Accountancy skills crisis on the way warns ACCA
Steps need to be taken soon says the accountancy body
The UK is on the brink of a financial professional skills crisis, according to ACCA. The stark warning came at the launch of its learning and skills manifesto 'ACCA Championing Learning and Skills – an agenda for England'. To tackle this crisis, the global accountancy body says that the accountancy profession must be truly involved in the government's curriculum development and qualification reform, so that qualifications meet the real needs of employers.
Clare Minchington, ACCA's managing director – education, learning and development who launched the manifesto at an event at the Labour Party conference, said: "An increase in world trade and regulation has created high demand for professionally qualified accountants. But the supply has not met this demand, leading to a shortage of finance professionals required to support the growth of the world's major economies."
"To tackle this skills shortage, it is vital that the accountancy profession is not overlooked when it comes to the implementation of the Government's education and skills policy, such as the recent Leitch Report into World Class Skills. And there also needs to be an Accountancy Sector Skills Council – these Councils exist for other professional areas, why not for accountancy?"
Recent findings from the Public Oversight Board (POB) said that the Big Four accounting firms are recruiting internationally to meet their staffing demands, despite the fact that almost 34,000 professional accountants qualified between 2000-5 in the UK. In addition, it has been recently reported that the shortage of skilled accountants is pushing up salaries, with the average accountant now earning more than £100,000.
Minchington added: "The skills shortage issue is likely to continue for some time. It will be exacerbated by the impact of an ageing demographic across most developed economies, leading to further skills shortages. And if businesses are forced to employ the services of unskilled finance staff, the quality and integrity of financial information relied upon by investors may be jeopardised."