Professor Kwame Adom-Frimpong, President, Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana (ICAG) and MD, Mainstream Reinsurance Company, has reiterated that integrity is an important fundamental element in the accounting profession.

He said integrity requires accountants to be honest, candid and forthright with a client’s financial information.

Speaking at this year’s virtual graduation ceremony of about 250 members for the first batch of newly qualified Chartered Accountants this year at the head office of the institute he said accountants should restrict themselves from personal gain or advantage using confidential information.

“While errors or differences in opinion regarding the applicability of accounting laws do exist, professional accountants should avoid the intentional opportunity to deceive and manipulate financial information,” he said.

“Indeed any person who wishes to practise as an accountant must have integrity and must be forthright, objective and show contentment in his life,” Prof. Adom-Frimpong explained.

He said “As Chartered Accountants you have to maintain professional knowledge and skills at the level required to ensure that a client /employer receives competent professional services.”

Prof. Adom-Frimpong further said the growth of electronic commerce has increased the need for greater confidence in related systems. Accountants are now required to play significant roles in building and maintaining financial systems integrated into different e-commerce platforms including consumer-to-business, business-to-business, internet and mobile technology service systems.

He said investors and managers were demanding a more time based information than just audited financial statements adding that these services would recognise that the time between an event and acting upon related information had become more compressed and therefore there was a need to provide guidance to practitioners to provide assurance on an entity’s continuously disclosed information.

“Accountants are now required to ensure that identification of business risk is comprehensive and that cost effective mitigations are in place to manage risk,” he added.

Prof. Adom-Frimpong said companies needed to ensure they adhere to good reporting standards.

To ensure compliance, he said companies needed to have the necessary accounting and reporting skills with their organisations.

“They must, therefore, employ professional accountants who belong to a professional accounting organisation (PAO), and in particular, Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG) to take charge of their financial management instead of relying on charlatans and quack accountants for their financial decisions,” he said.

He urged the graduands to avoid petty compromises and questionable shortcuts but be bold, confident and resolute to uphold the ethical principles associated with the profession.