Accountancy is regarded as the language of business

Press, 14 October 1976, Page 13

Accountancy is regarded as the language of business

Accountancy is first and foremost the language of business. Every organisation has to keep track of its operations and know where it is going and where it stands financially. Accountancy assembles, analyses and interprets financial information for owners and management to plan and control operations. The accounting function in the first instance records information. This is the clerical operation. In the second instance that information is analysed. This is a highly-skilled operation which requires ingenuity and intelligence and a broad understanding of market situations, of people of other organisations, of the role of government and of likely future events. Once financial data has been analysed, the accountant must interpret

the results of the analysis or presentation in a meaningful manner to those who will use the information to plan and control operations. To succeed in accountancy today you need intelligence, personal integrity, imagination, initiative, perseverance and the ability to concentrate and communicate. Accountancy requires those personal qualities, because everyone in trade, commerce and industry uses information provided by the accountant. Accounting is the essential link through all levels of industry, trade, commerce and public administration. It is the one factor common to all such activities. The accountant, therefore, has a vital role on which constantly expanding demands are being made now and will be made in the future. A career in accountancy is as attractive to women as it is to men.

Women are readily accepted in the profession of accountancy since qualification and ability are the keys to success. There is a very real demand for qualified women in all sections of the business community, Government and chartered accountants’ offices. Not only are the immediate prospects bright for girls who become accountants but also this career is versatile enough to allow them to return to business after marriage or discharging family responsibilities.

T h e professional accountant is a decisionmaker, his work is challenging and highly responsible, he is trained to provide top management with financial statements, budgets, facts on taxation, import licensing, exchange control, personnel administration and similar matters. He works at executive level and as part of the management team. He has every opportun-

ity to reach the top . . ■ his is the key career in any organisation. His study and' experience equip him for a wide variety of positions ranging from financial director to university lecturer. There are, however, three main segments within the field of accountancy. These are accounting in public practice, in industry and commerce, and in central and local government. And still accountancy offers more. The basic discipline of accountancy, together with the wide experience which it offers, provides a particularly favourable opportunity for promotion into general management. Many who reach top management appointments begin their careers as accountants. The scope is unlimited. In New Zealand, as overseas, many accountants head the operations of large commercial and industrial concerns, insur-

ance and financial houses, public, corporations and Government Departments. Opportunities for accountants are unlimited. They are truly international in scope. Overseas professional accountancy bodies, including those in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, recognise the educational standard required in New Zealand. And that’s not all. Scholarships are available to members of the society to enable them to pursue their studies and gain experience overseas. New Zealand accountants have an enviable international reputation. They practise their profession in almost every country.

To qualify as an accountant, first the candidate must have university entrance and then satisfy the examination and practical experience requirements of the New Zealand Society of Accountants.