So how do we make evolutionary and revolutionary change happen?

Each of us in the global profession has an important role to play.

IFAC’s role: harness its comparative advantage to facilitate this evolution and—ultimately—revolution.

• Speaking out. This is about embracing and taking advantage of disruption. It requires stimulating dialogue about the profession’s Total Addressable Market (TAM), which is a way to view the profession as measured by jobs held by accountants and auditors. Predictions from The Future of Jobs Report 2018 show that the profession’s TAM will decrease assuming no action is taken by the profession. IFAC is advancing global dialogue by asking questions such as: In what ways can we grow our TAM? What actions can we take today to increase our TAM for tomorrow? The actions we take today will benefit the capital markets' ecosystem.
• Preparing a future-ready profession. IFAC is helping PAOs and other stakeholders prepare future-ready accountants by promoting and enabling knowledge sharing, capacity building, and thought leadership.
• Supporting the adoption and implementation of high-quality international standards. The International Education Standards (IES) set forth learning outcomes that support the competency of accountants during their initial professional development. A newly developed e-tool can facilitate access to the IES and implementation support material.

PAOs’ role: start the dialogue and modernize the behaviors and competencies of accountants.

PAOs should consider whether their business models are fit-for-purpose and whether their organizational strategies are built for a future where accountants do different things.

We can all relate to:

• Accountants doing the same things, such as gathering, extracting, and manipulating data and information, reconciling information across separate systems, and making decisions based on samples or limited information. These skills are normally obtained through classroom-based, prescribed learning—a one-size-fits-all approach to learning.
• Accountants doing the same things differently, such as evolving skillsets using automation, visualization for more powerful insights, and leveraging communication technologies to make a greater impact—all tend to rely on increased self-learning and personal exploration.
• Accountants doing different things, however, will be defined by the actions we take today. PAOs can facilitate this future in several ways. Consider these 4 critical steps:

Organizations’ role: develop effective and efficient finance functions.

Accountants are deeply engrained in—and increasingly vital—to the success of organizations. Finance functions should identify the enablers of change and associated development plans to ensure they are fit-for-purpose to support and partner within the business, public sector, or other entities. They should have the right mix of talent, skills, and technology to enhance effectiveness and efficiency.

To help facilitate finance function transformation, IFAC has developed an evaluation tool for boards and management to identify strengths and areas of improvement for their finance function.

Individuals’ role: focus on personal growth, hone existing technical skillsets, and develop skills that are increasingly important.

At the heart of future-readiness is the individual. There is an unquestionable need for each of us to take personal responsibility for our own lifelong learning and career development—taking learning from being a passive, compliance-based approach to one which is tailored, reflective, and actively driven by our own individual needs. IES 7 Continuing Professional Development (CPD), includes several innovations that can support individuals in planning effective CPD in a changing workplace. Changing business models and evolving business needs are creating new opportunities for those accountants who are ready to learn. What are important competencies for the individual?

• Business acumen. Today, strategic business decisions are increasingly based on how individuals can integrate appropriately analyzed large data using their professional judgment. Business models are rapidly changing, impacting how vendors, employees, and customers interact, and how business is conducted and measured.
• Behavioral competence. This includes how individuals can use intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, adaptability, and lifelong learning to effectively respond to an environment of rapid technological change while also demonstrating the intellectual agility to embrace new or alternative ways of working and adapting to changing circumstances quickly. Behavioral competence also includes the ethical use and dissemination of data.
• Digital acumen. Accountants should understand how new and emerging technologies impact what they do, or what they likely need to do, in an ‘evolving’ or ‘revolutionizing’ landscape—how such technologies operate, are used, and affect the generation, processing, and flow of data and information. Data governance and security are also key elements of digital acumen.
• Data interrogation, synthesis, and analysis. The competencies needed by individuals to effectively work with structured and unstructured data, for example, evaluating whether data is complete, accurate, and relevant, and understanding exceptions to expectations. These competencies also include conducting risk assessments, predictive analysis, and effective use of visualization tools.
• Communication. New and emerging technologies have changed the channels of communication from and across systems, for example, using social media and smart devices.

We each have a responsibility to acknowledge, embrace, and seek out the uncertainty surrounding our profession.

This is our CALL TO ACTION to all PAOs, organizations, and individuals.