Anybody can call themselves an accountant, but a recognized qualification generally guarantees proper training, experience and professional standards. Most accountants work in-house for companies or organizations in the private, public or voluntary sectors. Those employed by accountancy firms, on the other hand, usually specialise in very specific areas, such as auditing, taxation, insolvency or forensic accounting. Naturally, each specialism has different training requirements.
Despite the existence of global accounting practices serving global clients, the accountancy bodies that oversee training are almost entirely domestic and serve the needs of their domestic market. Although the widespread adoption of international accounting standards is making training easier, taxation is a national issue. Therefore, accountancy training naturally tends to occur at a national level. We are not educating accountants to work anywhere in the world, but to work in their own national environment,' says Jim Sylph, Executive Director of Professional Standards at the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).
IFAC describes itself as 'the global organisation for the accountancy profession'. It has 2.5 million members from all areas of the profession, belonging to 157 member and affiliated bodies and accountancy associations, from all over the world.
But accountancy training is not just about the initial qualification. The big challenge is keeping accountants up to date in a changing world. To support its members, IFAC sets very broad standards for education programmes, including continuing professional education and lifelong learning.
The current trend is to emphasise strategy and management over the purely technical subjects, because strategic and managerial skills can give the big global practices a competitive advantage.
In this way, at Pricewaterhouse-Coo-pers (PwC), the concept of the "business adviser' runs right through from newly qualified accountants to partners. This includes skills such as managing teams, and coaching and appraising people. Business and relationship skills have huge financial implications. Indeed, they often determine the length of time that the business relationship between an accountancy firm and its customers exists.
Similarly, global training at KPMG concentrates on values, skills and behaviours. However, KPMG's main strategic focus is the mobility of its workforce, and it views the lack of portability of national qualifications as the main barrier to this. 'It presents challenges within the profession,' says Michael Walby, Senior Training Manager at KPMG. 'We need to be able to get our resource to the opportunities, irrespective of geographical boundaries. The profession needs to work together across the various institutes to take advantage of future opportunities.
‘ If you get training right, it can make a significant difference to competitive advantage,' says Ms Kilbride, Associate Partner for Global Learning Deloitte. This is especially the case in small or emerging markets that are growing rapidly. They face challenges to consistency and quality because of a rapid influx of people.
According to Mr Blewitt, Chief Executive of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants(ACCA), increasingly employers want people who can move around the world with a common accounting language and set of standards and ethics. He states ”There is an inexhaustible demand from developing nations. With a qualified accountancy profession, these countries will continue to be able to attract inward investment and aid from agencies such as the World Bank.
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任何人都可以自称会计师，但公认的资格通常保证了适当的培训、经验和专业标准。大多数会计师在公司或组织内部工作，包括私营、公共或志愿部门。另一方面，那些在会计师事务所工作的人通常专门从事非常具体的领域，如审计、税收、破产或法务会计。自然而然，每个专业领域都有不同的培训要求。
尽管存在为全球客户提供服务的全球会计实践，但负责监督培训的会计机构几乎完全是国内的，为国内市场的需求提供服务。尽管国际会计准则的广泛采用正在使培训变得更容易，但税收是一个国家性问题。因此，会计培训自然而然地倾向于在国家层面进行。"我们不是教育会计师在全球任何地方工作，而是在他们自己的国家环境中工作，" 国际会计师联合会（IFAC）的专业标准执行董事Jim Sylph表示。
IFAC自称是“会计专业的全球组织”。它有来自全球各地的35个专业领域的250万名会员，属于157个成员和附属机构以及来自世界各地的会计协会。
但会计培训不仅仅涉及初级资格。最大的挑战是在不断变化的世界中让会计师保持最新。为了支持其会员，IFAC为教育计划制定了非常广泛的标准，包括继续专业教育和终身学习。
目前的趋势是强调战略和管理，而不仅仅是技术方面的知识，因为战略和管理技能可以给全球大型会计事务所带来竞争优势。
在普华永道（PwC），这种“业务顾问”的概念贯穿了从新获得资格的会计师到合伙人的全过程。这包括管理团队、辅导和评估人员等技能。业务和关系技能具有巨大的财务影响。事实上，它们通常决定了会计事务所与客户之间的业务关系存在的时间长度。
同样，在毕马威（KPMG）的全球培训侧重于价值观、技能和行为。然而，KPMG的主要战略重点是其员工的流动性，并且它认为国家资格的不可移植性是主要障碍。KPMG的高级培训经理Michael Walby表示：“这在行业内带来了挑战。我们需要能够将我们的资源投放到机会中，而不受地理界限的限制。该行业需要在各种学院之间合作，以利用未来的机会。”
"如果培训得当，它可以在竞争中产生重大差异，" 德勤全球学习合伙人Kilbride女士表示。这在小型或快速增长的新兴市场尤为重要。由于人员的迅速涌入，它们面临着一致性和质量方面的挑战。
根据特许注册会计师协会（ACCA）的首席执行官Blewitt先生的说法，越来越多的雇主希望拥有能够在全球范围内使用共同的会计语言和标准以及伦理准则的人员。他表示：“发展中国家有着无穷无尽的需求。有了合格的会计专业，这些国家将继续能够吸引来自世界银行等机构的内部投资和援助。"