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Abu-Ghazaleh: The Overwhelming Knowledge Revolution will not allow the Auditing Profession to remain as is
10-Dec-2018
KUWAIT - Kuwait Accountants and Auditors Association (KAAA) organized the 6th Professional Conference for Accounting and Auditing under the patronage of the Minister of Commerce and Industry HE Mr. Khaled Al-Roudan in the presence of HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, the keynote speaker in his capacity as Chairman of the International Arab Society of Certified Accountants (IASCA).
In his speech at the Conference held under the theme ‘Challenges and Aspirations for the Future of the Profession’, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh affirmed that the world is embracing the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Knowledge Revolution) which will be more influential and significant than previous revolutions, noting that the "overwhelming Knowledge Revolution will not allow the auditing profession to remain as it is and we will have to adapt to the Revolution’s requirements and imperatives."
Moreover, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh noted, "in the next 20 years, the auditing profession will be transformed from the ‘Human Auditor’ to the ‘Audit Tech’ program which will be more accurate, fast and capable of detecting errors and irregularities." According to Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh, the Audit Tech program will be based on International Accounting Standards, International Standards on Auditing and Audit Programs saying that competition between companies and auditing offices will be centered on the quality of their program.
Additionally, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh stated that “in the transitional phase, the 'Audit Tech' will be defined as 'The Auditor' and the human auditor will no longer exist, however, human auditors will become technical experts who will be required to submit results through the 'Audit Tech' program along with their observations, conclusions and recommendations."
He also stated that ‘we have to realize that auditors will become the program makers and developers from which they would extract data to submit to the concerned entities’, emphasizing that they will have no other choice.
For his part, Minister Al-Roudan said that the Conference undertook the mission of identifying the challenges and aspirations of the future of accounting by the concerned authorities in Kuwait, the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, the other Arab countries and those concerned about the profession as well as financial report developers, academics and the relevant government authorities.
He pointed out that these are the most capable individuals for developing future plans that face challenges and meet modern trends in the Accounting Information Systems, thus contributing to making the profession one of the enabling and supporting tools for economic decision makers in light of recent developments, particularly adopting the full disclosure principle, promoting the principle of transparency and building rules of governance.
Meanwhile, KAAA Chairman Mr. Saqer Al-Hees highlighted the enormous challenges and obstacles faced by the accounting and auditing professions, noting that it is the responsibility of the profession’s staff and associates to develop Accounting Science to keep abreast of continuous advancements.
He added that Accounting Science has become one of the economic decision-making tools and the main contributor in achieving sustainable development, stressing the need to draft legal legislations that regulate performance and establish common formulas to solve practical problems resulting from application.
The participants tackled other important topics including: challenges and aspirations for the future of the accounting profession and its relation with others, auditing and its role in combating fraud and corruption, tax and Zakat and their applications, governance and internal auditing in public and private sectors, modern trends in Accounting Information Systems; their quality and relation in the development of the profession in emerging markets.
It’s noteworthy to mention that Kuwait’s Speaker of the National Assembly HE Mr. Marzouq Al-Ghanim honored Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh and the Arab International Society of Certified Accountants in a ceremony for honoring the Conference’s sponsors and organizers in addition to outstanding students in Kuwait.