The different processes that are taking place now in the globalized world require that the accountant exercise his profession with sufficient capacity, knowledge and ability, that is, that he have a broad level of competence and thus be recognized internationally with his work.
This has arisen not only because of the changing world but also because accountants have often been questioned in aspects such as their professional training, intellectual capacity and the developments they have had in the face of the culture and moral of their profession.
This is why some organizations have made recommendations regarding this issue, among which IFAC can be named with the International Education Guides which refer to accounting training, focusing on complex transactions, technological advances and environmental concerns. environment among others; the UNCTAD proposal and the issues that have to do with the change of curriculum in accounting education.
Accounting education in Colombia.
Given the complex economic situations that the country is going through and therefore companies throughout the nation in what has to do with analysis of financial and accounting information, it is essential to have someone who explains the different moments that these companies are experiencing and most importantly, act in pursuit of a benefit to them; this is why the accountant plays a very essential role in these circumstances,which require good training that responds to the needs of society in the face of this and the large supply of accounting professionals in the market, it is essential to think of a very complete education in the sense that it allows you to be competitive, not so much in terms of Possess knowledge to carry out the development of the practices but also to create a social responsibility with the environment in which it will work, for which it is important to have adequate training in values.
At this time, the aim is to incorporate the following parameters into the education of the accountant:
- Training in Competencies ():
Today's accounting professional needs to improve and qualify his argumentative competence since the challenge he faces is that of interpreting, proposing and acting for which it is assumed that he has a command of language skills, that is, communicative, textual and grammatical.
Regarding the competence of the accounting profession, it can be said that it is the alternative of using and explaining the practice of the different business languages to solve accounting situations of the economic-financial, environmental and social reality.
Today's accountant must assume a different role than the traditional desk accountant concerned only with accounting supports, that is, one who conceives accounting only in its financial part, but must be a person capable of engaging in constant dialogue with different social agents of the company and establish relationships between knowledge and the environment in which it operates.
- Social Responsibility ():
The public accountant, in addition to being a highly trained professional in his corresponding area, must act according to the requirements of the environment, which is why he has a social responsibility since accounting information depends on the different areas of the community, that is; economic, political, social, financial, environmental and others; so that this information acquires its integrity through a relationship based on values, guidelines and requirements of each context. Consequently, the development of each of these aspects shows the high social responsibility that accounting has.
- Ethical Training ():
In vocational training, it is essential to have elements to exercise the profession in a way that is socially useful and recognized; In professional practice, it is essential that the accountant's behavior regarding his relationships with all the actors that make up the environment in which he operates as colleagues, users, other professionals and the rest of society is given in terms of honesty and integrity in order to spread the credibility and reliability of the information as a result of the activities carried out by it; since the accountant with the character of the accountancy has the responsibility to give public faith on the documents and financial statements made by him.
Proposal from international organizations
The International Federation Of. Accountants (IFAC) has the mission of developing and enhancing the accounting profession seeking the provision of high quality services related to the public interest.
So in addition to having accounting skills and knowledge, the current accountant is an entrepreneur, financial analyst, competitor, market analyst, good communicator, capable negotiator, public relations specialist and good administrator.
For its part, UNCTAD has contributed to designing a standard for the qualification of professional accountants which should serve as a reference base for national purposes and that serve entrepreneurs for such purposes to act in the context of a global economy.
To achieve this mission in the training, experience and evaluation of the professional accountant, the following components must be achieved, acquired and applied:
- Knowledge ():
Understood as those basic concepts that the accountant must have in relation to the different areas of accounting. This knowledge is achieved through general education and professional education. Such knowledge is:
- General singing knowledge.
Which must present accounting as a mechanism for the evolution and communication of information, its fundamental objective must be the identification, measurement and communication of information and how it is used at the time of decisions.
- Specialized knowledge in accounting.
Which has transformed the role of the public accountant in what has to do with the use and evaluation of the systems, and at the same time in the design and administration of such systems.
- General knowledge.
Here the curriculum must develop students' abilities of inquiry, logical-abstract thinking and critical analysis. It must provide them with means for research, as well as allow them to interact with different groups of people.
- Organizational and business knowledge.
It is essential to train the professional in the work environment in which he operates, for this reason the accounting programs must include areas on the different businesses; from the government, non-profit companies and others.
- Skills ():
They are those that train the professional accountant for the proper use of the knowledge obtained through education.
These skills are:
- Intellectuals. They seek to train the accountant in the analysis of different situations, decision making and good organizational practice.
- Interpersonal. They want the accountant to work with people for the general good of the entity.
- In communication. Provide the accountant with training to receive and transmit information, to analyze reasonably.
- Professional ethical values ():
These professional values give the accounting professional the right to issue sound criteria and to carry out their practice in an ethical manner in favor of society and the profession. The qualities that these values represent in accounting professionals are:
- Commitment to act with objectivity, integrity, being independent in the application of professional standards.
- A knowledge of the ethical standards of the profession.
- A concern for the public interest and sensitivity towards social responsibilities.
- A permanent commitment to learning.
According to the code of ethics published by IFAC (Revised in 1998) the objectives that every accountant in his accounting profession should pursue are to abide by the most recognized standards of professionalism in order to obtain good performance, responding in the same way to the interest which is achieved by responding to needs such as: credibility, professionalism, quality of services or trust.
Therefore, in addition to satisfying said needs, the professional must observe certain essential principles, among which are integrity, objectivity, professional competence and thoroughness, confidentiality, professional behavior and appropriate technical behavior for the provision of professional services.
- Assessment of professional competence ():
This process is carried out by means of an examination which assesses the professional's capacity or competence; It is essential to guarantee that the self-regulating professional organizations have competent people for the professional practice of the accountant.
The accountant must demonstrate sufficient capacity, knowledge, ability and experience at the time he provides his services according to the areas in which he will perform; and also because society is sure that the profession is being exercised by professionals who demonstrate having such competence.
In the evaluation of this competence, not only should theoretical knowledge be taken into account, but also how accountants are capable of applying this technical knowledge analytically, practicing, contributing to the development and solution of everyday problems that may arise.
- Professional Experience ():
The period of experience depends on the medium in which the accountants offer their services; it must allow candidates to demonstrate that they have acquired the appropriate knowledge, skills and values to perform competently throughout their professional lives; which frequently cannot be achieved in less than three years.
Given the different conditions that exist between the various accounting bodies that make the experience requirements vary, professional bodies or regulatory bodies should verify this experience by applying the following measures:
- Prepare a system by which the control and reports of the experience obtained by the student are kept.
- Establish a way to recognize those employees who are capable of providing the student with the required experience.
- Evaluate and accept the area in which the experience will be carried out before the student begins his work.
- Verify the experience achieved based on oral and written tests performed by the employer at the time of admission.
A record should be made of the actual experience acquired by the professional candidate in order to compare it with the global experience program established for said candidate, this in order to confirm that it meets the requirements set by the professional body or regulatory body.
Results of the approval of this proposal in Colombia.
It is important to think about an advance and development of accounting education since at the moment a globalization process is underway, which requires high levels of continuous learning in the professional training of the accountant that allows him to go out to compete in different contexts of the society, with trained professionals from all over the world, due to this in Colombia the different components that will lead to accounting education to achieve success have been implanted.
In the same way, it can be seen that the application of said components proposed by international organizations brings with it countless consequences for this profession in Colombia, for example, it is proposed that students must be given extensive and specialized knowledge in the management of technology of information, which is not reflected in public education due to the lack of both economic and pedagogical resources and given the evident reduction in costs in higher education, it is much more difficult to give that direction to accounting education, compared to In this situation we can realize that the learning levels in this area are minimal and deficient, putting the professional accountant at a disadvantage both in the training process and in the development of the profession itself.
Regarding the general knowledge of the organizations and businesses developed in our financial, economic and social market, training must be profound in the sense that it provides the student with sufficient parameters that allow him to have a vision of the possible development scenarios of your professional practice.
In this aspect, education has not provided sufficient bases for the good performance of the accounting profession since, at the time of accounting practice, accountants have been judged for their lack of knowledge to perform fully in their activities.
On the other hand, it is necessary to analyze the panacea that presents us with those who, with countless apologies, show standardization proposals as the best and inevitable way to go.
In the specific case of education, the training of professional accountants, the defense lies in the presentation of a professional who is upright and capable of acting in a changing world like ours, in which as the spread of the empire of Neoliberal and globalizing theories require the accountant to analyze information that is increasingly complex and dynamic, required in real time and with the support of control, demanded from the audit, increasingly efficient.
In summary, the new economic model requires an information analyst trained and evaluated according to international standards, with extensive knowledge of them in the areas of accounting, auditing and good corporate governance.
The objective could not be better, but said purpose may be a siren song with a beautiful melody that, once achieved, can unleash the most horrible sonata, since there are circumstances that could harm many and benefit few others.
Could it be that the nationalist current that today runs through our country and as many Latin Americans as the ghost of the Marxist manifesto, appears without any intention, without any contradiction with what is imposed from "outside"?
Behold, the phantom proclaims the interest of accounting monopolies - Arthur Andersen, Deloitte Touche, Price Waterhouse, Ernst and Young, Kpmg-peat Marwick - in standardization to monopolize the world market, no longer without any restrictions other than the continued protest of those who defend the interests of their colleagues and comrades, to exercise the profession on equal terms.
Perhaps, this proclamation sounds somewhat apocalyptic, but it is the reality, since the ideal would be that as well as we opened the doors to foreign accountants, in the same way the horizon of the application of our profession would extend without border limitation, but we are In a world in which there must necessarily be dividing lines since we are different cultures, different economies, different forms of production of the National Income, for this reason, in the professional training process, whatever the title to obtain, must bear in mind that we are a national and territorial unit, with specific characteristics and potentials to develop.
Bibliography.
¨ Academic Background, evaluation of professional capacity and experience, requirements of professional accountants. In: Journal of Accounting University of Antioquia. No. 32. March 1998.
¨ The Public Accountant in the New Millennium: Vision and Mission. In: Journal of Accounting University of Antioquia. No. 38. March 2001.
¨ Accounting Education: A New Culture. In: Journal of Accounting University of Antioquia. No. 38. March 2001.
¨ Accounting Magazine University of Antioquia. No. 41. September 2002.
¨ Suárez Pineda Jesús Alberto, Social worldview of accounting as a scientific discipline. In: Magazine Legis Contador No. 06. April / June 2001.
¨ International Education Guide No. 2 issued by IFAC.
¨ International Education Guide No. 9 issued by IFAC.
¨ A strategic conceptual structure for undergraduate education in the accounting profession in 2000 and following years. In: Magazine Faculty of Public Accounting UNAB Vol. 13 No. 16 November 1994, pp. 34-56.
