One of the critical secrets of business success is accounting – the ability to record financial transactions, monitor and control them. It is partly about numbers, but it also requires skill in financial analysis and interpretation.
The image of accountants as bean-counters is a common stereotype, but it is a misrepresentation too. Today accounting is a profession, and a lot of the recording and data crunching can be done by computers, so what is unique and special about accountants is changing. It remains a very popular profession among Indians, and a critical ingredient for an accountant is trust – this often stems from culture, belief, upbringing and conscience.
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Given that India has a long history of trade and commerce, relatively little is known about its knowledge of accounting. This expertise was critical for Indian merchants to build large enterprises and even trade globally long before accounting became a science and profession. It is not long ago that books were kept manually and the Diwali Chopda Pujan, a ritual which opened new books of account every Hindu New Year, was unique. It was a social and community gathering of worship to Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth, done symbolically and religiously to pray for success and prosperity using actual books of account. Ethics and good character were front and centre of this ritual.
Just as we have surnames in English like Blacksmiths, who were metal workers or Goldsmiths, jewellery makers, in India we have surnames like Munshi or Mehta to represent treasurers or accountants. This is misinterpreted as a caste system, but in truth it was a vocational training varna. Mehta is indeed a very common Jain and Hindu surname, and shows that the profession of accounting was learnt and transferred down many generations. Some accountants later became merchants and traders after mastering accounting, the famous trading pioneer Nanji Kalidas Mehta of Uganda being a great example, who was a Hindu from Porbandar.
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It is difficult for us to understand this lineage today, but training academies, Universities and the professions are relatively recent innovations. The UK Institute of Chartered Accountants is less than 150 years old. In olden days, knowledge and expertise was gained in families and communities, and handed down the generations. Reputation and brand were built through the family name and honour, not by an external badge or a social media engine or marketing strategy. With that reputation came a commitment to ethics, integrity and honesty, and the community acted as a regulator of conduct and character.
Unfortunately, today the professions of law, accounting and banking have developed a reputation of greed, corruption and dishonesty in a variety of arenas, especially when it comes to working for and with giant multinational corporations. They are no longer seen as trustworthy. The Post Office scandal in the UK and the TV drama surrounding it has really awoken society to the hypocrisy of managers and professionals, and their coldly calculated greed and irresponsibility, combined with a lack of accountability. It is but one example of the thousands of public scandals all over the world relating to business and finance.
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Private interest is undermining public interest, not just on a local scale but on a global scale, and professionals have become accultured to serving the corporate greed machine, then challenging its ethics or protecting the public interest. I can name many global scandals, and this would cover hundreds of pages of bluechip names which have betrayed society, and continue to do so even after they have been caught, publicly exposed and fined. My research has forensically analysed some of these, and the evidence of fraud and betrayal by professional experts is shocking. Regulators and professional bodies have become captured by powerful interests. In many cases, the truth is ignored or forgotten.
As a Professor and a teacher, I continue to use my position as author and broadcaster to influence a new generation of students with high standards of integrity and public interest protection. Our Indian Dharmic heritage helps me in this task. I call upon young people to transform the practice and professions of accounting to help build a sustainable society. Parents should also do their bit to encourage and support them in this journey.
Professor Atul K. Shah [@atulkshah] teaches and writes about Indian wisdom on business, culture and community at various UK universities and is a renowned international author, speaker and broadcaster.