The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Accounting faces new challenges
DEBIT CREDIT Camila V. Amistoso
IF we stay silent about change, we might as well resist it. For change has come once again. But to what extent are we responsible to ourselves and to the accounting profession in terms of victory or defeat?
The 13th Washington SyCip Lecture Series, dubbed “Industry 4.0: Lights and Shadows,” was organized by the University of Santo Tomas-Alfredo M. Velayo College of Accountancy on November 7, 2018. Accounting experts from various sectors discussed their insights and judgment with regard to Industry 4.0 in business and accounting education. The experts include: Mr. Michael Gallego of Punongbayan & Araullo, Dr. Arnel Onesimo Uy of the Commission on Higher Education, Prof. Florenz Tugas, Prof. Kenji Asano, Mr. Fermin Antonio Yabut and Ms. Kristine Abegail D. Asug.
Being told for numerous times, there is only one thing in this world that is constant: Change. Today, Industry 4.0 has been establishing itself on our current business setting. This is of great importance not only to the general population but also to the whole work force. The implications of technology exempt no one, as seen on how it influences individual behaviors and overall culture. With this, corporate regulations and business transactions have also been evolving. As these changes occur naturally in our economic and business system, as individuals, one option is and will always be existence; sometimes our last resort is acceptance of change.
While Industry 4.0 is a call for both celebration of potential and preparation for risk, it likewise challenges our educational system to take responsibility in creating a new norm on educating the future generations, as educational institutions are one of the starting points where we can reap the benefits of Industry 4.0.
Generally, seeing the shift in how education is put into operation, the focus of academics at some point becomes the technicalities of the field, rather than discussing the very essence of principles and concepts. Sometimes, educational systems focus more on the functionalities of the system itself, leaving the principal mission of education overlooked.
Observed in most academic discourses, it tends to focus on answering the what of things, rather than the why and how. Not to mention that the why and/or how can be taught in lectures with its what inherently included. It is, still, understandable that this is immensely challenging
on the part of those belonging in academe.
However, the field of accounting, at this point in time, is crucial to the technologies that are currently surfacing. We are, somehow, in competition with artificial intelligence in terms of the application of accounting rules and standards. Though accounting may be an overwhelming field, if we bring into the system how accounting, such as tackling essence as foundation rather than facts, may not only allow us to attain the highest level of appreciation for accounting but also an opportunity to instill a lifelong zeal in students, the rewards of which may be unseen in the present, but are potentially realizable in the future.
Accounting is a very competitive practice, involving complex skills such as analysis, communication and decision-making. The human mind is essentially created with the capability to operationalize these processes but not to recreate these into machine form. This is, in all honesty, a misinterpreted opportunity. We usually underestimate human talent when robotics becomes a frontliner. But a human heart we do possess, and that is a passion present within the accounting equation that can never be replaced.
In relation to this, Dr. Uy mentioned that human beings can offer one resource to our clients that robotics can’t, and that is trust. Our nature as human beings will keep accounting alive, and accounting, in return, will keep the business sector functional not only for the economy as a whole but also for its individual constituents.
There are certain weapons that can be designed to supplement the current scope we implement in our accounting education. For this accounting world will, one day, be far from the kind of accounting we have today, and we are preparing for a change we shall embrace.
Camila V. Amistoso is a senior student from the University of Santo Tomas, pursuing a Bachelor of science in accountancy. She is a member of UST Junior Philippine Institute of Accountants and a contributor to UST-JPIA’s official publication, The Ledger.
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