One evening this month, right across Europe and in my corner of the UK, people stopped to join in a rare moment of shared experience as we witnessed the solar eclipse.
It was eerie and magical. As the moon crossed the surface of the sun, a brilliant summer’s evening turned to a dull yellowy dusk and the temperature slumped to an autumnal chill. The air was unnaturally still, birds stopped singing and drivers got out of their cars to enjoy the event.
People reported a sense of calm and contemplation amid the spectacle. It forced us to see our world literally in a new light, and it made me think that we should take more time for quiet reflection, even when there isn’t an eclipse.
More than letters
The next day I was preparing a few remarks for a video message to be screened at a students’ prizegiving event in Sri Lanka, and I tried to distil some of the inspiration I had felt the evening before. Part of that was highlighting to these talented professionals that their ACCA qualification means so much more than letters after their name, a certificate to hang on the wall or a pathway to a top job – although it is certainly all of those.
It is about dedicating your life and career to a purpose. It is a vocation that brings endless opportunities to make a positive difference in their community, and in the world. It gives them so many chances to shape the sustainable businesses and economies of the future and societies that deliver safety, security, stability and a chance of success to all people, whoever and wherever they are.
The genius of accountancy is that it advances with the times
I invited this ambitious audience of high achievers to see technologies like AI as tools that will liberate them to carry out work of higher value. They can aspire to work with greater creativity and more strategic importance, and to serve employers and clients as leaders, experts and entrepreneurs in a changed world of business and finance.
I shared the message that this is why the accountancy profession is so important, why employers want and need professional accountants, and why accountants are so valuable and irreplaceable. I told them that the genius of accountancy is that it advances with the times.
To survive and thrive, accountancy keeps pace with the demands of modern business and the needs of employers, to give the world the accountancy profession it requires. There are many more exciting and varied opportunities open for accountants, and a chance to make a career that is really rewarding. In pay and benefits, yes, of course it is. But it is also rewarding in a deeper sense, offering a chance to make a meaningful contribution towards a better, fairer, more sustainable future for all.
A golden future awaits our newly qualified professionals as they set out on their great adventure.
