It’s hard to over-emphasise the importance of the small to medium-sized business sector to our economy. While small adjustments to the share prices of corporate giants and multinational conglomerates grab the headlines, half of the world’s private sector output, nearly two-thirds of (63 per cent) of jobs worldwide and about one-third of all developed country exports are actually  generated by SMEs, not by the largest companies we hear so much about.
ACCA, (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) has been aligned to the needs of SMEs since 1904 and with 200,000 members and 486,000 students in 180 countries is acutely aware of the challenges and significant threats the digital age has introduced to these businesses and indeed many of ACCA’s members work in this sector of economies around the world.
For Alan Hatfield, ACCA’s Executive Director, strategy and development, the issue of data security may have gained crucial significance relatively recently, but he says it demands an approach that has always been at the heart of the professional accountant’s role: acting in the public interest and complying with fundamental principles of ethical behaviour. “For many smaller organisations, the accountant may be the only individual in a position of leadership who as a member of a professional body is regulated by a code of ethics.”
He points out that ACCA research indicates that its members take their ethical and professional responsibility extremely seriously, including their responsibility for safeguarding and managing all assets they are the custodians of. “Professional accountants work across a breadth of roles in an organisation and ethics and professionalism always sits at the core of their skill set. It’s how they use their skills, behaviours and attitudes to develop what we call the ethical conscience of an organisation. This code of ethics and conduct is an important perspective that professional accountants can bring to the boardroom.” 
A recent global study by ACCA of 10,000 professional accountants, titled Ethics and Trust in a Digital Age, found that 95 per cent of those at CFO (chief financial officer) level believe that ethics are extremely important to their company’s reputation, both internal and external, particularly in relation to data and digital assets.
 
Do we need a new set of ethics
in a digital age?
New ethical and moral dilemmas are now being faced in respect of data and data security. “Our report looked at a range of real-world scenarios which may not have existed a few years ago – such as whether you should pay a ransom to get private data back, a situation that many organisations faced after the WannaCry hacks last year,” says Hatfield. 
He emphasises that while the report highlighted that the type of dilemmas may be new, the ethical approach does not have to be fundamentally rethought. “The view of the members and business leaders ACCA has spoken to is that the International Ethical Standards Board remains a relevant and vital guide,” he says. 

How is this changing the skill-set of accountants?
While ACCA’s five fundamental principles remain the same – integrity; objectivity; professional competence and due care; confidentiality and professional behaviour all of them can and should be applied to the responsible use and management of data, but the challenges of the digital age and its cyber security threats will demand an extension and development of the professional accountant’s skill set. 
Hatfield says: “We also need to think about which further competencies our members and future members should apply in these different scenarios and we call these the professional quotients of success”. 
In 2016 ACCA published a significant study: ‘Professional Accountants – the Future’. This report drew on the views of more than 2000 accountants and 300 business leaders and revealed that improving the Digital Quotient was one of the core skills increasingly needed for the future. “When you look at the way in which blockchain and AI (Artificial Intelligence) are already being implemented, it’s vital that we understand what these technologies are and how they impact the daily activity of a business,” says Hatfield. For instance, he adds, it is difficult to apply ethical judgment to the use of distributed ledgers without an understanding of what they are.
 

How is ACCA preparing its members for this change?
Hatfield stresses that the Digital Quotient – while increasingly important – shouldn’t be viewed in isolation, but dovetail with other key skills such as vision, emotional intelligence and experience to develop the right blend of excellence that help accountants develop important business leadership skills. 

The Herald:

Alan Hatfield, ACCA’s Executive Director, Strategy and Development

“Some of the innovations that we are introducing to the ACCA Qualification this year reflect that aim, and we are creating a new exam called Strategic Business Leader which will apply leadership and ethical skills to set the ‘tone from the top’ and promote a positive culture within the organisation,” he says. This includes promoting robust governance, making the appropriate choice and implementing strategies which deliver sustainable value, while managing and controlling the business, taking into account risks, including threats relating to data and cyber security. To prepare people for that examination and for work as a professional accountant, ACCA has also developed a ground breaking new ethics and professional skills e-learning module which covers the key ethical and professional skills which accountants will need now and in the future. It particularly focuses on such areas as big data, and cyber security.   
Another report, Generation Next, forms part of ACCA’s research into the future of accountancy and the skills that will be most needed.  It surveyed almost 19,000 ACCA students and members under the age of 36, and the data suggests that Millennials in the accountancy profession are well equipped to deal with change driven by digitisation and globalisation. 
“What came out of the report very strongly was the fact that although technology is often presented as a risk and a threat, people in this generation very much see it as an opportunity – a way to enhance both the services that they provide and their careers,” he says.
However fast the pace of change and the opportunities that arise, Hatfield says that the ACCA Qualification sits firmly at the core of what it provides as a body. “Much of what we have learned from our research has fed into a series of significant innovations we are introducing for our students and members. 
“For instance, computer-based exams ensure that our students are assessed in the most relevant way to thrive in the modern workplace as well as making them more flexible and accessible globally – and for our current members we produce a vast array of resources and thought leadership material that enables them to keep their skills, including their digital quotient, up to date.”
This updating of skills is increasingly essential amid predictions that AI will disrupt and even replace real people in professions such as law and accountancy – though others argue that with automation saving time traditional number crunching, AI will actually allow professional accountants to use their knowledge, skills and insight to give better advice, based on the data produced.  

Back to the future
Keeping in step with – and ahead of – changing business models, ACCA is producing a series of reports to give CFOs a guide to the various aspects of understanding and implementing new technology. “The Race for Relevance”, which we recently issued, emphasises the need to develop our strategic roadmap for innovation and think about the risks and opportunities that technology is bringing. 
With the training and lifelong learning that ACCA and its professional accountants have they are in an ideal position to deal with this constant change,” says Hatfield. 
“Whether it’s GDPR today or blockchain in the future, it’s about making sure organisations have the right talent to deal with these opportunities and the associated threats. As well as technical capability the professional accountant of today and in the future will need a rounded skill set that continues to have ethics and public value at its heart”. 

For more information check: accaglobal.com/uk