SINGAPORE (April 15): Business agility. That will be the buzzword at ACCA’s 15th annual conference, which is slated to take place at Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre on May 14. The theme of the event — Agility for Industry 4.0 — will focus on how accountants can prepare for the future of finance. It will highlight the critical skills that accountants need to drive business agility, connectivity, talent transformation and mobility in the digital economy. This will be delivered through a series of interesting talks, workshops and a panel discussion highlighting practical examples.
This year’s theme comes in the wake of changes brought about by the advancement of technology, which is disrupting the way companies conduct business and seize opportunities.
As the saying goes, change is the only constant. And this is prompting companies to find new, innovative ways to stay competitive.
For instance, logistics companies are exploring how they can adapt and utilise additive manufacturing as part of their suite of supply chain solutions. Asset management firms are starting to use artificial intelligence as they provide financial services to their clients. Meanwhile, retailers and e-commerce sites in the fashion industry are experimenting with virtual reality and augmented reality dressing rooms.
However, the adoption of disruptive technology is still low among many Singapore companies. This is because accountants, who as business and finance professionals, are not the ones most enthusiastic in leading the drive for changes.
According to ACCA head of policy Joseph Alfred, it is not about the inaccessibility of technology or the funding of it, since both are available in Singapore. On the contrary, the “missing link” is the relevant mindset of accounting and finance professionals themselves.
“It is about adopting the mindset to accept change and the rate of change. Today’s technologies will be replaced by newer technologies in the future. We want accountants to accept change as the norm and to accept the fact that the rate of change will increase,” he says.
Another factor is the lack of empowerment for accountants to impose change within their organisations. “[Accountants] need the freedom and courage to effect change,” says Reuter Chua, national head of ACCA Singapore. Moreover, the quality of change is crucial too, especially in the area of applying accounting ethics and standards in the real world, he adds.
As such, the urgent call is for accountants to change and adapt, or risk being left behind. “Change is becoming more dominant in our work. Industry 4.0 is evolving. If you go by the rate of change, technology is advancing faster,” says Alfred. “The work styles from 10 to 20 years ago may not be relevant five to 10 years from now.”
Fortunately, ACCA has recognised this shift, says Chua. And it has addressed the importance of technology and its impact on companies at its annual conferences over the past few years. “ACCA was the first accounting body to highlight it in a big way.
The government has caught on and [has been] supporting these [efforts] in the last two years,” he says.
Business agility
This year, the push for change and to adapt to new technologies will be bigger at the annual conference. John Williams, CEO of the Agile Business Consortium, will be delivering the keynote address “The Case for Business Agility: What It Means for Finance and Accounting Leaders”.
Williams will define business agility; what it means for finance and accounting leaders; and some of the global trends on how agility is being integrated into organisational structure, culture, processes and strategic planning.
Jamie Lyon, ACCA’s interim director of professional insights, will also be speaking at the conference. He will review the future of finance, in particular, the various skills and competencies essential to professional accountants in the future. He will share on how accountants can enhance agility to generate the most current insights to lead organisational transformation and improve finance practices.
Lyon’s presentation is important given today’s ever-changing business landscape. In such an environment, organisations need to move quickly in order to maximise shareholder returns and minimise enterprise risks. As such, the role of finance needs to evolve, as company leaders require real-time insights into the state of their businesses to help them make better and timely business decisions.
Besides individual presentations, there will also be a panel discussion on the need for business agility and the challenges in going about doing so. The panellists are Paul Cobban, chief data and transformation officer at DBS Bank; Steven Koh, director (agile consulting and engineering), government digital services at Government Technology Agency of Singapore; and Patrick Tay, assistant secretary-general of NTUC and director of NTUC’s strategy group and legal services department.
The panel will compare and contrast the agility of large companies to small and medium-sized enterprises. Given the latter’s size, SMEs are known to be more nimble and adaptable than their larger counterparts. This should enable them to quickly leverage on new technologies and innovation opportunities to scale up.
However, insufficient manpower, lack of talents with future-ready skills and no dedicated departments and infrastructure can be potential barriers to agility. In contrast, larger companies and even the public sector may have deep-rooted cultures or practices that are hard to break away from. Accountants who work in SMEs or large companies could receive useful insights relevant to their organisational size.
Reclaiming leadership
From Chua’s perspective, it is critical for the industry to keep up to date. He warns that accountants have in recent years lost some of their leadership in promoting technology at their respective companies to chief technology officers. “The chief financial officer (CFO) needs to reclaim some of the leadership in that space, which the CTO has in recent years led the change,” he says.
Alfred concurs, stressing that the CFO still plays a significant role, despite the rise of the CTO. “[While] data can reside with the CTO, the CFO’s insights are valuable because he can feel the pulse of the market better,” he says. “There is a lot of value that the accountant can bring, [for example], business acumen and understanding of accounting processes.”
In an era of big data, accountants are able to evaluate the financial impact of the leakage of confidential and sensitive customer data. “The CFO might say that if customer data is exposed, the company’s share price will drop. So, there is a business case for the CFO to safeguard processes around the system,” says Chua. “It is not merely learning about data, but how to use it so that one can simply be a better accountant.”
