Shortage of quality and certified accountants continues to curtail the ability of accountancy professionals to deliver beyond basics, Richard Tusabe, the Commissioner General of Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) has said.

Officiating at the 6th Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Rwanda (iCPAR) annual seminar in Rubavu, on Wednesday, Tusabe noted that professional accountants have a huge responsibility to contribute meaningfully toward Rwanda’s development.

"It is an open secret that Rwanda suffers from a severe shortage of quality of certified accountants. This is clearly visible in our statistics, with the number of certified accountants at a mere 0.22 for every 1000 residents of this great country,” Tusabe said.

The RRA boss assured the institute continued support to ensure the accountancy profession continues to grow.

"I’m here to bring a clear message from the regulators that we are glad the institute has finally known its rightful place and we want to say in a clear, big and loud voice that we are ready for business, particularly in this second phase of iCPAR’s development, where accountancy is seeking to be become a strong, relevant and sustainable profession,” Tusabe said.

While there is significant shortage of certified accountants, certified public accountants outnumber certified accounting technicians by 10 to 1.

Out of all the chartered accountants in the country, 98 per cent are CPAs, while the remaining are CATs yet standards dictate that every CPA should be supported by 7 CATs.

"Such a situation cannot be sustainable,” Bosco Mkombozi Karake, the president of iCPAR governing council, said.

Mkombozi noted that the lack of certified accounting technicians affects the quality of accounting as indicated by the Auditor General’s reports.

"If you analyse the Auditor General’s reports you realise that most of the issues highlighted are errors of omissions. These can be avoided once we reach a critical mass of certified accounting technicians,” Mkombozi said.

iCPAR has recently partnered with government through Workforce Development Agency to ensure CAT curriculum is aligned to that one of TVET.

"Through partnerships with various government agencies, we are trying to align our strength where it is most needed by focusing on the base, rather than the apex,” Mkombozi said.

According to the institute’s five year strategy (2016-2021), iCPAR intends to produce at least 2000 CAT qualifications.

The annual seminar brings together accountancy professionals as well as other stakeholders to take stock of issues that affect the profession.

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