute of Accountants president Johan Idris said: “The accounting profession is practically recession-proof. Professional accountants are much sought after the world over. As a career choice, accountancy has the knack for attracting opportunities all around.” An accountant’s knowledge is especially invaluable to organisations when it comes to assessing their financial performance and health. Whether it’s a small firm or a multinational corporation, qualified accountants are depended upon in steering the business and therefore, bringing the organisation en route to success.
“Simply put, accountants are natural managers of resources and talented administrators. They are a necessity in both good times and bad,” he added.
Despite challenges and a bleak global environment, career prospects in the accountancy profession remain buoyant. The country’s aim to become a developed nation by 2020 is also driving a demand for professional accountants.
“In line with the Economic Transformation Programme, which is a concrete effort to transform Malaysia into a high-income nation, the country needs at least 60,000 qualified accountants by 2020. Currently, there are slightly more than 30,000 accountants registered with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants,” said Johan.
Also, Malaysia’s aspirations of becoming a regional accountancy hub in Asia Pacific will require professionally qualified financial and business leaders vital to the accountancy sector. On top of that, with the implementation of the Goods and Service Tax on April 1 next year, there is an urgent need for more accountants to come on-board to ensure businesses operate smoothly.
However, while an accounting degree gives the assurance of employment, in reality, enhanced professional qualification coupled with on-the job practical training equip young graduates with specialised skill sets that will increase employability significantly.
“As the country progresses into the global arena in its quest for developed nation status, competitiveness becomes a must; therefore insofar as accountants are concerned, a professional certification serves that need more and more,” said Johan.
PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION
And what’s professional qualification?
A professional accounting qualification, says the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Malaysia country head Jennifer Lopez, is often a combination of technical exams and requirement for practical hands-on business experience which gives the would-be accountant transferable skills needed for whichever business role he will take on across all industries.
“The ACCA Qualification exams, for example, have two sections: Fundamental and Professional. The fundamentals comprise knowledge and skill where students learn all the important things they need to know as an accountant. Students learn more advanced skills, technique and values at the Professional level. At this stage, it’s about applying the knowledge and skills acquired at the fundamental level. A degree in accounting covers the fundamental level only,” said Lopez.
Experience is vital to qualifying as an accountant.
“It is through practical experience that students are trained to master beyond the technical and also learn competencies in professionalism, ethics and governance, personal effectiveness and business management. If students want to be in demand, they should pursue professional qualifications such as the ACCA. With an ACCA Qualification in hand, you will have attained a competitive edge over your peers simply because employers recognise the ACCA Qualification and know you have the right skills and competencies to get the job done.”
The fastest route to becoming an ACCA certified professional is to pursue the Certified Accounting Technician (CAT) Qualification, which has nine papers in total, after Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia.
The CAT Qualification is a foundation-level programme specifically designed to provide students with a solid understanding of finance and accounting. Therefore, it is a suitable course for those without prior knowledge of accounting.
“With a CAT Qualification in hand, students can claim three paper exemptions from the ACCA Qualification. This means that students need only pass 11 instead of 14 papers to gain the ACCA Qualification,” added Lopez.
Meanwhile, Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia students and degree graduates can apply directly for the ACCA Qualification, with the latter being able to claim up to nine paper exemptions. In this scenario, degree graduates need only complete five ACCA exam papers and gain three years of working experience to become an ACCA member.
Upon completion of the ACCA Qualification, students can apply to the MIA to become a chartered accountant in the country. The CAT Qualification is the fastest route towards qualifying with an ACCA Qualification; some students have taken as few as three years to complete both the CAT and ACCA exam papers.
“The time taken to become professionally certified depends on students and at which stage they start to pursue the ACCA Qualification. Some students have taken as few as three years to complete, some can take five years especially if they are working and studying at the same time.”
The ACCA Qualification is designed to be flexible; students can opt for a full- or part-time course or for distance learning. As studies can be done at home or abroad, it is even possible to combine study with travel.
CATCHING THEM YOUNG
MIA and ACCA recently collaborated to conduct the Seminar for Accounting Teachers and Counsellors in Kuala Lumpur to create awareness of professional qualification in accounting.
As a regulatory body, MIA will work with the respective organisations to develop the accountancy profession in the country. MIA is also working with TalentCorp to promote, enhance and upskill talent competency by encouraging aspiring accountants to pursue professional accountancy programmes run by, namely ACCA, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Certified Practising Accountants (CPA) Australia, Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), and Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
“The seminar was conducted with the aim to educate teachers and counsellors about the prospects of the accounting profession, which remains one of the most respected and in demand professions in the country. Teachers and counsellors play an important role in motivating students to take up accountancy as their profession.
“There is still room for improvement in boosting the number of aspiring accountants in the country. Through continuous and collective efforts involving our strategic stakeholders, namely parents and teachers, academicians, institutions of higher learning, professional accountancy bodies and the industry, MIA is confident that this scenario will change over time,” said Johan.
Lopez noted that accounting has been and will continue to be a popular choice among students and parents because of the prestige and career opportunities this profession provides.
“We believe that the role of teachers and counsellors in nurturing our next generation of leaders cannot be emphasised enough, therefore the seminar was designed to provide them with insights into the prospects of the accounting profession. At the end of the day, we hope that they will be more aware of what accountancy is truly about and that they will, in turn, be able to guide their students into making learned decisions about their career in accountancy,” she said.
Also present at the event was ACCA Malaysia Advisory Committee president Datuk Zaiton Mohd Hassan and Petronas vice-president of treasury Nuraini Ismail.
An ACCA gold medallist, Zaiton said professional qualifications should be a priority for those eyeing the accounting profession.
“Employers can only train so much. The business world is fast moving and there is little time to be spent on training. Professionals sit the same exam around the world — 400,000 candidates sit ACCA exams at any one time and they are being benchmarked at the global level. I am not putting down accounting degree graduates but a professional certification on top of that degree tells of your calibre,” she said.
Nuraini echoed her statement. As an example, professional accountants in Petronas stand a higher chance of recruitment than an accounting graduate, said Nuraini.
“A degree is not enough. A professional qualification is a must. A person with professional qualification will have technical edge and leadership skills as well as more opportunities for career advancement. They can work both in finance and non-finance areas.”
WHAT IS THE MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ACCOUNTANTS?
AS the custodian of the accountancy profession, the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) was set up under the Accountants Act 1967 as the national accountancy body that promotes, regulates and develop the accountancy profession in the country.
A qualified person who wishes to hold himself out as an accountant in Malaysia must be registered with MIA.
In Malaysia, graduating with an accounting degree or obtaining professional accountancy qualifications do not automatically qualify one to practise or hold oneself as an accountant. To practise or to obtain the accountant or Chartered Accountant Malaysia — C.A. (M) designation — one is required to be registered with MIA.
The C. A. (M) designation is a mark of competence and integrity. It opens up a wide range of career opportunities and recognition, be it public practice, business, academia or the public sector. So whatever industry you plan to venture into, you can trust that the C.A. (M) designation carries with it undisputable recognition in the business community. Those with the designation wield considerable influence in the capital market through their many roles whether as auditors, advisors, consultants or s members of the corporate sector.
At present, there are more than 30,000 MIA members, of whom about 67 per cent are professional accountants in business, 24 per cent are accountants in public practice and the remaining are in the public sector and academia.
Job prospects of professional accountants
THEY include:
Chief executive officer
Chief financial officer
Director or partner in an accounting firm
Finance director in a multinational company
Auditor general
Business owner
Forensic accountant
Internal auditor
Tax consultant
Business consultant
Academician
Financial planner