Economy
Expert Highlights Vital Skills Accountants Must Acquire
An expert in the accounting profession, Mr David Lyford-Smith, has advised accountants in Nigeria to acquire some certain skills if they intend to remain highly competitive in the future.
Mr Lyford-Smith, the Technical Manager in the Tech Faculty of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) said at the 49th Annual Accountants Conference organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Nigeria (ICAN) that one of the skills is adaptability.
He said the adaptability skill was needed by accounting professionals considering how technology has taken over the profession, explaining that professionals need to adapt to changing standards in the industry, especially as it adjusts to emerging technology. He noted that the accounting profession was already reacting by creating exams and learning materials to produce knowledgeable newly-qualified accountants.
While presenting his paper at the plenary session titled Disruptive Innovations: Challenges and Opportunities in the Accounting Profession, Mr Lyford-Smith said, “Nigeria has a young and growing accountancy profession and this means there is a huge opportunity for students and current accountants to be trained today for the needs of the near future. In the very near future, the number one skill for accounting will be adaptability.
“Accountants won’t have to be technologists but must be able to talk to them; they need to be able to meet in the middle.
“These effects are already being felt. The Big 4 – KPMG, Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte and PwC- are already struggling to keep their juniors occupied while teaching them the basics.”
At the conference held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja between September 9 and 13, 2019 and themed Building Nigeria for Sustainable Growth and Development, Mr Lyford-Smith said other skills to acquire were statistical thinking and understanding data.
“Understanding statistical thinking is a key skill for auditors interpreting analytics data. Software may be able to process huge amounts of information, but interpreting the results correctly means taking a sceptical interpretation and understanding concepts such as margins of error, outliers, sampling bias, and so on.
“Accountants still need to be able to prioritise useful tests above interesting ones and be able to tell the difference,” he added.
Speaking on the transformational trends in accounting aptly referred to as the ‘ABCDs of accounting technology’, Mr Lyford-Smith explained that these have been the focus of the ICAEW’s tech work over the last couple of years.
The ABCDs of accounting technology are artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, cybersecurity and data, saying, “Once accountants adapt to changing trends, they will realise how much time and resources can be saved.”
For instance, AI involves automating even non-repetitive tasks, replicating accountants’ intuition and turbo-charging accountants’ judgment. With blockchain, there is no need to reconcile books, although the accountant will still need to assess the economic value of assets,” he added.
The Editor and Blogger, Mr Lyford-Smith on ICAEW’s Excel Community however noted that cyber risk was high but explained that there was a need for new controls around detection, response and resilience.
With the recent focus on Big Data, new sources of non-financial data are available to provide hard evidence for decisions, identify how data supports specific decisions and provides value, as well as check the integrity and quality of new sources of data.
The Excel specialist, who has strong interest in digitalization of taxes, emphasized that technology was important for audit and taxation, as it provided simplification and could be tailored according to each country’s specific circumstances.
He disclosed that the ICAEW’s Digital Tax report looked at how tax authorities in 12 countries – including Nigeria – are making use of the opportunities to improve efficiency and reduce compliance costs.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its stay in the south territory with a decline of 0.56 per cent on Wednesday, April 2.
This brought down the market capitalisation by N13 billion to N2.417 trillion from N2.430 trillion, and downed the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 22.57 points to 4,062.87 points from the previous session’s 4,062.87 points.
It was observed that the NASD exchange ended with three price gainers and three price losers during the trading day.
MRS Oil Plc depreciated by N19.00 to close at N171.00 per unit compared with the previous price of N190.00 per unit, NASD Plc lost N4.14 to trade at N37.36 per share compared with Wednesday’s N41.50 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gave up N2.00 to sell at N78.00 per unit versus N80.00 per unit.
On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by 19 Kobo to N93.00 per share from N92.81 per share, Food Concepts Plc expanded by 15 Kobo to N2.87 per unit from N2.72 per unit, and Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc improved by 2 Kobo to 52 Kobo per share from 50 Kobo per share.
Yesterday, the volume of securities dipped by 91.8 per cent to 260.2 million units from 3.2 billion units, the value of securities went down by 98.1 per cent to N154.2 million from N8.3 billion, while the number of deals soared by 53.3 per cent to 46 deals from 30 deals.
