Page 45 - DCICAI SOUVENIR 2018

Digital brings huge opportunity for Chartered accountants to collaborate with or cross-train
professionals from other disciplines such as IT, cyber, engineering and HR to develop client service
teams that address and advise on broader business and IT operations and strategy issues. The
transformation and the way forward for Chartered Accountants is to redefine their roles in the digital
area such as from a Product Banker to a Consultant, Book Keeping to Advisory, Management
Account to Decision Support, Technology driven cost reduction, Back Office to Financial Engineering
and Knowledge Management. Chartered Accountants will also use increasingly sophisticated and
smart technologies to enhance their traditional ways of working, and these technologies might even
replace the traditional approach. Smart software systems such as cloud computing will support the
trend toward outsourcing services, and greater use of social media via smart technology will improve
collaboration, disclosure, engagement with stakeholders and broader communities. In future, data
will be exchanged seamlessly from companies to tax authorities. Hence Chartered accountants need
to discover what value-added services they can provide to their clients, such as good tax advice and
managerial and business-related services. Chartered accountants need to align or partner with other
providers such as financial planners and business management experts to create a broader suite
of value-added products. Accounting Firms are conducting surveys on cloud computing, big data,
technological change, new forms of fraud and corruption, and corporate sustainability in order to
address the ongoing and future opportunities and challenges facing the industry. The digital era is a
defining moment for Chartered Accountants, hence then need to take cognizance of the disruption
trends impacting various industries which will enable them to position themselves better to seize the
opportunities.

45 | DCICAI - 5th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE