THE IMPACT OF CONTINUOUS EDUCATION (CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT) ON ACCOUNTANTS

Continuous Professional Development (CPD) or Continuous Professional Education (CPE) is the means by which people maintain their knowledge and skills related to their professional lives, Derek Torrington et al (2005:345). CPD consists of any educational activity which helps to maintain, develop or increase knowledge, problem-solving, technical skills or professional performance standards all with the goal that Accountants can provide a better service. CPD includes formal activities such as, courses, conferences, workshops as well as: self-directed activities such as preceptorship and directed reading, Chartered Institute of Professional Development (CIPD 2003:96). Accounting profession changes every day and it is a dynamic field hence need for CPD. International Accounting Standards (IAS) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), they are reviewed time and again and it is imperative for accountants to update themselves on these changes. Failure by Accountants to update themselves with current information, their financial statements will send wrong messages to the stakeholders and users. There is a paradigm shift from traditional accountants to modern accountants. Traditional Accountants are those who are only number crunch and those who fail to adapt to changes and they are exposed to risk of being replaced in future due to non- competent. This is because the financial statements they prepare will lack the required quality at both national and international levels. The reason for IAS and IFRS is to standardize the quality and the presentation of the financial statements, that is to say accountants will adopt the same treatments of accounting entries, world over. This uniformity in terms of presentation will therefore mean that it is possible to employ accountants anywhere in the world.

It is from this background that the researcher would like to investigate the need for continuous education by accountants. The challenges that are faced in terms of these changes and what should be done to continually upgrade the accounting field. The researcher will investigate the reasons for CPD and the performance of accountants who do not respect the principles of CPD. The researcher will make recommendations and suggest possible ways of CPD in order to keep the accountant well informed on new developments in their field. This study will assist all accountants world over and benefit other professional fields since they will also need to upgrade themselves in order to maintain the standards of their professions.

Prepared By: Robert P Machera
Executive MBA- ESAMI in Collaboration with Maastricht University, CIS, FSAAA, FIAC, DipTraining, Higher Dip HRM (CIMA Adv Diploma Candidate)
(Accounts Lecturer at Botho College – Botswana and an External MBA Dissertation Supervisor for Regent Business School SA) email:rmachera@gmail.com