Institute tasks new inductees on professionalism

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has charged its 73 new inductees to raise the bar of professional service.

The 57th President of ICAN, Comfort Eyitayo, said this at the induction ceremony for new inductees into its faculties, which was held virtually in Lagos.

Breakdown of the new inductees includes audit investigations and forensic accounting faculty (48), corporate finance management (five), corporate reporting (eight), insolvency and corporate re-engineering (12).

Eyitayo challenged them to always remember that they represent the institute and thus, have the responsibility to guard their professional relevance in the keenly competitive market as well as be worthy ambassadors of ICAN.

She said: “With this certification, the stakes are now high for you as the society looks up to indisputable professional advice and guidance in these technical areas.

You should always remember that the quality of services you render to your clients does not only give credence to your competence but would also be opportunities for subsequent job offers. I want to reiterate that the world has a way of creating rooms for those who are committed to the culture of excellence, probity, accuracy and integrity.

“We live in a highly connected and fast-paced environment that places a high premium on specialisation. As professionals, we benefit from specialisation as we not only gain deeper and competitive knowledge in our chosen area, but we become members of the select few that belong to such areas of specialisation. Your right choice in becoming members of one or more faculties in the institute also affords you the privilege of networking and collaborating with other members of the same faculty.”

The ICAN boss reiterated that the institute’s faculties were launched 21 years ago to provide technical support to members based on their peculiar professional needs, adding that the faculties are centres of excellence for building core competencies in seven different areas of specialisation.

The objectives of the faculties, she explained are broad to identify members’ unique needs, provide timely and relevant professional information in the seven areas of specialisation as well as train and certify the specialist skills of members.

According to her, since its establishment, the faculties, which include audit, investigations and forensic accounting, corporate finance management, corporate reporting, consultancy and information technology, insolvency and corporate re-engineering, public finance management and taxation as well as fiscal policy, have contributed to professionalism in the country.

“Members of the various faculties are sought-after in the unravelling of various financial crimes as forensic auditors, tax experts in the financial sector of the economy, consultants in accounting technologies, insolvency practitioners among others. To ensure adherence of faculty members to high ethical and professional conduct, we educate them on their peculiar statutory duties and responsibilities such that a culture of best practice is evolved in each specialist area.

This would not only assist our members to always assume a professional disposition and conduct, but it would also assist in promoting a society where ethics and professionalism are enshrined as the norm rather than the exception,” she said.

She further assured that the inductees have been tested and the governing council of the institute has found them worthy to be awarded the prestigious ICAN’s certificates as specialists.