Why this new qualification could change the future of accountancy

In the first part of this series, we examined how these challenges are impacting CFOs at the top of organisations, but what about at entry level, where the CFOs of the future are preparing to cut their teeth? That’s where the attention of ICAS, the professional membership organisation and awarding body for accountants, has been for the past several years.

The qualifications body, considered the gold standard for educating and examining chartered accountants, introduced a new syllabus for its CA qualification this year.

Designed to future-proof the industry against the ever-increasing and evolving demand on CFOs and their accounting and audit departments, it has been developed in partnership with academics, organisations and industry to ensure it delivers qualified accountants ready to operate and thrive in the modern world.

 More than 83% of FTSE 100 organisations employ an ICAS-qualified chartered account, so it’s understandable why the organisation places so much emphasis on ensuring its qualification is at the forefront of a changing profession.

 Gail Boag, executive director of learning at ICAS, described the introduction of the new syllabus as “the most significant change in learning in the history of ICAS” –  a bold statement considering it was founded in 1854, making it the oldest professional accountancy body in the world.

 The new-look qualification, which took its first intake in April 2024, comes with a stronger emphasis on ethics, sustainability, and technology; and a greater focus on non-technical, or “soft skills” including complex problem solving, professional scepticism, communication, and agile thinking – the attributes ICAS believes can help separate the great from the good. “The traditional core competencies will always be fundamental to the CA qualification,” said Boag. “But the final piece of the jigsaw is those non-technical skills, which are more important now than ever as we seek to bridge skills gaps and make the industry more accessible.”

A particularly interesting element of the new curriculum is around “structured flexibility”, which Boag explained was developed with employers and inspired by recent evolution of how people work and study following the Covid-19 pandemic.

(Image: Mark Lewis)

 The way the course is delivered has been updated too, flipping from a classroom to an active learning approach, where the students digest the course digitally in their own time, then take what they have learned into interactive workshops, where they can put it all into practice. Boag said the results have already been very encouraging. On one level, it will enable employers to choose different pathways through the CA qualification for their students.

Alongside the ability to follow a traditional level-by-level pathway through knowledge and skills, there is now the option to select a subject-specific pathway. In practice, it means some students can focus on particular areas earlier – such as tax – in order to gain expertise faster which will benefit their employer.

 “The role of an accountant is bigger than ever, and as such students and employers must be more flexible in order to thrive,” Boag said. “Coming out of Covid, we learned very quickly that students want to learn differently. Work-life balance is really important to them. Firms are finding that students are not willing to work 16-hour days, they’re not willing to work Saturday and Sunday – they want that balance. However, they still want to make a difference.” 

On another level, there’s an important point to be made here too around inclusivity and accessibility. A more modern and flexible approach to learning also widens access to the qualification to a broader range of people and backgrounds.

 “Increasing the number of pathways – into the CA qualification and profession – is essential for the evolution of our industry. It’s not just for the privileged few,” Boag explained. “We have to widen access and ensure there are pathways for all, not just graduates, but schools, more ‘non-relevant’ degrees, such as engineers, data scientists etc, plus colleges and apprenticeships. We need that mix in the industry to create and benefit from diversity of thought and experience,” she added.

 These are factors and approaches we are seeing a lot as we work with companies to identify and secure talent. There is nothing overtly wrong with the traditional pathways into accounting and auditing, but they can be limiting. If a company only hires people who have followed one path, it stands to reason they will only bring in people with similar frames of reference and experience.

 The benefits of greater diversity of thought, background, skills, and experiences can bring fresh perspective and approaches to addressing traditional and novel challenges – particularly pertinent given those changes the industry is encountering. When you ally these fresh perspectives and diverse skills with a gold-standard qualification such as the ICAS CA, you create a formidable package that can help give individuals and organisations the edge on competition.

 There is an ever-growing desire among organisations across all industries for greater diversity at all levels, and in our work, we spend a lot of time identifying and securing talent from a broader range of backgrounds and connecting it with companies.

 What this refreshed, more open, flexible, and accessible CA qualification has the potential to do, however, is bring that talent in from the ground up – and that will drive real change in the industry, and help set it up to guide organisations through the challenges of the future. 

Mark Lewis is Managing Director at Rutherford Cross, a market-leading search and selection business focusing exclusively on Senior Finance Professionals in Scotland