Integrating material sustainability information into corporate reports should be a key and critical outcome of Rio +20, urges ACCA

A defined goal centred on sustainability reporting by companies ‘a must’ at global summit

Corporate reporting needs to be brought into the 21^st century by integrating material sustainability information into corporate reports, asserts ACCA today ahead of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, which will take place in Rio, Brazil this month.

To influence policy makers and create debate prior to the Rio+20 summit, ACCA publishes a paper which looks at possible changes to a key aspect of the discussions – paragraph 24 - which is concerned with the integration of material sustainability information into the corporate reports of listed and large private companies.

Arif Masud Mirza, Head of ACCA Pakistan says: “To make a difference, Rio+20 needs to have goals that are achievable and actionable – one of those goals should focus on the need for a global approach to sustainability reporting. Long term value is enhanced by companies embedding sustainability into their business strategy and key processes, rather than treating sustainability information as a mere add on activity. The long term viability of companies has to be at the heart of corporate decision making.

“An effective and workable paragraph 24 would emphasise the relevance of sustainability to investors and business. It would spread good practice, and emphasise the relevance of sustainability to investors and businesses. Rio+20 should be aiming for this goal – not just for companies and investors, but for the planet itself.”

ACCA believes that:

·         paragraph 24 should lead to a commitment by UN member states to develop mechanisms for sustainability reporting at a national level; while such national reporting would need to meet global standards, flexibility in the mechanisms applied to meet the standards would allow for country-specific solutions

·         paragraph 24 should obligate companies to report on a ‘comply-or-explain’ basis; this requirement would provide appropriate flexibility and would stimulate substantive board discussions on risks and opportunities arising from sustainable development.

Arif Masud Mirza adds: “There is a ground swell of opinion on this issue, led most recently by Aviva Investors through a coalition of investors, NGOs and UN agencies, as well as ACCA. This coalition recently called for a commitment from UN member states to work on an international agreement requiring companies to integrate sustainability issues in their annual report and accounts, on a report or explain basis.  The coalition believes this would be a realistic, tangible and meaningful success.

“However, whatever the policy outcome at Rio+20, there will be a need for rigorous and credible arrangements to map out and assess the fulfilment of any undertaking, whether voluntary or binding. This is where accountants come in – the profession provides the much needed transparency, measurement and comparability required for common international reporting.”

ACCA’s paper includes a series of expert views on this issue from our Global Forum for Sustainability members and other voices from the accountancy profession; the Forum was established in 2011 to bring together leading thinking on sustainability and the role of accountants.

Victor Anderson, senior policy officer at WWF UK: “The most important fact about Rio is likely to turn out to be that it is not the end of the process. It is increasingly clear that it has acted as a major catalyst for debates, campaigns, and detailed work, and that all this will continue for many years after Rio.”

The full paper can be viewed at: http://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/acca/global/PDF-technical/sustainability-reporting/tech-tp-rio20.pdf

ACCA Global Forum calls for more government departments to focus on small businesses

As global leaders prepare to attend the G20 summit in Mexico (18 – 19 June), they have been urged to offer more support to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in gaining access to finance, by ensuring that a more widespread approach is taken to policy development for the sector and that there are greater levels of co-ordination at a global level.

The ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) Global Forum for SMEs has said in its new Global Agenda on Access to Finance for SMEs, that more co-ordinated and consistent efforts are needed when it comes to SME financing policy.

Mexico, which holds the Presidency of the G20 for 2012, has put fostering financial inclusion to promote economic growth among its five priorities for the G20 this year. The Global Forum's agenda outlines the challenge facing the G20 in these areas, saying that SMEs around the world need - but are not receiving $4 trillion in financing - and that official ‘SME’ or ‘enterprise’ policy forms only a small part of the actual policies relevant to the development of SMEs.

The Global Forum calls for more attention to be given to how central government departments, particularly those departments responsible for fiscal policy, justice or employment law have an impact on SMEs’ access to finance – through their decisions on tax policy on equity funding, setting up or developing better access to efficient credit information facilities right through to well-functioning property and contract law frameworks.

Official institutions, such as banks, through which these funds and products are often channelled, need to be encouraged to promote them more actively to their SME clients. The agenda also says that while banks remain the most significant source of external finance for formal small firms, bank finance is generally only available to those businesses that can offer collateral or a strong record of generating profit. This leaves a large number of SMEs which need large investments, but which have mostly intangible assets.

While the microfinance sector is offering a promising solution by tapping into social networks on the ground for the information that banks are missing, the extent to which it helps the SME sector needs to be better understood at a macro level, especially where experiences from a number of markets can be shared. The option of equity finance also needs to be improved, and emerging and innovative financing solutions need to be encouraged and supported, including 'crowd funding', which uses online communities for raising equity.

The agenda also says that SMEs should also be encouraged to consider how they use technological solutions in helping them with financial management and calls for the skills gap among business owners need to be addressed. Very few have formal enterprise or management training which has an impact on their ability to access finance – from having the knowhow to present a business plan, navigating through the financial markets on offer, to knowing how to apply business skills and acumen to manage and grow their business with a strategic approach to its operations, and ultimately finance.

