The global economy is in a state of volatility and uncertainty.

Society continues to undergo rapid

and fundamental adjustments.

Amidst this turbulence, the global accountancy profession is itself undergoing change, driven as
much by the wider pressures coming from the evolving business world, as from internal
pressures

Forces shaping the business environment

• Global economy
Continued globalization taking place against a backdrop of persistent economic turbulence and
uncertainty and growing pressure to rethink the entire global economic and financial governance
infrastructure.

• Business environment
Growing business and regulatory complexity coupled with intensified global competition and
shortening business cycles.

• Innovation and change

Rapid advances in science technology are driving disruptive innovation, overhaulling industry
structures, challenging and reinventing business models and spawning new sectors.

• Society and work

Changing social values and expectations of work, an increasing global population and an ageing
society working well past current retirement age are creating challenges for how technology is
managed and leveraged to integrate a diverse multigenerational, multicultural and multinational
workforce.

• Learning and development

The structure, techniques, distribution channels and costs of providing education and training are
being transformed, with a growing trend towards online courses and accelerated learning.

Forces driving change in the accountancy profession

• Trust and reporting

Pressures are increasing on the accounting profession to strengthen its public image and go
beyond current financial reporting practices to provide a more transparent, simplified but holistic
picture of a firm’s health and prospects.
Pressures on the accounting profession are rising to improve its public image and go beyond curr
ent financial reporting practices in order to provide a more open, simplified, yet holistic picture o
f the firm’s health and growth potential.

• Regulatory expectations
An increasing regulatory burden could drive up the cost of compliance.
An increased regulatory burden could increase the compliance cost
• Standards and practices
There is a drive to globalise accounting standards and practices.
There is a drive to widen accounting standards and practices.

• Intelligent systems and big data

There is potential to use intelligent systems, data mining and predictive analytics to exploit the
repositories of ‘big data’ that firms are amassing and as a result transform both the operational
and interpretive elements of accountancy.
There is ability to use intelligent systems, data processing, and predictive modeling to leverage
the ' big data ' databases that companies are gathering and thus turn both accounting
organizational and interpretive components.

Attention is drawn to the disruptive potential of new industries and production models, as well as
to developments such as digital publishing, smart accounting systems, predictive analytics and a
ugmented and virtual reality.

Advances in fields such as artificial intelligence and predictive analytics could create truly
intelligent automated accounting systems and these are expected to happen in more than 10 years
from now

• Organisational remit
There are increasing expectations that the CFO and accounting function should play a far greater
role in everything from strategic decision making to the design of new revenue models.
There are increasing expectations that the CFO and the accounting function should play a much
larger role in everything from strategic decision-making to the design of new revenue models.

RECOMMENDATION

Five imperatives for the accountancy profession to ensure they can perform effectively in the
decade of uncertainty and rapid change that lies ahead.

 Embrace an enlarged strategic and commercial role

The need to ensure responsible practices in the pursuit of growth opens the door for accountants
to participate in broader business decision making. This broader role will require accountants to
apply financial expertise in combination with analytical, creative and riskmanagement skills

 Establish trust and ethical leadership

 Focus on a holistic view of complexity, risk and performance

Equally important will be the assessment of the strength of core business relationships, the
overall vibrancy of a firm’s culture and employee health and happiness.

 Develop a global orientation

The pace of global corporate globalization from both developed and developing markets pushes
accountancy's ability to master the technical language, and cultural complexities of cross-border
operations. Key here is developing the mindset within accountancy that is respectful of
different practices and cultures and open to ideas, wherever they originate.

 Reinvent the talent pool

Alongside the traditional characteristics typically associated with the profession, traits such as
entrepreneurship, curiosity, creativity and strategic thinking skills will become of increasing
importance for tomorrow’s accountant.