Accountants ‘must do CSR’

Accountants should have compulsory modules about corporate responsibility in their professional training, one of the world’s most influential accountancy bodies has said.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, with 122,000 full members and 325,000 student members in 170 countries, says the International Federation of Accountants (FEE) ‘should incorporate sustainable development and CSR matters into its basic education requirements’.

Furthermore, it suggests that in Britain, at least, accountancy examinations should include questions about corporate responsibility. UK professional bodies, examiners and tuition providers should prepare by forming a task force to decide ‘an acceptable minimum level of CSR coverage in examination papers and tuition material’. Continuing professional development programmes should also deal with corporate responsibility, says Acca, ‘though probably on a sector-relevant basis rather than in a generic form’.

Acca believes sustainability issues ‘should be fully integrated into the professional examination curriculum so that future generations of accountants will be better equipped to recognize the challenge that sustainable development poses to their organizations’.

Acca, which provides education and training for accountants, has developed post-qualification sustainability courses and events for its members, and has contributed to the professional sustainability guidance being prepared by an FEE committee.