ACCA qualification to address key competencies required by finance professionals
Wednesday, 12 March 2014 01:05
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ACCA (The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) recently unveiled a competency framework to identify once and for all what makes a complete finance professional.
This interactive checklist of competencies has been developed so that business leaders can identify the skills a finance professional should possess, and so that aspiring finance professionals can reach their career aspirations with ACCA.
Supported by a survey conducted with more than 500 Chief Financial Officers (CFOs), the resulting report titled ‘The complete finance professional 2013: Why breadth and depth of finance matter in today’s finance function,’ identifies the key areas that CFOs look for in the finance function.
What employers told ACCA for this research is that they need the complete package, individuals with people skills, with financial skills – of courses – all accompanied with business acumen and good dose of ethical behaviour.
Noted as the first ever online competency framework of the association, the report highlights the 10 key competencies finance professionals must have if they are to succeed in business and their career.
The recognised competencies are: professionalism and ethics, governance, risk and control, stakeholder relationship management, strategy and innovation, leadership and management, corporate reporting, sustainable management accounting, financial management, audit and assurance, and taxation.
The competency framework enables employers, teaching providers, current and potential students to see the key competencies which they must have to become successful in the market. ACCA Chief Executive Helen Brand commented on the report and its relevance within the association noted: “The ACCA Qualification addresses all the key competencies required by finance professionals, from performance and financial management and taxation, to Islamic finance; and the principles of integrated reporting.”
Brand also added: “ACCA has always been committed to ensuring that its qualification meets the needs of every sector in every region of the world, and the competency framework brings these together.”
ACCA’s research with employers about the complete finance professional showed they face multiple demands as partners to business operations; apart from the need for accounting professionals to behave and act ethically and professionally, financial management and financial analysis were seen as particularly high-impact areas, followed closely by governance risk and control, strategic management accounting and corporate reporting.
Internal audit, tax advice and planning were also widely considered to have considerable impact. Taking account of the bigger picture, the competency framework identifies, the need for finance professionals to be informed in the area of stakeholder relationship management, so that they can manage expectations, support the alignment of the organisation with stakeholder needs, and ensure relevant information is communicated.
It also places at its heart the concepts of professionalism and ethics, understanding the complex challenges individuals can face at any level within an organisation and providing ACCA professionals with clear principles for determining appropriate ethical behaviour.
Endorsing this initiative, ACCA Sri Lanka Head Nilusha Ranasinghe stated: “For ACCA students and members, the competencies are inbuilt into the ACCA Qualification system, which enables them to forge ahead with no need for extra learning exercises. The framework has been prepared so that finance professionals, employers and tuition providers are also clear about the key skills demanded in an increasingly globalised and rapidly changing business environment and has been designed to equip aspiring finance leaders with the skills and expertise they need to succeed. As they work through the successive stages of the ACCA qualification, aspiring finance professionals develop the full range of competencies to be able to deliver maximum impact and value in their businesses.The framework not only serves as a checklist for students but as a clear demonstration to employers that those with the ACCA qualification are really complete finance professionals.”