It calls on the accountancy profession to work with governments and other relevant institutions such as SME bodies, to provide financial literacy and management training for owner-managers. The Forum urges international organisations to work with national governments to encourage much wider use of such initiatives in the interest of raising the level of skills, with a particular emphasis on working with the existing SME intermediaries to enable a reliable access to the sector.

“In Pakistan and in most developing economies, the issues and problems faced by SME businesses are fairly similar. There is a definite  need for establishing training / financial management / consulting institutes to help SMEs in developing corporate governance, plans, systems / processes and training of staff. Region / Country specific recommendations are needed focusing on  adherence to Tax Culture, Private / Public partnerships, Documentation, Etc. To encourage SME growth, government and public administration should establish SME centric facilities to expedite formalities while reducing the red tape.  Financial Institutions focus on Risk Mitigation & Coverage. Creation of Insurance / Takaful products with focus on SME specific risks will provide the impetus needed to invest in SME sector. In Pakistan, Leasing and Modarabas are a major source of funding for SMEs. Banks could be encouraged by the Regulators to provide relatively cheaper funding lines to Leasing & Modarabas”, said Arjumand Minai, Member - ACCA Global Forum for SMEs and CEO, Standard Chartered Leasing Limited, Pakistan.

“There are a range of issues which policy makers, banks and the accountancy profession need to address and we urge the G20 to consider many of these problems at its meeting. There are persistent market failures that stand in the way of a long-lasting change in SME financing across the world and we hope the G20 can begin to address them, and we look forward to discussing these issues further with G20 members and other bodies around the world,” said Arif Masud Mirza, Head of ACCA Pakistan.

‘Strategy for growth’: ACCA Pakistan to deliberate on the budget 2012-13

Every year, ACCA Pakistan submits its budget proposals to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the theme for the budget proposals 2012-13 is strategy for growth. ACCA Pakistan’s budget proposals support fair taxation policies by making recommendations aimed at enterprise growth, social equality, environment conversion and promoting savings and investments. In order to facilitate industry, government and financial expert engagement and perspective sharing on the shape of the upcoming Federal Budget, ACCA Pakistan is organising a Pre-Budget Seminar at Serena Hotel, Islamabad on 27 April 2012. 

Strong fiscal policies backed by long term stability are the need of the hour for a sustainable economic growth of Pakistan. Fiscal measures with long term strategy are required to create opportunities for investment, industrialisation and employment generation. Power shortages and inflation are the two key challenges faced by our economy and the improved tax collection system can lead the growth of business in the country.

In the session, ACCA Pakistan and other experts will discuss various recommendations on the upcoming budget 2012-13. The seminar speakers include Mumtaz Haider Rizvi, Chairman, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Yaser Sakhi Butt, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Malik Munir, Member ACCA Pakistan Taxation Sub-committee, and Ayla Majid, Vice Chairperson, ACCA Pakistan Members Network Panel along with Arif Masud Mirza, head of ACCA Pakistan and Noor Aftab, head of ACCA Islamabad. The seminar will be attended by economists, employers and members from the financial fraternity.

ACCA Pakistan recognises new members

ACCA Pakistan held its New Members Ceremony in Islamabad on Monday, 27 February 2012 to celebrate the achievement of 75 new ACCA members from the north region, who have attained the membership milestone during the last year. The ceremony commenced with welcome address, delivered by Ms. Noor Aftab, head of ACCA Islamabad who welcomed the new members to the ACCA fraternity and motivated them to continue their training and development through Continuous Professional Development for successful career progression. Ms. Noor advised the new ACCA Members to work for Pakistan’s financial landscape - securing Pakistan’s economic future. Later, Arif Masud Mirza, head of ACCA Pakistancongratulated the new members on their remarkable success and shared with them the benefits of professional training and development required by these new members in order to excel further in their career.

The ceremony was graced by the presence of Mr Mumtaz Haider Rizvi, Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) as the chief guest. Mr Rizvi presented awards to ACCA's long standing workplace mentors in Pakistan including Waqar Zafar Ahmed, partner Ernst and Young Ford Rhodes Sidaat Hyder and Co. Chartered Accountants and Saleem Akhter Bhatti, Head Finance & Accounts and Company Secretary, Khushali Bank Limited.

In his address, Mr Mumtaz Haider Rizvi appreciated the efforts of ACCA for providing excellent education and employment opportunities. ‘ACCA Pakistan provides a unique platform for young accountants who understand the heart of business activity and also enables them to work for the betterment of their country by acquiring latest finance and accounting skills.’

Qaiser Abbas, Founder & Chief Inspiring Officer, Possibilities Pvt Ltd conducted an hour long motivational session for the young professionals titled ‘unleashing the inner potential’. The ceremony was attended by ACCA Members, employers and media representatives.

BUSINESSES NEED TO RE-THINK RISK, SAYS ACCA

New online ‘risk healthcheck’ for businesses is launched by global accountancy body

Businesses need to work harder to spread responsibility for risk management across the whole organisation, according to a new report from ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).

The survey of more than 2,000 ACCA members found accountants at the business coal-face have a vital role to play in successful risk management, and that they stand ready to do more.

