CBI: 50 Years of Business Innovation

CBI: 50 YEARS OF BUSINESS INNOVATION | A CHANGING SOCIETY

ACCOUNTING FOR ALL TASTES

ACCA www.accaglobal.com

“It’s easy for any organisation to say it is leading the way,” says Sarah Hathaway, Head of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) UK, based in London’s historic Lincoln’s Inn Fields. “But we can back that claim up.” With roots that date back to 1904, ACCA

is the global body for professional accountants. Today, it boasts more than 162,000 members and 428,000 students across 173 countries, and examples of the organisation’s pioneering policies and ideas are as varied as they are many. Continually championing new concepts in training, regulation and access, ACCA has a number of pioneering firsts under its belt. A perfect example is its globally recognised

courses. “We were the first accountancy body to sponsor a Massive Open Online Course,” says Hathaway. The free course, entitled Discovering Business in Society, is delivered in conjunction with the University of Exeter and the online learning platform FutureLearn, and is available to anyone, anywhere in the world. “Since we announced the launch of the course, other

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bodies have used it as a learning model,” says Hathaway. “It is an example of us stepping outside the obvious and setting a precedent for others – both of which are very typical of us.”

PIONEERING DIVERSITY A less visible example of ACCA’s pioneering leadership is its track record on gender and diversity. ACCA was the first accountancy body to have a female member and, later, a female president. Today, women account for 51 per cent of its students, and 45 per cent of its members worldwide. “Our central tenet, right from day one, has been to provide access to the accountancy profession for all, irrespective of background,” says Hathaway. “We are genuinely global, and comprise a diverse and broad membership.” When it comes to technical standards that

matter to the profession, ACCA was also the first organisation of its kind to introduce international financial reporting standards. Students can still be assessed against their home country’s standards, but – in the knowledge that businesses are more

likely to operate on a global scale in the future – ACCA is ensuring that international benchmarks are put in place. “ACCA’s culture is to evolve and innovate,

so that we accommodate the changing nature of business and the world economy, as well as the individual needs of different countries,” says Hathaway. “For example, Indonesia currently has a worryingly low number of accountants in the face of an economy that is growing into a very strong position. It’s the reason why ACCA opened an office there in 2013, and why we opened an office in Kazakhstan in 2012 – to develop the accountants that the world needs.”

WIDENING ACCESS Crucial to development is ACCA’s policy of open access, which makes a career in accountancy viable to anyone with the desire and determination to succeed. Continuing to promote social mobility within the profession, ACCA offers a range of training routes, including apprenticeships throughout the UK. »

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