ACCA: Financial Executives Concerned With Customers" Future Financial Stability

Andreea Arăboaei

The global economic situation will confront businesses with increasingly numerous problems and will make it harder and harder for them to obtain financing and to offer any kind of credit, including customer credit. Concurrently, the need for competent accountants will increase, according to a recent report by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) titled "Accountancy - The Future Outlook."

To make the report, ACCA - the largest global professional accountancy body - interviewed CFOs, partners and senior accountants in Europe, Africa and Asia, who highlighted their concern with the future financial stability of their customers as 87% of them believe that businesses. will be cautious in giving credit. They are expecting long-term consequences of the credit crunch and the global economic crisis that followed as 84% of them are convinced that businesses will be more wary of risk in the future, while 76% believe that it will be much more difficult to raise funding.

Nearly 70% of the participants believe that executive incentives will be aligned with long-term performance as a result of the current situation and that complex funding will be more adequate in the future. If raising finance is going to be more difficult, then accountants will need to be more creative in coming up with solutions, the report suggests.

At global level, 63% of the financial executives polled for the report expect to see an increase in the demand for accountancy services, not only due to the changes in the business environment, but also because they feel that accountants are essential on long-term in a difficult business environment.

The report also indicates a global increase in the expectation that financial professionals should fulfil complex roles, including contributions to risk management, strategic planning, scenario-based analysis and data management optimization.

ACCA Director for South Eastern Europe Andreia Manea stated: "The results of our report indicate expectations that the economic changes may have a significant impact on global business in the near future and create challenges and opportunities for our profession."