The importance of market recognition

How many routes are there to be a professional accountant? This seems to be a popular issue nowadays as the society is discussing about the need to have more professional accountants in Malaysia to serve our developmental and economics needs.

If we ask this questions to senior accountants who qualified in the 60's, they would recall the apprenticeship system in the old days where aspiring accountants paid their masters who were partners in Chartered Accounting firms to be trained under the Chartered Accountants programme. Those who went through this process ended up not just with the qualification but the skills and competencies which are required and recognised by the market.

The route of admission into the profession has evolved with the graduate entry approach adopted by many accountancy bodies. Aspiring professional accountants have to enrol into professional accountancy programmes and must pass all the papers which are relevant to the professional bodies including the integrated case study paper which requires them to apply their knowledge and skills on issues which resemble those that are faced by professional accountants in their workplace. 

Some professional accountancy bodies would require their students to obtain the relevant working experience while completing their professional programme to ensure they are able to learn from the real world. Some other professional bodies are more flexible where aspiring accountants can choose to complete all the papers before starting their work experience stage at approved training organisations or under the supervision of mentors who are themselves qualified professional accountants.

Whatever the route is, what matters is that the aspiring accountant must be able to meet the minimum competency level set by the relevant professional body, which itself will have to ensure the public that the standard set is relevant and serves public interest. Without such process, the professional body would not be able to gauge whether or not the person being admitted has the requisite knowledge, skills, experience and professional values. Those who fail to demonstrate that they have met the standard would not be admitted as members until they are able to do so in the future. If the professional body operates as a global body, it will maintain the same standard across the world. This is the reason why members of such bodies are able to obtain global recognition through the membership.

It is important for professional accountancy bodies to get market recognition. Factually, they are professional accountancy bodies which are not recognised or preferred by the market. This results in their members not being employed in senior positions or their professional career are limited. It would be sad if our young talents are not provided with proper career guidance and ended up realising they have made the wrong decision at the later stage of their life. This could also happen to those who choose not to pursue professional accountancy qualification. While this is not wrong and simply a personal choice, they should be prepared to accept the consequences if things do not work out well later.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is a UK-based global accountancy body which has an entry level programme known as Certified Accounting Technician or CAT. This enables aspiring accountants to start early by enrolling directly with ACCA through the CAT programme and could bypass the university system if they wish. While this innovation is welcome, there are people who are concerned that this has diluted the professional qualification as the process resembles a normal university programme.

As mentioned earlier, when the market is confident that the professional body is responsible in ensuring the professional qualification ensures the baseline standards are met, it would not be worried about the process but would scrutinise the product - qualified ACCA members. 

Let's look at some personalities who we may be familiar with who obtained the ACCA qualification and are serving organisations which are significant to our economics progress.

YB Senator Dato' Sri Abdul Wahid Omar - Minister in the Prime Minister Department in charge of economic planning

Tan Sri Dato' Azman Mokhtar - Managing Director Khazanah Nasional Berhad

Tan Sri Tony Fernandes - Founder and Chief Executive, Airasia

Datuk Wan Salamah Wan Sulaiman - Accountant General

Datin Alexandra Chin - ACCA Global Vice President

Dato' Sri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh - Group Managing Director MMC Corporation Berhad

Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed - Chairman of Public Accounts Committee, Parliament of Malaysia

Mohamed Rafique Merican - Group Chief Financial Officer, Maybank

Abdul Hamid Sheikh Mohamed - Executive Director, Symphony House Berhad

Amiruddin Abdul Satar - President/Managing Director, KPJ Healthcare Berhad

Of course there are many more ACCA members out there who are heading important roles in business and public sector which cannot be profiled here. I trust the above is sufficient to provide the confidence that once the market recognises your professional qualification, the world is at your feet.