The answers to questions such as these, require serious consideration and it is my view that if we are having an accounting conference, these are some of the delicate, awkward and certainly important issues that must be brought to the table. Our discussion so far has been mainly confined to the traditional role of the accountant. I wish to look at some of the competencies that accounting in the global environment requires. It includes the system that generates financial information. Implicit in this definition is the reality that the accountant would become the person who enables the entity to achieve its objectives through the strategic use of information and information systems.
Lets now spend some time to look at the global environment.
Let us examine some of these trends, which are likely to impact on the function of the accounting profession. Traditionally, the financial statements show the tangible asset of the enterprise, therefore you would see the raw material, work in process, the finished goods, machinery and equipment, land and buildings, etc. However, the global economy has become information oriented and consequently many of our present day enterprises are run on intangible assets such as research and development, capacity of innovation, human resources, information and know how, brand equity, relations with customers, vendors, employees, etc. It is not being suggested that we take these intangible assets and turn them into debits and credits, but the accountant must be cognizant of the importance of these intangible assets to the business as ignoring them in the accounting model could be a fatal mistake. Traditionally, accountants provide periodic information.