Advice to Brunei SMEs: Heed your accountants

Brunei’s small and medium enterprises would do well to listen to their accountants to get "proper financial advice", experts yesterday said.

Speaking to The Brunei Times at the sidelines of the 16th Asean Federation of Accountants (AFA) Conference yesterday, Pg Hj Moksin Pg Hj Yusof, president of the Brunei Darussalam Institute of Certified Public Accountants said, "Accountants can give advisories or play an advisory role to the SMEs."

He said SMEs in Brunei tend to consult accountants for financial advice when they are faced with financial trouble. "I think quite often the SMEs don't look at their accountants as someone that can help them," he said.

He said Bruneian SMEs seem to be closer to other professionals but usually not their accountants.

"Very often businesses, they are much closer to lawyers or what not," he said, and that when "in times of financial trouble only then will they go to a financial accountant for help, and that's too late".

While accountants are seen very much to be keepers of financial records, Pg Hj Moksin said it is important for SMEs to get proper advice from relevant parties, and for accountants to play a role where they can give business advice to the SMEs.

"It is just important that the SMEs get proper advice, and that it comes from the accountants as they can give the proper financial advice," he said.

During an afternoon session at the conference, Dr Ng Boon Beng, a member of Association of Certified Chartered Accountants Malaysia Advisory Committee and finance director at Oracle Corporation, Malaysia, stressed that the role of accountants has already shifted greatly from their traditional role as custodians of record-keeping.

He said that it now includes management advisory as well as aiding government and regulatory bodies in ensuring appropriate controls are in place.

"We have a role to play to support business confidence," he said, stressing the role of accountants had "shifted from stewardship to strategic business advisory and partnership" and finance persons then switched to corporate and governments, compliance and risk-management roles.

He added that the functions of accountants will continue to develop into more complex roles, with experts anticipating the reporting of non-financial data to also be included in the near future.

Dr Tyrone Carlin, professor of financial reporting and regulation also urged accounting bodies such as the AFA to play a prominent leadership role in supporting business confidence and economic recovery.

"In my belief, it's very simple, you can't lead if no one knows who you are, what you think and why you think it," he said. "I think the professional bodies to which we each belong and AFA play a very strong role in this regard."

He said relevant bodies should take seriously the charge of bringing further into the public domain some of the controversies and not shying away from them.

by Izam Said Ya’akub
Source: The Brunei Times