Ms Sena Dake, President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana (ICAG), has urged Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to engage the services of professional accountants, either full-time or part-time, to sustain their businesses.
“SMEs should not see the services of professional accountants as only for the big businesses. They equally need accountants to help them in the preparation of proper book of records to enable them save and invest back in their businesses to sustain them,” she said.
Ms Dake said this during the launch of a book on the history of professional accountability in Ghana titled: “The Evolution of Professional Accountancy from the Gold Coast to Ghana”.
The book authored by Professor Edward Dua Agyeman, Board Chairman of the Ghana Audit Service, gives an insight into the history of the growth and evolution of professional accountancy from 1890 to 2024.
Ms Dake said the work of professional accountants could not be underestimated in business operations, saying they were the ones that would guide the SMEs to the right financial decisions to make.
“It is the work of accountants that saves the nation’s purse and economies as well as save businesses from risks and offers them opportunities to make the right decisions,” she added.
Ms Dake said the phase of the profession was evolving from assurance reporting to digital services, which relied on big data, climate change adaptation and cybersecurity.
She urged members of the profession to acquaint themselves with the current digital changing phase of services to stay relevant in the 21st century.
Professor Edward Dua Agyeman said he was inspired to write the book as a giveback to the profession due to his long professional experience and no detailed book had been written on the history of the profession in the country.
“I reflected on my professional achievements as an accountant and felt it was right to give back through this book,” he reiterated.
The eight-chapter and 371-page book was launched by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who also wrote the foreword for the book.
Professor Edward Dua Agyeman is the current Board Chairman of the Ghana Audit Service and a former Auditor-General, having been appointed to the office of Auditor-General in 2001.
He is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, Ghana.
