PHILLIMON MHLANGA
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe (ICAZ) on Wednesday welcomed more than 140 newly qualified chartered accountants (CA (Z) into membership.
The new members, who worked tirelessly to achieve the highly regarded professional qualification, included Auditor General, Mildred Chiri and acting Accountant General, Edwin Zvandasara.
Speaking at a ceremony held in the capital to celebrate the culmination of years of study, sacrifice and commitment, ICAZ president, Davison Charamba said: “I encourage you to be involved in the affairs of the Institute in various capacities available. These include committee members or by attending events such as the Winter School, annual general meetings, golf days and Continuous Professional Development (CPD) events as well as advocating for ICAZ endeavors wherever you may be.
“The Institute is open to new and fresh ideas, feel free to make contributions whenever you can,” Charamba said.
He highlighted the importance of participating in CPDs.
“One of the main purposes of CPD is for you as a professional accountant to upgrade your knowledge in line with development trends as well as ensuring the maintenance of competencies and relevance applicable to your work and professional responsibilities. CPD is applicable to all professional accountants regardless of sector or size of business in which they operate,” Charamba said.
He added: “Our failure to ensure that you our members comply with the CPD requirements significantly compromises our membership with Public Accountants and Auditors Board (PAAB), International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA) and Chartered Accountants Worldwide (CAW) as we have to submit CPD returns to them.
“Further to that, it also compromises all the Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) with other institutes.
I urge you to let continuous learning be an integral part of your professional career in order to remain relevant.”
ICAZ has signed reciprocal agreements with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW), South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ireland (ICAI), the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA), the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA), the Chartered Accountants Australia, New Zealand (CA ANZ) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Namibia (ICAN).
The agreements mean an ICAZ member does not need to write any other examinations in order to become a member and practice in these countries.
“This allows ICAZ members mobility, flexibility, transferability and employability in most parts of the world due to the CA(Z) qualification. To be a CA (Z) comes with a lot of weight and magnanimous reverence,” Charamba said.
