Despite artificial intelligence (AI), accountants will always remain relevant. Courses of study have gone through changes to incorporate 21st century skills and competencies.
MUCH has been said about the availability of jobs during these challenging times. However, in an economic recession, accountants and para-accountants are still needed.
Irrespective of public or corporate sector, accountants are valued for their technical and strategic expertise. They can conduct a comprehensive assessment of finances and create a forecast through the year to keep government organisations, agencies or businesses in a healthy, prosperous state.
“The accounting profession can be said to be recession proof as it is a fairly versatile profession,” said Taylor’s College School of Professional Studies programme director Katharene Expedit.
She noted that accounting graduates are still in demand in Malaysia.
“We currently have around only 37,000 accountants registered with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants. The country needs 60,000 (accountants) by 2020 and is now projecting for this number to be achieved by 2030,” she said.
She shared that despite the demand, accountancy is not as popular as it should be amongst high school leavers because of the misperception that accountancy is only for arts stream and business students.
Additionally, there is also now the fear of accountants being taken over by robots and artificial intelligence (AI).
“Accountants will always remain relevant. Courses of study have gone through changes to incorporate 21st century skills and competencies,” Katharene said.
Malaysia needs 60,000 accountants and is projecting for this number to be achieved by 2030, according to Taylor’s College School of Professional Studies programme director Katharene Expedit.
“AI technology will not replace the role of an accountant, but it will merely transform the duties an accountant performs,” she explained.
Prerequisites of the Diploma in Accounting (DIA) programme offered at Taylor’s College is a pass and three credits (including English and Mathematics) at SPM or O Level examinations.
The DIA programme at Taylor’s is taught by a team of subject matter and industry experts in the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) programme which will certainly be an advantage to its students.
The highlight of the DIA is that graduates have many options available to them upon graduation, which translates to vast opportunities for career advancement.
“The flexibility afforded by the DIA is fantastic, as students can either choose to do their ACCA and get exemptions for certain papers, or continue on to study for only two more years in Taylor’s University to complete a Bachelor of Business and Accounting degree.
“Graduates of the DIA would also have acquired the skill and knowledge to go out and work as para-accountants in any sector of choice,” she pointed out.
Para-accountants would be able to provide bookkeeping, accounting, payroll and tax services to individuals and small businesses.
“Due to its reputation, Taylor’s has a high graduate employability rate and this bodes well for Taylor’s DIA graduates,” she added.
Taylor’s University is ranked as the top private university in South-East Asia according to the QS World University Rankings 2022.
Taylor’s College School of Professional Studies head Jason Lo said that the college has embarked on providing short microcredential courses which students can opt to take up for a small fee to add to their technical skills and experiences.
These courses provide students the opportunity to gain highly demanded skills in data analytics, sales management and programming softwares, such as Microsoft Azure, Salesforce and Java.
Lo said that DIA students would benefit from life skills components taught by certified life skills facilitators, as well as the opportunity to elect modules such as entrepreneurship or public relations principles.
“When choosing an institution, it is important for students to consider the resources and environment a college provides – such as a stellar virtual learning experience, or the added value that can be gained.
DIA students would benefit from life skills components taught by certified life skills facilitators, said Lo.
“Being in the right environment and having the right networks makes a difference to your college experience,” Lo said.
Find out more about Taylor's College programmes from now till Aug 15 at the Taylor's Future Movement.
