ICAN tackles disruptive technologies
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has unveiled an initiative that will take care of emerging technologies disrupting the accounting profession.
Its President Dame Onome Joy Adewuyi, who unveiled a new syllabus designed to address the issues, said the revised syllabus captured subjects such as Block Chain Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Internet of Things (IoT).
The new syllabus, which takes effect from next March was developed in line with the “Institute’s resolve to continue to produce future-ready Chartered Accountants with skills and competences desired by the market.
She explained further that new trends in the environment such as the Finance Act 2019 which introduced new developments in the country’s tax system and the new Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA 2020) also presented added impetus for the review.
According to her, “a Chartered Accountant worth its salt is not just an expert in the technical aspect of the profession but should be furnished with soft skills including effective communication, integrity, accuracy and good professional judgment”. She added that the current syllabus was reviewed in 2018 but the rapidly changing environment necessitated a revisit of the status quo from the five-year policy of the syllabus review to a more regular one that proactively responds to the demands of the market.
The review also necessitated the restructuring the various levels of the Institute’s examinations to reflect the new changes in the syllabus and equally expanded the contents of the various subjects against the backdrop of the new normal. While retaining the fifteen (15) subjects, there are now four (4) subjects at the Foundation level as against the former five (5), six (6) at Skills as against five (5) and retained the five (5) subjects at the Professional level.
Meanwhile the Institute has signed the Mutual Cooperation Agreement (MCATI) with two tertiary institutions to deepen the standards of learning and dissemination of Accounting knowledge in Nigeria. The Institutions are: Adeleke University Ede, Osun State and the Federal University, Nekede, Owerri, Imo State thus bringing the number of Institutions under the scheme to 23. All the 23 institutions are obligated to incorporate the requirements of the new syllabus in their curriculum.
The agreement meant that accounting students in the two institutions, and the 21 before them, would study using the integrated accounting curriculum of ICAN, National Universities Commission (NUC) and National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).
Accounting graduates from the Institutions would be granted 10 subject exemptions instead of seven subjects under the normal ICAN accreditation scheme.
