- 427 members suspended due to failure to comply with renewal period
- Amended law will force employers to engage only BICA-registered accountants
Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) says it is currently facing the resistance from some eligible members to renew their BICA affiliation and membership and comply with the renewal period.
“The Institute has suspended 427 members by 05 July 2022, 364 of whom suspended are Accounting Technicians and 63 professional accountants,” the president of BICA, Susanne Swaniker-Tettey, disclosed recently at the organisation’s President Cocktail that brought together its stakeholders from different areas of the economy. The event was meant to give the stakeholders an opportunity to know and interact with people who drive the Institute at a strategic level because BICA considers it important to deepen engagements and dialogue for the growth with them.
Concerning failure by members to comply with the renewal period, Swaniker-Tettey said the aim is to have all members renew their membership annually, hence the Institute will continuously to engage the suspended members to emphasise the importance of registration. “We are hopeful that the Accountants (Amendment) Act 2020 will enhance the Institute’s ability to execute its mandate as the revised law places responsibility on employers to only employ accountants registered with BICA,” she said. “We believe that this will close the gaps that were currently there.”
Swaniker-Tettey, who was speaking on BICA’s six-month progress and implementation against its 2022-2026 strategy, also revealed that the Institute’s strategic priorities to increase the number of Citizen Professional Accountants has been affected by lack of sponsorship for postgraduate qualifications due to economic hardships in the wake of the pandemic. However, BICA is engaging the Ministry of Education on how this issue can be addressed in order to assist potential students. With the over 200 students on the BICA database, the contribution of the BICA Secretariat, Tuition Providers and Accredited Training Employers (ATEs), the Institute can achieve the intended results of producing chartered accountants.
BICA says within the six months period of its five-year strategy managed to increase the Institute’s membership by 10 percent against an annual target of 8 percent for 2022 and retain 75 percent of the BICA Students Database. In addition, the accounting regulatory body has implemented significant Information Technology (IT) enhancements to improve service delivery and efficiencies in its current processes. The strategy will drive implementation of BICA’s digitalisation plan with uptake on the Institute’s digital platforms that are currently at 31 percent against a target of 30 percent by the end of 2022.
