Over 40 CA Sri Lanka members recognised as forensic accounting specialists
Over 40 members of the I n s t i t u t e o f Chart e red Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka), who hold senior management positions in the public and private sectors received their certification in forensic accounting recently.
A total of 42 CA Sri Lanka members who formed the first batch of the institute’s forensic accounting certificate programme were awarded the certificates recognizing them as forensic accounting specialists who possess the necessary skills in this field to combat fraud within an organisation.
The members who received their certificates were senior management representing the private and public sector and included CEOs, General Managers, Partners, Audit Managers among others.
Addressing the guests at the certificate awarding event, CA Sri Lanka President Mr. Lasantha Wickremasinghe said that even though chartered accountants are world class and are in demand locally and overseas, there is an increasing need to develop their skills and expertise to ensure they remain globally sought after. “Gone are the days when our members were limited to conventional number crunching positions. Today, CA Sri Lanka qualified chartered accountants are not only business leaders but even have had to don the hat of an investigator,” he said.
Mr. Wickremasinghe noted that due to increased competition, there is also more opportunities for corruption and hence the role of the accountant has evolved drastically. “Therefore to help combat such growing problems, our institute launched the CA Sri Lanka Certificate Course in Forensic Accounting last year, because we believe that our members can play a very important role to combat corruption,” he said.
The institute which initially conducted the certificate programme only for CA Sri Lanka members was compelled to open it for non- CA members due to overwhelming requests. Lecturers commenced for the second batch in April this year and the participation profile comprises of members from CA Sri Lanka, ACCA and CIMA.
The course is a 15 week programme that covers pertinent areas associated with modern forensic and investigative accounting, which will help accountants gain a thorough understanding on the principles and practices used by public accountants, internal auditors, and others on how to examine financial and other related information.