The survey also found a statistical link between the use of accounting practices that contribute to managing risk and lower occurrences of dysfunctional behaviour. The survey also found differences in the perception of a company’s exposure to risk between those at board level and those accountants working below board level.

‘Risk happens at all levels of business,’ says Paul Moxey, head of risk management and corporate governance at ACCA. ‘It doesn’t sit in silos. Risk management needs to be something undertaken by everyone in an organisation so it is fully integrated.

‘The survey shows accountants have an excellent grasp of the risks faced by their organisation and the steps needed to manage those risks. The survey also shows clear support among accountants for ‘challenging senior people’ as being part of good business culture. Accounting is really about providing information to help make good decisions, and good decisions mean less risk. The accountant’s day-to-day role is all about managing risk, even if people don’t think about what they do in that way.

‘The results are both encouraging, in terms of what accountants do and would do more of, and frightening in terms of the extent of dysfunctional revealed. There is a big problem to be addressed. Businesses need to make sure they use the risk awareness and risk management skills of their qualified accountants, and not miss an opportunity to effectively integrate risk management.’

The value of accountants’ contributions can be lost through their misuse. Accountants in the survey reported very high levels of ‘bad behaviour’ around risk management. Examples include frequent ‘gaming’ of forecasts, providing optimistic versions to avoid criticism or pessimistic ones to reduce expectations. Only 1% of respondents reported never seeing any of the bad behaviours asked about in the survey at their organisation.

However, the survey did find a statistical link between the use of good risk management practices by accountants and incidences of dysfunctional behaviour: More good practices correspond with less dysfunctional behaviour. Types of good practice include aspects of management accounting, forecasting, reporting and quality controls, decision support and controls over wrongful behaviour. Accountants who thought dysfunctional behaviours most widespread, most wanted to make more use of the good practices.

Some of the highest scores for good practices were from small organisations. Their stereotype as unsophisticated is perhaps an oversimplification.

The survey also found those in more junior roles are more aware of both risks and ‘bad behaviour’ than their board-level colleagues.

‘Non-execs were more likely than anyone else to identify ‘personality’ factors – such as planned dishonesty or the opportunistic abuse of power – as causes of problems rather than more controllable factors, such as financial pressure on an organisation’ explains Paul Moxey. ‘They were also much more optimistic about the frequency of ‘bad behaviour’ than anyone else, and were more enthusiastic about management tools the survey shows to have debatable effectiveness, such as budgetary controls.

‘It may be because senior levels are less involved in the day-to-day running of the organisation, or because they’re taking a broader view of the business. It might be the way information is reported to them needs to be improved.’

The survey findings have been used by ACCA to develop an online ‘risk healthcheck’ for businesses. Using this resource, businesses can compare themselves to the practices and experiences of businesses from the survey, and identify areas for improvement.

Paul Moxey concludes: ‘This is a very timely report as now is a critical time for risk management. The financial crisis highlighted the disastrous consequences of senior management effectively ignoring risk management. Risk management has since risen up the agenda, but its importance hasn’t always been reflected in budgets or actual actions and there’s a danger it will be forgotten about once the current crisis has passed. Businesses need to take this opportunity to properly integrate risk management into their business processes.

‘Integrated risk management is vital for any business that wants to pursue sustainable growth. We hope businesses take advantage of the insights on offer as part of the ‘healthcheck’

THOUSANDS CONTINUE TO CHOOSE ACCA QUALIFICATIONS IN TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES

New exams enjoy successful launch

Results from the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) examinations in December 2011 show there continues to be strong demand for a professional accountancy qualification in times of economic uncertainty. More than 190,000 students sat papers, with over 6,000 taking a major step towards membership of the global body for professional accountants.

Candidates around the world took more than 363,000 papers, with 6,313 students successfully completing their final ACCA exams.

At the Fundamental level, pass rates were particularly pleasing. The pass rate of the F7 Financial Reporting exam at 56% was significantly higher than in recent times. All other pass rates at the Fundamental level remained close to their historic averages. At the Professional level, the results for the Essential papers remain strong whilst results for the Options papers are less good. The P5 Advanced Performance Management result was very disappointing at 29%. In response to a number of sessions of poor performance in the Options papers ACCA has carried out work to offer a range of support for students taking these papers to help improve the pass rates. This will be available shortly. 

Clare Minchington, ACCA executive director - learning, said: 'We congratulate those who have succeeded in their exams – and we are delighted to see that more than 6,000 have completed their examinations, having been able to demonstrate the financial knowledge and professional skills which are needed by organisations in challenging economic conditions. We look forward to welcoming them to ACCA membership on completion of their practical experience requirements'.

In December 2011, ACCA’s new Foundations in Accountancy suite of awards was first examined as paper-based and computer-based exams (CBEs). This is an exciting and significant milestone achieved for ACCA. Almost 13,000 paper-based Foundation in Accountancy exams were sat in December 2011 in addition to over 34,000 exams sat as CBEs that month.  

Commenting on the successful first exam session for Foundations in Accountancy, Clare Minchington said: 'We are really proud that we have successfully delivered our first exam session for Foundations in Accountancy. As a global body, the planning and implementation of any new qualification and syllabus is a lengthy process – simply because we have to ensure a robust infrastructure is in place to deliver the awards to the high standards our stakeholders expect and deserve from ACCA'. 

