The Crucial Roles of Professional Accountants in Business in Mid-Sized Enterprises
Introduction
Professional accountants in business play crucial roles identifying and addressing unique challenges facing mid-sized enterprises in strategic management, corporate governance, risk management and internal control, financial reporting and accounting and other areas.
The International Federation of Accountants or IFAC’s Professional Accountants in Business Committee commissioned financial journalist Eric Krell to conduct a series of interviews with 10 leading professional accountants in business on their experiences in mid-sized enterprises. How do the challenges of typical mid-sized enterprises affect their work as chief financial officer, controller, advisor or in another capacity? How do they apply their skills and expertise to identify and address these challenges? What key lessons can be learned?
Although those interviewed are from different mid-sized enterprises from all over the world, they deal with similar issues and their solutions point in the same direction. In that way, each article highlights practices that other professional accountants in business might find useful in addressing issues within their own organizations. The key lessons they share can help professional accountants in business and others drive performance and create value for their own organization.
The appendix also provides a brief description of the roles and domain of the professional accountant in business and of the characteristics of a mid-sized enterprise.
This information paper is part of a broader Professional Accountants in Business Committee project on the role of professional accountants in business in mid-sized enterprises. These interviews serve as the basis for the development of a principles-based good-practice guidance on the typical challenges that mid-sized enterprises confront and how professional accountants in business could assist responding to those issues.
The paper can be read and downloaded from here:
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