GNI Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 56.9 million units valued at N3.9 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.5 million units traded for N1.8 billion.
The most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was also GNI Plc with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.2 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units transacted for N1.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira dropped N2.09 or 0.15 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, April 2, to trade at N1,380.79/$1 compared with Wednesday’s rate of N1,378.70/$1.
However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N2.77 to quote at N1,824.86/£1 versus the N1,836.57/£1 it was traded at midweek, and improved its value against the Euro by N10.54 to N1,591.92/€1 from N1,602.46/€1.
Yesterday was the last trading session of the week for the local currency in the spot market, as the market will be closed on Friday and Monday for the Easter Holiday.
At the black market, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the greenback yesterday at N1,405/$1, but gained N8 at the GTBank FX counter to settle at N1,388/$1, in contrast to the previous session’s N1,396/$1.
Pressure eased on the domestic currency as strong policy indicators have helped calm the majority of worries within the financial systems. Particularly in the remittance segment, the apex bank has directed all International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) to route remittance transactions through designated Naira settlement accounts in banks, a move aimed at boosting transparency and channelling more foreign exchange into the formal market.
This helps take off pressure from the foreign reserves, which have fallen below the $50 billion mark as they are gradually decreasing rather than falling sharply.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish on Thursday, as macro sentiment shifted against recent optimism after reports that Iran is drafting a protocol with Oman to manage traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, easing concerns about disruptions to a key global oil route.
The remarks came after U.S. President Trump on Wednesday night vowed to hit Iran “extremely hard” in the coming weeks and that the Strait of Hormuz would “open naturally” once the war ends.
Cardano (ADA) chalked up 1.9 per cent to trade at $0.2435, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 1.2 per cent to $0.0912, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 0.8 per cent to $2,066.37, Bitcoin (BTC) added 0.5 per cent to sell at $67,080.53, Solana (SOL) increased by 0.5 per cent to $79.91, and Ripple (XRP) jumped 0.2 per cent to $1.31.
Conversely, Binance Coin (BNB) dipped 0.7 per cent to $586.90, and TRON (TRX) depreciated by 0.3 per cent to $0.3147, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market was relatively flat on Friday, as the bears and the bulls shared the spoils of war, though investor sentiment turned bullish compared with the preceding session’s bearish posture.
Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) was marginally down by 4.66 points as it ended at 201,698.89 points versus Wednesday’s 201,703.55 points, and the market capitalisation slightly contracted by N3 billion to N129.806 trillion from N129.809 trillion.
Customs Street was shut on Friday because of the public holidays declared by the federal government today and next Monday.
Business Post reports that John Holt declined by 9.91 per cent to N15.45, Abbey Mortgage Bank shed 9.60 per cent to trade at N8.95, International Energy Insurance slipped by 6.48 per cent to N3.32, Chams shrank by 5.30 per cent to N3.75, and Tantalizers depreciated by 5.18 per cent to N4.03.
On the flip side, Unilever Nigeria improved by 10.00 per cent to N103.40, Fortis Global Insurance gained 9.82 per cent to trade at N1.23, Multiverse appreciated 9.81 per cent to N20.15, Legend Internet advanced by 9.38 per cent to N6.30, and Zichis grew by 9.02 per cent to N14.14.
The market breadth index was positive during the trading session, as there were 35 appreciating stocks and 24 depreciating stocks.
Yesterday, investors traded 560.0 million equities valued at N19.3 billion in 49,676 deals, in contrast to the 815.5 million equities worth N33.3 billion transacted in 52,641 deals in the preceding day, representing a drop in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 31.33 per cent, 42.04 per cent, and 5.63 per cent, respectively.
Secure Electronic Technology dominated the activity log with 59.7 million shares valued at N61.1 million, Wema Bank exchanged 52.0 million equities worth N1.4 billion, VFD Group transacted 36.0 million stocks for N410.5 million, Access Holdings sold 35.3 million shares valued at N914.8 million, and Chams traded 31.0 million equities worth N115.0 million.
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