As a professional body which has professionalism and ethics at the core of everything it does and stands for, ACCA made the decision when it introduced Foundations in Accountancy to make it mandatory for every student completing a diploma or certificate from the range of awards to pass Foundations in Professionalism – a free online interactive module which tests ethics and professionalism. 

'All accountants, irrespective of what level they choose to operate, should know, understand and demonstrate what it means to act professionally and ethically when carrying out their work,' said Clare Minchington. 

ACCA will start to award the new certificates and diplomas after the February exam results are released, to students who have successfully passed the relevant exams and completed the online ethics module. 

For more information about Foundations in Accountancy, see the 'Related Links' section to the left of this article. 

December 2011 session ACCA Qualification pass rates were:

Paper F1, Accountant in Business, 63%* 

Paper F2, Management Accounting, 53%* 

Paper F3, Financial Accounting, 54%* 

Paper F4, Corporate and Business Law, 49% 

Paper F5, Performance Management, 38% 

Paper F6, Taxation, 48% 

Paper F7, Financial Reporting, 56% 

Paper F8, Audit and Assurance, 36% 

Paper F9, Financial Management, 38% 

Paper P1, Governance, Risk and Ethics, 51% 

Paper P2, Corporate Reporting, 48% 

Paper P3, Business Analysis, 51% 

Paper P4, Advanced Financial Management, 34% 

Paper P5, Advanced Performance Management, 29% 

Paper P6, Advanced Taxation, 39% 

Paper P7, Advanced Audit and Assurance, 31%

December 2011 session Foundations in Accountancy pass rates were: 

Introductory Certificate in Financial and Management Accounting

FA1, Recording Financial Transactions, 69%* 

MA1 Management Information, 65%* 

Intermediate Certificate in Financial and Management Accounting

FA2, Maintaining Financial Records, 62%* 

MA2, Managing Costs and Finance, 57%* 

Diploma in Accounting and Business

FAB, Accountant in Business, 46% 

FMA, Management Accounting, 41% 

FFA, Financial Accounting, 42% 

Foundation Specialist papers

FAU, Foundations in Audit, 53% 

FTX, Foundations in Taxation, 70% 

FFM, Foundations  in Financial Management, 40%

* Combined pass rates for paper-based and computer-based exams.

ACCA High Achievers Ceremony

ACCA Pakistan is organising High Achiever’s Ceremony next week in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore to celebrate the extra-ordinary accomplishments of students of CAT and ACCA Qualifications in December 2010 and June 2011 exam sessions.

This year’s ceremony will appreciate the achievement of over 90 high achievers with 24 global and 66 national positions in the CAT and ACCA exams. The high achievers will be awarded with certificates and cash prizes in presence of distinguished guests including employers, learning providers and parents.

On this occasion, Mr Shamez Mukhi, Head of Public Affairs, ACCA Pakistan said ‘every year, our students in Pakistan achieve excellence in the global ACCA exams, which is indeed a source of pride for the ACCA community and our country. The High Achievers have demonstrated their potential to be the future leaders of the accountancy profession, equipped with in-depth knowledge and skills underpinned by strong values of professionalism and ethics.’

ACCA - Accountants for Business Global Forum Pakistan 2011

ACCA Pakistan is organising Accountants for Business Global Forum Pakistan 2011 on 17 November 2011 at Royal Palm Country & Golf Club in Lahore. Participants including senior HR, finance and accounting professionals from private and public sector and practice will attend the event.
More and more businesses demand from their finance, the ability to think about the future of the business, scan the horizon for business opportunities, design new business models and contribute to the innovation of products, services and processes. The event emphasises the need for discussions around business accountability and assurance provision challenges presented to the accountancy profession by the new business environment, talent management, revolutionising professional education and development through e-Learning.
The forum will discuss risk and rewards – shared perspectives, maximising people power - effective talent management in finance and the e-professional – embracing learning technologies. ACCA aims to bring together high caliber delegates and industry experts to lead a dialogue on topics that we see as the most important to the future of accounting, auditing, finance, education and management.

The speakers include Muhammad Uzair, Director Internal Audit, Tourism Promotion Services (Pakistan) Ltd, Tahir Jawaid, Vice President Human Resource and Public Affairs, Engro Corporation Ltd and Jehan Ara, President P@SHA. The panellists include senior professionals from ACCA Pakistan, PSO, AKD Securities Ltd, Islamabad Stock Exchange, Arif Habib Corporation Ltd, Allied Bank Ltd, Packages Ltd, Tetra Pak Pakistan Ltd, KPMG Taseer Hadi & Co. Chartered Accountants, Ernst & Young Ford Rhodes Sidat Hyder, Virtual University and BRAMERZ. The moderators of the panel discussions will be Mr Junaid Iqbal, former CEO BMA Financial Services Ltd, Ms. Mahreen Khan, General Manager, Group Communication & Public Affairs, Dawood Hercules Conglomerate and Hammad Siddiqui, Deputy Country Director, CIPE.    

