ICPAU advises SMEs to employ part-time accountants

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Institute of Certified Public Accountants Uganda (ICPAU) has appealed to the informal sector and small enterprises to employ part-time accountants if they can’t afford to employ them full-time.

ICPAU is a professional accountancy organization established by an act of parliament to regulate and maintain the standard of accountancy in Uganda. It is also mandated to regulate the conduct of all professional accountants in the country.

According to ICPAU, irrespective of the business size, Certified Public Accountants (CPA) are required for transparency and proper accountability, which is the backbone of business development.

Research however shows that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) neglect the services of accountants citing the high costs involved. Such businesses die at the infancy stage.

Constant Otheino Mayende, the president of ICPAU says that although it is expensive to employ a full-time accountant, SMEs should resort to part-time certified accountants who can charge them cheaply.

This came up during the 2021 financial and business reporting awards ceremony held at Skyz Hotel Naguru. Data from ICPAU shows that companies are appreciating the need to have professional accounting services for reliable audit opinions.

Steven Inegeti, the chairperson of the Financial and Business Reporting Awards Committee, says that the major obstacle is that many small and medium companies are reluctant to access accounting facilities.

Inegeti advised companies to approach registered accounting firms that will second their staff on a part-time basis to serve small companies at a very fair cost. He also advised the companies to always take the chance of the week-long pro bono accounting services by ICPAU to eliminate accounting problems in their businesses.

Eighty-eight-88 entities from different categories participated in this year’s financial and business reporting evaluation indicating an increase of five more entities compared to last year. The National Social Security Fund took the golden award followed by Centenary Bank and Stanbic Bank, which bagged silver and bronze respectively.

To improve the quality of work among accountants, the ICPAU Council approved two broad categories of certificates of practice. The composite license permits a practising accountant to provide all types of accountancy services including audit and assurance services.

The second certificate permits the holder to only provide non-assurance services, that is excluding audit and assurance services, these can either be involved in bookkeeping, advisory services or tax work without necessary auditing.

This new licensing regime will create a new set of accountants who will be ready to take on part-time jobs under the supervision of ICPAU.

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