Accountants told to exercise vigilance

ACCOUNTANTS have been warned to exercise vigilance in carrying out their duties, if only because of the kinds of scandals involving the profession in other countries.

The advice was given by Danny Montano, Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education, who is also an Accountant. At the time he was delivering an address last Thursday at an Accounting Conference entitled “Accounting in the 21st Century — the accounting profession, what next.” Montano pointed out that accountancy was no longer merely a job, but it was a “privilege”. He reminded those in the profession that they were “entrusted with the responsibility to ensure, to a large extent, the integrity of the financial market and system. “Your job is to serve the public interest and that is a privilege.” The Minister said accountancy had changed, becoming far more complex today with different skills being required. He said while the basic responsibility had not changed, how accountants are perceived “has changed and the level of trust has changed”.

The Minister also warned accountants that as the world gets more complex with issues of accounting, standards and reporting will increasingly become blurry. “You are asked to express opinions in a world where numbers are no longer black and white, but have many shades of grey. And while we have moved away from the ‘truth and fair view’ I say to you, that the numbers that you report must speak the truth.” Montano said if accountants had to ask what “is the truth” as regards the interpretation of an accounting standard, then they were not living up to their responsibility. He said if everyone thought in terms of their own individual integrity, everything will come out right and suggested that their obligation to shareholders and creditors was not merely contractual, but a special duty. He said accountants here in Trinidad and Tobago may feel their reputations were still intact, but he no longer felt that way, having read that it was suggested that the “P” in CPA stood for “pimp” and “prostitute”. He said while no such thing has been said of the professionals here, they were guilty by association.

Touching on the issue of accounting education, the Minister said until now a certain level of technical competency was required in the field, but he predicted new entrants will also be required to achieve a level of technological proficiency. And he proposed that it was imperative to redesign what accounting students are taught. “They must be exposed to the newest of technologies and taught to develop the proper analytical skills necessary to be successful.” The conference held at the Trinidad Hilton discussed several issues relating to governance, independence, ethics and accounting education.