On this occasion, Mr Arif Masud Mirza, Head of ACCA Pakistan said ‘as a participant of Accountants for Business Global Forum Pakistan 2011, you will deliberate upon critical drivers of the finance profession: corporate transparency, business accountability, audit and assurance, talent management and e-learning’.

ICI Pakistan, Pepsi-Cola International, Phillip Morris Pakistan, CIPE, Telenor Pakistan, PTCL and Servis Industries are the sponsors of the event...

ACCA’s organises train the trainer initiative

As part of ACCA’s continued efforts to develop excellence in professional accounting education and establish best practices amongst tertiary accounting education providers, ACCA Pakistan organised “Train The Trainer” workshop on 11, 12 and 14 October 2011 in Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi respectively. Almas Abbas Ali, Education Manager, ACCA Pakistan and Mujtaba Iqbal, CEO, CFTR were the event facilitators.

The event aimed at enhancing the capacity building of tutors by sharing the important exam techniques with the purpose of integrating them into their teaching and thus increasing the chances of students’ success in exams. It also highlighted the importance of holistic approach of course performance management which, ACCA emphasized that the learning providers and tutors need to take continuously. The event provided the opportunity for the tutors and academic managers to network and exchanges best ideas with one another. The panel discussion revolving around ACCA Trainees and their role at the workplace generated a lot of feedback from the participants. Speakers of the panel discussion included Akbar Afzal Jessani Senior Consultant Ernst and Young Ford Rhodes Sidat Hyder, M. Sharique Siddiqui Assistant Director (Monitoring & Inspection Wing) Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Sarah Fazli Business Analyst United Bank Ltd, Pakistan, Muhammad Naveed Alam Deputy General Manager Siemens Pakistan, Abdullah Fahad Senior Manager Audit Ernst & Young Ford Rhodes Sidat Hyder, Omer A Chaudhry Controller – Accounting, Internal Audit & Compliance Tetra Pak Pakistan Ltd, Faisal Shaikh ACCA Member and SME Owner, Ayla Majid Director Business Advisory Services Khalid Majid Rehman Chartered Accountants, Ali Sheraz Shabbir Manager Billing and Revenue Wi-tribe Pakistan and Junaid Ghori, Vice President Islamic Banking, MCB Limited.

A total of 90 teachers and academic coordinators from ACCA Approved Learning Partners and learning providers attended the event. Participants appreciated the efforts of ACCA Pakistan for organising a very interactive and engaging event and wanted ACCA to organize such events in future as well.

ACCA organises Career Expo

ACCA Pakistan organised Career Expo in Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi, Abbottabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Sialkot, Multan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Hyderabad. The Career Expo comprised presentations on Career Planning, ACCA qualification / Foundations in Accountancy- suite of qualifications and employment opportunities in the field of finance and accountancy. ACCA representatives including ACCA members and other senior professionals from the industry spoke to the students in these events.

The speakers included Ms. Shireen Naqvi, CEO SoL, Ms. Rahila Narejo, Lead Consultant and CEO NHR, Sohail Zindani, Consultant & International Speaker, The Learning Minds Group, Mr Fasi Zaka, Education Consultant, Ali Akram, Assistant Manager Finance, Telenor,  Imtiaz Jaleel, Commercial Manager Supply Chain, Unilever Pakistan Ltd,  Mian Shah Faisal, Director  Finance, Pearl Continental Hotel, Peshawar, Tabish Ahmed, Manager Finance, Faysal Bank, Sharique Siddiqui, Assistant Director, NBFC, SECP, Mr Muhammad Ali, Head of Audit, Engro Fertilizer, Mr Ali Sheraz, Manager Billing and Revenue, Wi-Tribe and the ACCA Pakistan Team including Haroon A Jan, Head of ACCA Lahore, Shamez Mukhi, Head of Public Affairs, Muhammad Shahid Khan, Business Development Manager, Sabahat Khan, Customer Services Manager and Noorulain Zafer, Marketing and Student Recruitment Manager.

Various ACCA Approved Learning Providers including College of Accountancy & Management Science (CAMS), SKANS School of Accountancy, Professional Academy of Commerce (PAC), Center of Financial Excellence (CFE), College of Accountancy and Professional Studies (CAPS) and National College of Business and Management Sciences (NCBMS), provided one-to-one career advice and disseminated information on Foundations in Accountancy and ACCA qualifications at each Career Expo.  

Shamez Mukhi, Head of Public Affairs, ACCA Pakistan said ‘The Career Expo provided a platform for hundreds of students and their parents to learn and meet with the professionals so that they are able to make informed career decisions. Many educational institutions in Pakistan don’t have a formal setup for career guidance and hence the experts in the ACCA career expo were able to train students on career planning process and link ACCA qualification with employment opportunities in the fields of finance, accountancy and management.

ACCA Pakistan trains career advisors

ACCA Pakistan recently organized a series of Career Counseling workshops for teachers and student advisors in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. ACCA recognizes the integral role career guidance plays in helping students identify their natural talents in order to pursue a career promising them professional success.

