Professional accountants
– the future
The world is changing at a rapid pace, dictating that the skills and knowledge required by professional accountants must change too. And while the precise changes depend on the professional’s specialism, the need to exercise professional judgement and demonstrate the highest standards of ethics, independence and scepticism remain constant.
The drivers that will exert the most influence on the accountancy profession are:
- regulation and governance
- digital technologies
- expectations on professional accountants to look beyond the numbers
- globalisation
Why is this research important?
This research identifies the main drivers for change that will have the most impact on the profession. Plus, it reveals to professional accountants the technical, ethical and interpersonal skills and competencies they need.
What does this research tell me that I didn’t know before?
Accountancy professionals can expect the following factors to have the highest impact on them:
- development of intelligent automated accounting systems
- rates of change and economic volatility
- greater harmonisation of accounting and business standards
- adoption of cloud computing by business
- different aspirations and expectations of coming generations.
Graph showing external factors expected to have the highest impact in the next three to 10 years. Development of automated accounting systems is the factor expected to have the greatest impact.
How will reading this benefit me?
This report identifies the main drivers for change that will have the most impact on the profession, plus the technical, ethical and interpersonal skills and competencies that will be required in the future across the profession and in various technical areas.
"Professional accountants of the future will need a changing combination of professional competencies: a collection of technical knowledge, skills and abilities, combined with interpersonal behaviours and qualities – professional quotients (PQ)."
Drivers of change and future skills in Kenya
Professional quotients
All professional accountants will need to balance their professional quotients (PQ) to fit their role and stage of career. Each accountant’s (PQ) will reflect their competency and skill across seven constituent areas:
1) technical skills and ethics (TEQ)
2) intelligence (IQ)
3) creative (CQ)
4) digital (DQ)
5) emotional intelligence (EQ)
6) vision (VQ)
7) experience (XQ)