Professional accountant the challenges of the next decade (Agenda 2015 plus)

Abstract

In the next 10 years, professional accountants will need to modify the way they perceive and carry out their mission. They will have to join the ranks of decision makers while keeping their roles of support and constructive critic to managers. They will need to extend their information management skills to the handling of non financial data to support a new definition of performance that is reflected in the Total Quality Management and value chain cultures. The mission will change because the context or management has changed, e.g., flat organizations, fuzzy organizational boundaries reflecting partnerships with customers and suppliers, globalization, and a new emphasis on service activities. The time horizons the professional accountant is used to will no longer be applicable. Such changes as target cost management, life-cycle thinking, and anticipatory crisis management are some of the reasons that will require professional accountants to become proactively involved in "managing for the future." Based on a greater attention to the understanding and analysis of the causes of resource consumption, the professional accountant will become more interventionist and will be involved in both organizational engineering and becoming a change agent in the whole product cycle, from strategic intent identification to strategic performance analysis, through change management and communication. The picture depicted of the professional accountant of the year 2015 plus is radically different from what is seen today, Training for these professionals will need to encompass this new mission in its new context. Managers also will have to embrace and value the rich potential that resides in their close cooperation with this "new" professional accountant.