The workshops were based on the concept that the best career exploration and job search strategies capitalize on the natural strengths of an individual’s Personality and Behavioral Style. Shamez Mukhi, Head of Public Affairs, ACCA Pakistan welcomed the participants, explaining the challenges students and parents encounter while making career choices and the resources developed by ACCA for students, teachers and parents. Speaking on the occasion he added, “One of the aims of the workshop is to ensure that ACCA Pakistan recruits students with the right aptitude, who are ambitious and committed to their careers so that they can excel as ACCA members”

Noorulain Zafer, Manager Marketing and Student Recruitment, ACCA Pakistan, made a presentation on Foundations in Accountancy and ACCA qualifications, entry routes, tuition providers and employment opportunities in Pakistan. She also answered questions about employability and the excellent employer base that ACCA enjoys nationally and globally. In addition to that participants were also given an overview of ACCA’s brand and the marketing activities it undertakes for potential students.

This was followed by a technical training on ‘career counseling to personality type’ conducted by Rahila Narejo, Lead Consultant and Chief Executive, NHR. Rahila emphasized on the significance of aligning career decisions to student’s aptitude and industry demand.

The workshop was attended by 82 participants from leading schools, colleges, universities and ACCA tuition providers. Participants were of the view that career guidance is a dynamic, on-going process enabling students to identify the best-fit career path for themselves. They commented that the training organized by ACCA Pakistan has been very helpful in equipping them as career advisors with the career assessment and guidance tools and techniques.

ACCA qualifications in demand in challenging times

The demand for a professional accountancy qualification has remained high during tough economic times as the results from the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) examinations in June reveal that 196,000 students sat papers, with more than 6,000 taking a major step towards membership of the global body for professional accountants.
Candidates around the world took more than 373,000 papers, with 6,294 students successfully completing their final ACCA examinations. A further 2,978 students completed the Certified Accounting Technician (CAT) exams.
At the Fundamentals level, pass rates were particularly pleasing for the tax and law papers.Students continue to find papers F5 Performance Management, F7  Financial Reporting and F8Audit and Assurance challenging. At the Professional level the pass rate remains strong in paper P1, Governance, Risk and Ethics which tests students' professional judgement. This is the first session to place a greater emphasis on risk assessment and risk management within the exam.
The results for optional papers P4, Advanced Financial Management, P5, Advanced Performance Management and P7, Advanced Audit and Assurance were disappointing.  Generally those students failing were not able to apply their technical knowledge to real-life practical scenarios. ACCA is working on support packages becoming available for students and tutors in the optional papers.
Arif Masud Mirza, Head of ACCA Pakistan, said:
“We congratulate those who have succeeded in their exams – and we are delighted to see that more than 6,000 have completed their examinations, having been able to demonstrate the financial knowledge and professional skills which are needed by organisations in challenging economic conditions. We look forward to welcoming them to ACCA membership on completion of their practical experience requirements. We look forward to examining our new suite of awards, Foundations in Accountancy which replaces the existing CAT qualification from December 2011.  Foundations in Accountancy offers students a choice of awards at different levels and the availability of more computer-based exams than are currently available. This is the first stage of the innovative e-assessment programme being developed by ACCA which will lead to all its examinations, across all levels, being offered online. 
“In addition to offering greater flexibility, our new e-assessment model will enable us to test students’ knowledge and skills in a way which more accurately reflects real-life workplace scenarios and activities and which meet employers’ needs, creating the e-professional.”
The first papers will transition to the new system in 2012 with all papers being phased over the next few years.

June 2011 session ACCA Qualification pass rates:
Paper F1, Accountant in Business, 70%*
Paper F2, Management Accounting, 57%*
Paper F3, Financial Accounting, 55%*
Paper F4, Corporate and Business Law, 55%
Paper F5, Performance Management, 37%
Paper F6, Taxation, 51%
Paper F7, Financial Reporting, 38%
Paper F8, Audit and Assurance, 40%
Paper F9, Financial Management, 38%
Paper P1, Governance, Risk and Ethics, 52%
Paper P2, Corporate Reporting, 50%
Paper P3, Business Analysis, 47%
Paper P4, Advanced Financial Management, 30%
Paper P5, Advanced Performance Management, 35%
Paper P6, Advanced Taxation, 45%
Paper P7, Advanced Audit and Assurance, 31%

ACCA Career Expo 2011

ACCA Pakistan organised ACCA Career Expo this week in Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Rawalpindi and Hyderabad. The events in each city featured an exciting career counseling session, launch of Foundations in Accountancy (FIA) and ACCA career fair. There was also a session on employment opportunities for ACCA trainees and members. Various ACCA approved learning partners disseminated information on ACCA and FIA suite of qualifications.  The career fair served hundreds of students who have recently completed their intermediate and A level studies by exploring their career path in fields of finance, accountancy and management.

The speakers in these sessions were Ms. Shireen Naqvi, CEO School of Leadership, Mr Fasi Zaka, Education Consultant, Mr Sharique Siddiqui, Assistant Director – NBFC, SECP, Mr Muhammad Ali, Head of Audit, Engro Fertilizer, Mr Ali Sheraz, Manager Billing and Revenue, Wi-Tribe and the ACCA Pakistan Team including Mr Khurram Iqbal, Customer Service Executive, Ms Sabahat Khan, Customer Service Manager, Ms Noorulain Zafer, Manager Marketing and Student Recruitment, Mr Shahid Khan, Business Development Manager, Mr Taimur Beiram, Business Development Manager, Mr Haroon Jan, Head of ACCA Lahore and Mr Shamez Mukhi, Head of Public Affairs.

