At least 30 accountants from Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s), managers and auditors on Friday completed training in accounting professional principals.

The training that took place in Kigali is one of the measures the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Rwanda (ICPAR) has taken to build professionalism in the profession specifically for those already in service.

ICPAR regulates the accounting profession in the country. It also has a mandate to register and grant practicing certificates to local Certified Public Accountants (CPAs).

"Serious accounting problems have long plagued audits, routinely leading to substantial fines for accounting firms, misled investors, regulators and in many cases even misled the management so we need training to improve on the capacity of members to avoid errors that may cause fraud,” said John Munga, the deputy chief executive officer of ICPAR.

Participants argued that for any financer to support SMEs, their operations must be in line with required business standards; pointing out the proper financial management records and business planning which they said the training addressed.

The 2008 Private Sector Federation (PSF) report indicated that approximately 98 per cent of the country’s total businesses are SMEs which business experts say more efforts are needed to promote as engines of any developing country or economy.

Munga said the training was vital, arguing that it enables them build their capacity that and they will be able to adapt to changes and developments that come with innovations and advancements in technology.

Participants were told to put the skills they acquired into use to ensure that they positively impact their respective institutions.