To support finance professionals branch out to high-value jobs, ISCA has developed specialization pathways with accountancy training as the core competency. These include the ISCA Financial Forensic Accounting Qualification, the ISCA Infrastructure & Project Finance Qualification, and the ISCA-SUSS Business Analytics Certification Programme.
Human Intelligence Still Needed
While technology can handle many of the repetitive and routine tasks, finance staff exercise professional judgment and skepticism – two critical attributes that technology cannot exhibit, notes Lee. Stakeholders will need to rely on accountants to analyze, interpret and explain the results or outputs generated by technology.
For example, auditors are increasingly utilizing data analytics in their audit work. By scrutinizing the outliers and anomalies from the data analytics results, and carrying out additional audit procedures where necessary, auditors are able to better perform their work to determine if there are any fraudulent activities going on.
Making The Final Call
Similarly, forensic accountants use technology to help them comb through large amounts of data and information. At the end of the day, the forensic accountants themselves are the ones who make the final call, based on their judgment, on any exceptions highlighted by the technology.
Even though technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning are advancing by the day, they are not perfect. They «learn» from the multitude of data sets that are fed to them, said Lee. «If the data sets are biased, so will be the outcomes from the technology. Hence, humans will still be required to be the gatekeeper to make the final analysis and judgment. This is another reason why technology will not displace accountants.»
Operational and Audit Work
As Singapore and Malaysia dish out licenses for digital banks, they will need to hire people familiar with fraud and operational risk, technology risks, and audit work too.
«Given that the majority of the digital banks will be competing in the retail banking space, we expect to see the need for candidates who have experience auditing the retail banking segment. Candidates familiar in this specialization will know local regulations from the MAS and be familiar with the audit standards that need to be adhered to,» Ethos BeathChapman notes.
Customer Acquisition Roles Important
New digital banks could face challenges in the customer acquisition front, as a PWC report showed that 67 percent of people in Singapore will continue to use their existing bank account. Hence, groups of talented digital marketers with lead/demand generation and performance marketing experience will be needed to achieve the huge growth anticipated.
«Beyond customer acquisition, digital banks will need to create a differentiated, immersive and personal experience to engage with, delight and retain their customers. Featuring high on the agenda will be digital-first marketers with experience in data-driven marketing, personalized content marketing, and marketing automation skills.»
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