We sometimes refer to the quotes of Mark Twain, lauded as a great humourist and ‘father of American literature,’ because they are, well, humorous and thought-provoking.
One particular quote stands out: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
You could argue that in the 21 century it could be paraphrased as: “The secret of getting ahead means keeping pace with the leaders.”
That could apply to most areas of UK business, but certainly applies to accountants and those who work in partnership with them.
Keeping pace with technology explosion
They are vital to the UK economy and keeping the wheels of business, and particularly SMEs turning. This is particularly relevant as the explosion of technology and digital data is ever more important to growing businesses.
That means they have to stay ahead of the games and target best-trained individuals to mitigate the staff shortages, so a new pathway to a professional accountancy career could deliver the top talent the profession needs.
The global body for professional accountants ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and the International Baccalaureate (IB) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that creates a pathway programme for IB students towards a professional accountancy career.
Accelerated pathway into accountancy
The IB is a non-profit foundation that offers four challenging educational programmes for students. In the UK, it is studied mainly by young people in Years 12 and 13 as an alternative to A levels.
Pulkit Abrol, director ASEAN ANZ at ACCA and Haif Bannayan, global director, business development at IBO signed the agreement which will see the creation of an International Baccalaureate Career-Related Programme (IBCP) with ACCA.
This means that IB students who are seeking an accelerated pathway to a career in accounting, finance and assurance can get a head-start through the IBCP with ACCA’s Diploma in Accounting and Business (DIAB) Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) Level 4.
It will create opportunities for young people to become the future of the accountancy profession, with the agreement aligning to ACCA’s commitment to UN SDG 4 Quality Education, which is one of the nine ACCA has pledged to achieve by 2030.
ACCA’s diploma covers a wide variety of business and finance subjects, including technology and digitalisation, alongside core financial and management accounting subjects.
Accountants will benefit from this new talent ready gradually coming on stream and stepping up to the plate as the profession moves forward.
The advisory role of accountants is growing all the time, so attracting young, raw talent is key to moulding them into the accountancy superstars of the future. That means offering them a chance to lead the profession and not get bogged down with more mundane issues.
Keeping pace with this are outsourcing experts like GI. Now with four offices, it can offer comprehensive levels of support to accountants, whether through general compliance work or offering its expertise with cloud-based technology and the ability to supply and implement more than 50 cloud-based applications.
The secret of getting ahead means keeping pace with the leaders is just as relevant to GI Outsourcing as it is to the accountants we support.
Contact our UK-based team of account managers today to find out how we can help your firm.