After these successful events, ACCA Pakistan is now embarking on the ACCA road-shows at various educational institutions and also career fairs in different cities of Pakistan to provide career advice to students as well as their parents.

ACCA’s third online virtual conference

ACCA’s third online virtual conference attracts big names to discuss important issues for the business world

10 August 2011: More than 6,000 finance professionals have signed-up for ACCA’s (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) online Research & Insights Conference which launched last week. The conference sessions can be viewed on-demand via the ACCA website until 27 October 2011 at the following link: www.accaglobal.com/RIConference 

The conference covered a wide range of topics from a wealth of expert speakers, including: the new business environment: opportunities for growth; why talent management in finance matters; integrated reporting: a framework for the future; financial issues from Brussels; extended audit reporting; the eProfessional: creating the next generation of accountants; making businesses accountable; cloud computing; social media; and XBRL.

HRH Prince of Wales delivered a live address at the conference on his involvement with the Accounting for Sustainability Project, as part of the session on integrated reporting.

The online audience also heard from Professor Mervyn King, deputy chair of the International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC), who also talked about the future scope of integrated reporting, as well as the benefits and challenges of creating a framework that brings together financial, environmental and social and governance information in a clear, concise and comparable format.

Mark Gold, ACCA’s President, delivered a keynote welcome address for online attendees of the conference. Speaking after the event he said: “ACCA’s programme is relevant and timely, and includes excellent insights and advice for budding entrepreneurs and innovative accountants. The key to this conference is that it can be accessed online until the end of October, meaning that for those who didn’t get a chance to see everything in one day, they can dip into the sessions they want to see – from audit to pensions, from shareholding accountability to the future of the European economy.”

“The Research and Insights Conference is a fantastic opportunity to catch-up with the latest thinking on issues at the cutting edge of the accountancy profession,” says Ewan Willars, director of policy at ACCA. “Speakers from around the world covered a variety of regional and global topics that are highly timely and relevant. There is something for every kind of business and finance professional.”

MAXIMIZING PEOPLE POWER

MAXIMIZING PEOPLE POWER

EXPLORING PAKISTAN’S PERSPECTIVE

Talent Management must be placed at the heart of the organisation. It must have buy in from senior management and also the structure of the business must support the talent development principle. At a time when the country’s economy is under tremendous pressure and businesses are finding it difficult to maintain their efficiency or even survive, managing talent can be a saviour. 

ACCA and KPMG undertook a global study of best practices in Talent Management in businesses. The research report ‘Maximising People Power’ highlights the role that finance teams can play to generate a competitive advantage.

To discuss the current state of talent management practices in Pakistan, senior professionals gathered at ACCA’s roundtable discussions on ‘Maximizing People Power’ held in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. They opined that there were many motives for businesses to consider adopting an integrated talent management approach across organizations.  Some key drivers for implementing talent management practices in order of importance were fast track progression and value addition in business, business sustainability, cost efficiencies, succession planning, staying abreast of technical and technological changes, employee retention and developing specialized skills, and continuous learning and development.

Mr Mujtaba Khalid, EVP Internal Audit PTCL said that although PTCL has a training academy in place that looks after the development of its employees. He added further that PTCL is going to introduce job rotation in certain departments in order to realise the benefits of on the job training.

Historically, with a few exceptions, the local businesses in Pakistan have not kept talent management practices on their list of priorities. The main reason for their doing so was the uncertainty around the return on investment and the outcomes of these practices. This has resulted in either slower business growth or closure in case they couldn’t sustain the economic downturn.  On the contrary, multinationals operating in the same economic environment in the country that had talent management at the heart achieved record high profits.

The panellists of the roundtable discussion concluded that growth in businesses is directly proportional to the amount of investment made in managing talent..

ACCA Pakistan receives Best Accountancy Brand Award third time in a row

ACCA Pakistan receives Best Accountancy Brand Award third time in a row

ACCA Pakistan has been awarded Brand of the year award in the category of Professional Accountancy programme 2010. The award ceremony was organised by the Intellectual Property Association and the Brands Foundation.

Mr Shamez Mukhi, Head of Marketing, Communications and Media Relations received the Award on behalf of ACCA Pakistan from the chief guest, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in presence of Chairman IPO, Mr Hamidullah Jan Afridi, Governor Sindh, Dr Ishrat ul Ibad and Chief Minister, Syed Qaim Ali Shah. While receiving the award Mr Mukhi commented that, "It is an honour for ACCA Pakistan to be acknowledged as a winning brand at the national level for the third time consecutively. While brand visibility is important, it is more significant to live the brand values. ACCA's image really comes from the ACCA community who are ambassadors of our 5 values; opportunity, accountability, integrity, diversity and innovation".

