What’s the definition of an accountant? Some may say they are people who solve a problem you didn’t know you had in an way you don’t understand. Along these lines, it is also said that “accounting will prove anything, even the truth”. That said, these pejorative takes, conceal the significance of accountancy generally and more specifically that of performance managementaccounting. However, in order to obtain business success and value creation, goals which the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) believes are at the heart of a sustained economic recovery, corporations must use the “language of business”.
The ACCA is an internationally recognised organisation for professional accountants, which seeks to deliver qualifications and development that is relevant to business. These aim to give all the essential knowledge that underpins the function of management accountancy and also the skills with which to put it into practice. The primary qualification is composed of fourteen examinations and papers. Of these, the F5 paper on performance management accounting, with its own microsite, is perhaps most germane.
This examines the concepts which are fundamental to an innovative body of new and dynamic practices in business accountancy. Throughput accounting,for example, is indicative of this change in direction. This approach casts light on how functions within an organisation are ever more interdependent and highlights what is a primary costing tool in performance management and decision making. In addition, the mechanics and execution of behavioural budgeting is taught. This up to date budgetary methodology is a move away from the conventional quantitative approach and reveals how using budgets as objectives can stretch business performance.
The significance of the accountancy profession generally and its position at the forefront of the broader coporate world, is made clear in a recent survey by the ACCA and Mercer, a human resources consultancy, entitled “Generation Y:Realising the Potential”. The research, aimed to look into the mindset of the youngest echelon of professional accountants and can be found on the ACCA website. “Notwithstanding other findings, the survey highlighted that this group of ambitious and clear sighted professionals “see(s) the accountancy qualification as a great step to a broader business career…”. Additionally, Chris Johnson, Mercer’s UK Head of Human Capital stated that “Value creation is key for organisations in the future. Increasingly human capital will be the primary source of competitive differentiation.”
It seems then, that after all, accountancy really is no joke