We’re dispatching our first Accounting Insight News newsletter today, so we’re expecting/hoping to welcome some new visitors to the content platform for Accountex and Accountex Summit North.
If you’ve been here before, you’ll know the drill. If not, welcome to Daily Insight. This is where I save you the job of trawling through the world’s news headlines. And it’s where I pick out (this is now known as “curate”) what I think are some interesting items for accounting and finance professionals.
As you can see by the headline, today we are looking at a pretty broad topic…. the accountant’s role in society. It’s a question that’s been raised by the Institute of Chartered of Accountants Scotland. ICAS has just launched an interesting and commendable series called Challenging Conversations.
Challenging the status quo
The new CEO of ICAS, Bruce Cartwright, sees challenging the status quo as an integral part being a chartered accountant.
“As a CA, I believe we have a role to play in society. Our work places us in a position of trust, and our education has afforded us the privilege of knowledge. We have an obligation to use this, on behalf of society, to speak out on challenging issues,” he says.
Better way of doing things
“When we see things happening that we think need debated, or we think there’s a better way of doing things, we should talk about it, even if we’re not entirely comfortable raising the issue,” he adds.
So, among the issues on the agenda are: corruption, technology ethics and pensions.
“I want to put the spotlight on subjects that the business community and government should look at in more detail. I want ICAS to speak out on behalf of our members and wider society, and be punchier on issues,” Bruce says. “Business needs to play an active role in creating a better society.”
Awards for accounting excellence
I’m looking forward to this series. And I’m also looking forward to AccountingWEB’s annual Accounting Excellence Awards.
AWEB says: “This year there are three categories, each with multiple awards. The categories are dedicated to celebrating excellence in every section of accountancy.” The three broad areas for awards are: practice excellence, finance excellence and software excellence.
See you tomorrow.