On this occasion, head of ACCA Pakistan, Mr Arif Masud Mirza said "this is a competitive process and relies upon the views of the public and other third party factors" congratulating the Brands Foundation for this initiative, he said "this is an ideal public-private partnership that encourages healthy competition among leading organisations and also increases their awareness about consumer preferences. It is a great platform to support and propel business enterprise in Pakistan."

High inflation and low investment hampers recovery, ACCA survey shows

High inflation and low investment hampers recovery, ACCA survey shows

South Asian finance professionals more pessimistic amid disappearing opportunities 

Rising inflation and flat investment have kept the world's economic recovery stuck in reverse, the latest Global Economic Conditions survey from ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) has shown.

Of the 2,186 ACCA members surveyed between 16 May and 6 June 2011, only 26% reported increased confidence, down from 28% three months ago, with 57% saying that economic conditions are either deteriorating or stagnating, up from 51% only three months ago.

While the rocketing inflation of the first quarter of 2011 was not repeated in the second three months, a greater proportion of those surveyed, 54% - up from 51% in the last quarter - reported an increase in operating costs. This is double the number of respondents who mentioned inflation two years ago.

The survey shows that rising costs are not just confined to the fastest-growing economies.

While best performing markets Malaysia and Pakistan are leading the inflation league table, rising costs were also cited by 45% of respondents in Western Europe, which has been affected by the continent's debt crisis,  still sits at the bottom of the ranking in terms of business confidence and economic optimism.

The survey shows that businesses are becoming increasingly unable to respond to the inflationary challenge through cost-cutting.

Around 30% of respondents expect their governments to get spending decisions right in the medium-term, but 16.5% expect dangerous levels of over- or under-spending and this group has been growing every quarter since late 2009.

Access to finance has been tightening globally for the past six months, and this appears to be the case for both growth capital and short-term liquidity. This, combined with rising costs, now appears to be leading to an increase in the number of respondents who fear that customers (31%) or suppliers (15%) might go out of business, as well as those reporting problems with late payment (31%).

Despite these worrying trends, confidence figures among finance professionals have not yet dipped to a situation where they believe there will be a renewed downturn.

For the past two years, professionals in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region have been consistently more optimistic than their colleagues elsewhere about the state of the economic recovery, and this resulted in high levels of confidence in their own organisations.

In this survey, however, confidence is surprisingly low in both regions, with Asia-Pacific recording a net loss of confidence for the first time in two years. Hong Kong and Malaysia seem to be particularly affected, while Singapore has bucked the trend by recording further confidence gains.

While the gloom in the Far East reflects the fallout from the disaster in Japan, flagging confidence in Africa is mostly a lagged effect of the slowdown elsewhere. The GECS results show that the impact of a drop in activity in OECD countries has for the last few months been trickling down the supply chain, first to the Asia-Pacific region and then to Africa.

However, unlike the previous quarter, most of the pressure on access to finance appears to be concentrated on Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

Under these challenging conditions, profitable value-added opportunities of most types have become scarcer and the investment environment has deteriorated slightly, especially in terms of financing and business support. Still, investment itself has remained flat and the outlook for employment and investment in staff has even improved slightly. This is almost certainly related to the slow recovery in new orders.

Arif Masud Mirza, Head of ACCA Pakistan says: "There are a number of concerns in the latest report, including that the loss of momentum in Asia and Africa has become particularly pronounced in the last few months. The limits of austerity are also being explored in Western Europe and a renewed tightening of credit and cashflow conditions could be on the cards, even as new orders and employment are beginning to recover.

"If these new trends - coupled with high inflation and low investment - persist we would expect to see further instability in the near future, which will present more challenges for all sectors professional accountants whether they work in practice or industry in the second half of 2011."

South Asia remains pessimistic amidst poor macroeconomics and disappearing opportunities

Finance professionals in South Asia recorded an overall loss of confidence in the last quarter, with only one in four (25%) respondents saying they were more optimistic about the prospects of their organisations than they had been three months earlier. Half of the region's respondents believe that global economic conditions are deteriorating or stagnating.

However, even this relatively poor performance represents an improvement over the last quarter. In fact, for many months now respondents in South Asia have been surpassed only by their colleagues in Western Europe for economic pessimism.

Some of the reasons are relatively obvious. First, the region is heavily affected by rising inflation; Pakistan in particular emerged as the worst-affected among ACCA's major markets, with 78% of respondents citing increased operating costs. Second, fiscal sustainability remains a problem, with 35% of respondents in the region (up marginally from 34%) expecting dangerous deviations from what they saw as the correct level of government spending in the medium term ( 5yrs).

Then there are worrying changes to the fundamentals: business failures multiplied significantly in the last three months, and investment appears to have fallen substantially, even though business incomes have not changed substantially and access to finance appears to have improved marginally. Volatile foreign exchange rates and inflation also posed challenges for a growing number of firms but they cannot account for the continuing loss of confidence. Rather, the problem appears to be that respondents see ever fewer opportunities for their businesses going forward, especially of the more value-added kind. Opportunities to invest in quality and customer insight, for instance, were much less frequently cited than even three months ago.

Here is ACCA's full report :

http://www2.accaglobal.com/pubs/general/activities/library/economy/tech-ms-gec10.pdf