Yesterday I was disappointed when one of the accountants said, “Accountants are just support people. They are like bank tellers, counting other people’s money.” And that “I advised my children to stay away from accounting.” His statements did not go well with me. I turned to the daughter he had just introduced me to and asked her, what are you studying, to which she replied: Engineering. So how do you make sense of your engineering project costs? I asked. She replied, “My lecturers have encouraged all of us in engineering to consider studying an accountancy course like CPA.” I felt good that the man’s thinking contradicted that of brilliant Engineers teaching his daughter. That is how important accountancy is.  

So Engineering lecturers at MAK are ICPAU’s promoters! Such cross-profession partnerships must be developed. The man was surprised that the daughter was being advised to study accounting to stand out as an engineer.

The accountants, working with our Institute, should consider the following interventions to change the wrong perception of the profession. It appears some leaders are running out of excuses and accountants are now being fingered for the increasing failures in the management of public resources.

Now is the time the Institute should research and publish a list of accountants in public service to show the extent of control they hold over key decisions. Show which roles Accountants hold and their decision mandates. For example, how many accountants are Permanent Secretaries the equivalent of CEOs in Ministries? How many Accountants sit in the Cabinet? How many Accountants serve as board members on boards of MDAs? The comparative numbers would go a long way to offer more opportunities for the young Accountants but also educate the Appointing Authority of the right professionals for the core roles if corruption is to be fought.  Unlike in private businesses where accountants inform strategic resource allocation and resource planning to optimize, in public service, accountants just ensure spending is done as apportioned by parliament! And to make matters worse, public procurement which accounts for over 70% of government spending is not headed by accountants, only in very few entities! Such numbers would go a long way to educate the public on the extent to which the accountants’ hands are “tied”.

 So if out of 35 PSs/CEOs, say only 2 (5%) are accountants; out of 100 Head Procurements of MDAs, only 4 are accountants; if say out of 557 MPs, only say 10 (2%) are accountants; out of 82 members of the cabinet of Uganda, only 2 (2.4%) are accountants; how do you expect accountants to fight corruption in a democratic country where the majority take the day????? These are exposures Accountants must make to create impact and influence decisions while coming clean to the public and preserving the profession. True, the sins of one accountant affect all accountants, but demonstrating the small Impact of such sins due to the low scale of operations is key to preserving the integrity of our profession. Stating facts is not a crime!

Publishing such a report and presenting it at the economic forum after the budget reading would help inform the public of the extent of reduced responsibility given to accountants in providing oversight to national resources yet they are the best brains to do it.

In addition, the Institute should champion the following:

1). Require all accountants to attend intense ethics training sessions regularly through mandatory Ethics Boot Camps highly publicized. Publish compliance to such training and encourage the public to work with accountants with the latest ethical certification. So even if you have a practice certificate, but you missed two quarterly ethics sessions, you may not be the right one!

2). Publish the names of accountants found guilty of corruption in prominent media outlets. And keep the list online for public name and shame!

3.) Give significant cash bonuses and public recognition to accountants who report unethical practices. Shout it for all to see.

4.) Broadcast trials of accountants involved in corruption live, showing consequences in real time.

5.) Create a public online platform showing real-time data on ethics compliance and ongoing investigations.

6.) Implement a secure, anonymous platform for the public and professionals to report unethical behaviour, with rewards for verified reports. Investigate and share results.

7.) Host public events across the country where accountants discuss and demonstrate commitment to fighting corruption. Such public road shows are intended to demonstrate the right tone.

8.) Comfort the afflicted publicly. The accountancy think tank must publish continuous research on the impact of fraud and corruption on the country and how the work they do to prevent it.

9.) Partner with anti-fraud organizations and associations as they distance themselves from organizations known as highly corrupt based on published reports and complaints.

Seriously, accountants are vanguards of corporate governance. We must be and be seen to be beyond reproach if we are to add value. The trust of the public is critical to our success.

I remain, Mr Strategy, www.mustaphamugisa.com and of course, I come in peace. For God and my Country.
Tweet