Speaking during the BICA President Cocktail event, Swaniker-Tettey said they are facing resistance to renewing BICA membership and complying with the renewal period from some eligible members. “We aim to have all our members renew their membership annually, hence why we continuously engage suspended members to highlight the importance of registration,” she said.
According to the president, one of their strategic priorities is to increase the number of Citizen Professional Accountants.
She further said the institute has been impacted by the lack of sponsorship for postgraduate qualifications due to economic hardships in the wake of the pandemic adding that they will continue to engage the Ministry of Education and Skills Development on how this issue can be addressed in order to assist potential students. “We do, however, have over 200 students in our database and with the contribution of the BICA secretariat, tuition providers, and accredited training employers we can achieve the intended results of producing chartered accountants,” she said.
Swaniker-Tettey said the depressed economic activity due to the pandemic has led to reduced participation of members in Continuing Professional Development (CPD) events organized by the institute, leading to the cancellation of such events.
To alleviate this challenge, she said they have gotten into a partnership with CPDnet to enable our members to get countless CPD programmes online for the whole year at a cost of P2,900. Further, she said the Accountants Amendment Act of 2020 will enhance the institute’s ability to execute its mandate as the revised Act places responsibility on employers to only absorb accountants registered with BICA, adding that the new Act will close the gaps that were currently available.
BICA will be hosting its 11th Biennial International Conference under the theme 'Transforming the Accountancy landscape: moving with the trends' in August.
