Practicing Accounting With A Social Aim
The subject title, conjures in my mind, the image of the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz. This affable character yearned so much for a heart, that he was willing to travel along the Yellow Brick Road, to meet the proverbial Wizard. Thinking all the while that he had no heart, when, he was indeed, more caring and compassionate, than his other intrepid travellers. Nevertheless, when he was finally given a symbolic heart, the Tin Man felt complete; without realising that he had, not just a heart, but a big heart.
Accountants are also people with hearts. Yet their “cold & distant” persona, pervades the mistaken impression of them being persons of no heart. Their being scrupulously meticulous, miserly with their accolades, albeit fair and balanced, devoid of emotions in their reporting, perpetuates this popular urban myth.
The School of Business at the University of Social Sciences (SUSS) offers a Bachelor of Accountancy programme. The primary focus of this programme is to provide professional training and the spirit of this training is encompassed in our guiding aim; students are trained to be “qualified, competent and confident accountants. It equips them with strong academic and professional knowledge & skills in key subjects, such as accounting, assurance and attestation, law, taxation & information technology.”These are skills required of all professional accountants. What this programme aims to do further, besides providing professional training, is to inculcate in our graduates a habit of serving society. Wanting to leverage on its own eponymous as a university for supporting social sciences, SUSS intends suffusing the tenets of social sciences into their accountancy curriculum, with the aim of graduating“Accountants with a Heart.”One way is to have the students doing the internship in the charity environment.
Forging a partnership with Shared Services for Charities (SSC), SUSS & SSC will jointly run workshops and seminars on the charities sector. These workshops and seminars shall promote the importance of robust accounting practices in this sector, such as clarifying the Code of Governance for Charities & IPCs and propagating internal audit as a value-add function. Together with providing internships to SUSS students, these SSC activities hope to help achieve the “Big Heart”.
SUSS and SSC are excited to start this transformative journey to cultivate the “Accountants with a Heart” to contribute to Singapore and eventually to spread the goodwill among our neighbouring countries.