Icaz soldiers on as it turns 104 years old

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe (ICAZ) turned 104 years old this week. ICAZ was established in 1918 in response to the realisation that there was a need for regulation and monitoring of activities of the finance professionals then. This is something that remains true and key especially today.

The history of ICAZ

The use of the title “Chartered Accountant'' came under discussion throughout the 1920s and culminated in a set of bye-laws in 1934.

These bye-laws provided for the Council to prescribe the format of the Certificate of Membership and for members to use the designation “Chartered Accountant”. ICAZ has now come a long way from January 11, 1918 when 14 professionals came together as the founding members. There was relatively rapid growth almost immediately and the Institute grew to 112 members as of June 1918.

Being someone who enjoys history, I often take time to go and marvel at some of the few surviving original certificates issued in 1934 that were kept for future generations, meaning us, to view by the founding members.

These certificates are a sight to behold being completely handwritten, and apparently cost one shilling and six pence each.

Ethics have under-pinned the ICAZ brand, since the initial days at the beginning of the 20th century when the organisation was formed.

ICAZ has maintained and guarded the standard and quality of those admitted into membership and has upheld the strict observance of ethical conduct underpinned by its foundation motto “Semper Integritas” translated Integrity Always.

The demographics journey

It will be remiss to go into any further detail without touching on the demographics of ICAZ given the length of time the organisation has been in existence for, which covers a period of inequality all across the world and not just in Zimbabwe.

For example, the early 20th century when ICAZ was formed, is the era when women in the US were struggling to get the rights to vote and closer home there was marginalisation of people on the basis of race. Demographics is a key issue which will resonate with all professions as we now have Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI/DEI) as a key factor in today’s world.

Strides have been made since the first days with notable individuals like Ngoni Kudenga, the first black ICAZ president about 35 years ago.

The last decade has also seen a number of female ICAZ Presidents with Emilia Chisango being the first, paving the way for Gloria Zvaravanhu and most recently Duduzile Shinya.

These individuals broke glass ceilings and serve as inspiration to many others beyond the accounting and business spheres.

This cannot be highlighted without pointing to how the Institute has therefore evolved over the years and helped set the tone for inclusion.

This diversity has helped bring innovative and disruptive thinking to which some of ICAZ's success can be attributed. This is an example that ought to be replicated in all progressive entities.

The value addition of ICAZ

The Institute and its members have public interest as an underlying principle in virtually all the activities. This could be members who are in public practice or otherwise.

These members provide invaluable service to the nation and economy at large. ICAZ offers access to a network of well supported professionals who are technically competent, agile and kept up to date through rigorous continuous professional development requirements, thorough examination process and articles training experience.

ICAZ is a thought leader in the business and financial management arena. It has been able to support its members and the public on developments in the profession as well as done papers for various stakeholders, including government.

In order to maintain the public’s trust, ICAZ subscribes to international standards of ethical conduct for members. This is a key requirement for the membership to local and international bodies such as the Public Accountants and Auditors Board (PAAB), the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA) and Chartered Accountants Worldwide (CAW).

Ethics and professionalism are aspects that have resulted in ICAZ engaging with the government, with support from the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) to launch the Public Sector Professional Accountant.

The expectation is that this will boost public sector accountability, especially coupled with the adoption of accrual accounting by 2026 through the International Public Sectors Accounting Standards (IPSAS). ICAZ is also playing a role in this project as well, through upskilling public sector professionals.

In the private sector, ICAZ members are in key decision making roles, where they add value through ensuring that the businesses run as efficiently as possible, again for the public interest. ICAZ ensures quality and excellence in accountancy, assurance, advisory services, business and good corporate governance practises through its members.

ICAZ and the future

Having been around for over a century, ICAZ is currently setting itself up for the next one hundred years which will lead into the 22nd century. Among others, this will require staying true to the values of ethics, maintaining the focus on serving the public interest and being adaptable. As the current ICAZ President Tumai Mafunga often says, one must always progressively disrupt their thinking and behaviour to stay relevant.

Going forward the Chartered Accountant will be more than just an accountant but will be business leaders with a focus on sustainable value creation.

Existing members through the requirement to continuously update themselves professionally already have the requisite skills while the current training framework has been actively disrupted to include the aspects of leadership and sustainable value creation, all in a 4IR world, or the fifth revolution when it comes.

How to become of member of ICAZ

Firstly, ICAZ has three membership categories, excluding the public sector qualifications which are being rolled out. These are the Article Accountant, Chartered Accountant and Fellow Chartered Accountant. The bulk of members are the Chartered Accountants, who are individuals with an undergraduate degree in accounting, and went on to complete the post-graduate examinations, coupled with the intense practical training within an accredited training office such as BDO, EY, KPMG, PWC, Deloitte, Delta, Econet and so on. The Articled Accountant will have an undergraduate degree in accounting and also completed the practical training highlighted above. The Fellow Chartered Accountant is a senior Chartered Accountant, with over 10 years post qualification and a clean disciplinary record.

There are various pathways to membership including joining a training office before or after completing an undergraduate degree in accounting and then enrolling for the post-graduate programme subsequently.

One can also opt to join the training office after completing all but the last of the postgraduate examinations. Secondly, ICAZ has agreements with fellow accounting bodies e.g. CIMA which allows the recognition of aspects of each other’s training and thus resulting in one being required to undergo reduced academic and practical training processes.

Lastly, members of chartered accountant bodies in countries such as England, Wales, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Namibia, Hong Kong, Canada and Ireland can join ICAZ without any further training or academic processes and similarly ICAZ members can join those Institutes as well under the same conditions.

Mavengere is the Acting CEO at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe (ICAZ). Owen can be contacted on technical@icaz.org. zw or twitter: @OwenMavengere.