ACCA in Dubai provides accounting students with a local and global professional accounting qualification. In our exclusive interview with Fazeela Gopalani, Head of the ACCA, we look at the future of Accounting, as well as the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the industry.
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We know Artificial Intelligence is taking the world by storm and is indeed a disruptor to many industries and it’s no different to the accounting world. We’re already witnessing machine learning & AI being implemented to automatically code accounting entries as well as improve fraud detection. Deep Learning is another form of AI that will only further alter audit.
Artificial intelligence is making it possible for auditors to work more efficiently. Auditors & AI are supplementing each other, allowing auditors to utilize their emotional intelligence to analyze data at a more macro and micro level.
Embrace the change, ensure good technological equipment. Openly embrace the change and remember digital learning is a supplement designed to help students progress. Ensure you’re equipped with a well-functioning computer and good internet. If you don’t have access, it’s important you speak to your lecturer for support.
Avoid distractions. Keep distractions to a minimum! Shut the apps/windows/programs not needed. In the same way, you would take notes when attending a classroom lecture, do the same while listening to or watching an online lecture. Look at your timetable, work a study schedule and make sure you’re sitting in a comfortable place.
Keep the camera on, be engaged and curious. Seeing and being engaged with others, including the lecturer helps promote active participation as you would have done in the face-to-face classroom. we also recommend you keep in contact with your lecturer, perhaps an email once a week to ensure you are aware of any developments in your courses.
Coordinate and participate in online group chats and discussions with peers. Use one of the free social tools to facilitate study groups with course mates. It’s a great way to stay in touch and add some social contact so you don’t feel isolated studying alone.
Take breaks and keep yourself awake. You don’t have to stick to a 9-5 schedule if that doesn’t work for you but identify the hours you are most productive and center your workday around that. Taking regular breaks during the day keeps your mind fresh and is one of the easiest ways to ensure you don’t burn out.
Fast-changing technology, evolving societal imperatives and demographic transitions are all contributing to a profession that could be different as we look forward. ACCA’s global research team explored and examined different issues and created a top 20 trends that will be shaping the profession.
What would you say is the most rewarding part of training to become a qualified ACCA accountant?
When studying with ACCA, it’s more than just numbers. It’s about preparing students with practical examples that allow them to confidently apply the theory to the real-life workplace immediately. ACCA focuses on commercial acumen, professional and technical skill sets alongside teaching the fundamentals of ethical accounting.
With the ACCA qualification, we ensure that ACCA Accountants become the communicators of the future, and not only are you entering a career path that is in demand and almost recession-proof, you also have the freedom to move between industries and even become your own boss as it embraces an entrepreneur mindset. ACCA students go on to become the heart of any organization with the unique ability to work in an all-inclusive role that functions across the entire organization and maintains the wellbeing of the company.
ACCA ensures their accountants are continuously learning, keeping their skillset up to date and always working to advance their career path, their professional status and recognition within the region.
With accounting in her blood thanks to her father who was an ACCA member and ran a successful accounting practice in the UK, providing professional financial services to a variety of clients who were private individuals, small businesses and large enterprises, it’s no surprise Fazeela was convinced of the power of the ACCA qualification and truly believes that working for ACCA and inspiring others to follow this career path is the utmost tribute to her father.
As Head of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in the Middle East, Fazeela is responsible for leading the operations in 11 countries and representing more than 20,000 students, affiliates and members across the region, who work in all sectors and all levels of business across the Middle East. One of her fundamental roles is as a thought leader and a conversation starter for all things “accounting and finance profession”, in the Middle East, with the purpose of growing the understanding of the value that professionally qualified accountants bring to businesses and economies across the region.
Managing and building strategic relationships with regulators, business leaders, partners and the ACCA Middle East stakeholder network to influence debate and conversation around key issues that impact the ongoing economic development of the region is a core part of Fazeela’s role. Alongside linking up the challenges within the accounting world in the Middle East and shining a light on global topics such as sustainability, the audit regulatory environment, digital innovation with the profession and elevating the need to promote and advocate women in the finance function.
ACCA believes that accountancy is a cornerstone profession of society that supports both the public and private sectors. That’s why we’re committed to the development of a strong global accountancy profession and the many benefits that this brings to society and individuals and why Fazeela acts as a conversation starter raising awareness around the integral role that accountants play to businesses and economies particularly within the Middle East using the adoption of VAT, IFRS Changes, public sector moving from cash accounting to accrual accounting, embedding Islamic Finance and not forgetting to mention business sustainability during this current pandemic as validation, given the professions lead on this areas.
Fazeela works closely with many educational institutions and government bodies across the region to encourage new generations to not only understand the importance of the almost pandemic proof profession, but the significant role a professionally qualified accountant plays in building economies, thus encouraging the next generation to consider and undertake a career in accountancy and finance, whilst raising the importance of the financial literacy agenda being embedded at an early age.
ACCA understands that in this ever-changing global environment young people require resilience and adaptability – skills that are proving to be essential to navigating effectively through whatever situations arise and part of her education agenda is to provide insights and tools that enable the next generation to possess some of the most important skills that employers will be looking for such as creativity, communication and collaboration, alongside empathy and emotional intelligence; and being able to work across demographic lines of differences to harness the power of the collective through effective teamwork.
Fazeela ensures that through her leadership in the Middle East, ACCA is seen as a force for the public good and remains true to its core values of building a sustainable global profession by re-investing surplus to deliver member value by leveraging our respected research, continue to answer today’s questions that prepare us for tomorrow, actively encourages continued professional development and continues to shape and develop the accounting and finance profession for the next generation.
Fazeela is an FCCA member and has over 18 years of experience in the field of accounting and finance. Fazeela has been the Head of Education for ACCA in the Middle East and she previously was a Senior Manager at PwC in Dubai. Prior to moving to the Emirates Fazeela managed and owned an accounting practice in the UK providing professional financial services to a variety of clients.
Fazeela studied for her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Birmingham and her MBA from the University of Strathclyde. She lives in Dubai with her husband and two children.
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