(Tiper Stock Exchange) – “Recognizing the centrality of the accountant within the control bodies of companies is the request that young people do in government. The new crisis code places great attention on the preventive warning procedures of companies, a role that can only be performed in the best way by a professional with legal and economic skills. It is a job that is done upstream, at the first signs of difficulty, but which involves enormous responsibilities: I believe that it is necessary to affect this aspect, limiting the risks for professionals and adjusting the fees, which are currently absolutely disproportionate to the responsibilities themselves” . She stated it Matthew DeLisePresident of the National Union of Young Chartered Accountants and Accounting Experts, speaking at the XV forum of young accountants, “The search for a new identity for the professional in the supervisory bodies”, which was held in Bologna.
At the forum he spoke Francesco Paolo Sisto, Deputy Minister of Justice: “Assessing a risk in a business context is the most complex thing there can be at a professional level. Today, the Board of Statutory Auditors is the metronome of companies, but there is no right to a delimitation of the area of activity and the exposure to risk is too broad. It is a reflection that needs to be done, a common and shared effort is needed to set boundaries. Something has been done, such as the recent amendment which eliminates the responsibility of accountants regarding the opening of VAT number”.
“With regard to supervisory bodies, the legislation needs to be radically changed taking into account two aspects: remuneration, which is currently inadequate, and a precise definition of responsibilities. Institutions and categories will have to find ways to parameterize the latter with respect to the remuneration. In this way it will be possible to give an answer to the needs of accountants and greater protection for businesses”, he underlined Andrea DeBertoldi (VI Finance Commission of the Chamber of Deputies).
For Clare Gribaudo (Vice-President XI Public and Private Work Commission of the Chamber of Deputies), “continuing to make rules without those who work every day in the area, I am referring to accountants, is harmful as well as wrong. The hope is that the new legislature, in this sense, will change gears: the country needs a true reformist push, incentives for mergers and new mechanisms that go beyond the logic of opposition. I hope that we can get together around a table and produce proposals that can be discussed with professionals”.
“Today accountants face a very high load of responsibility in the face of scarce tools to help companies and unfair compensation. In a time of serious economic crisis there is a need for great awareness of the difficulties of companies and the responsibilities of accountants which are increasing exponentially. It will be necessary to find tools, including regulatory ones, to better regulate this responsibility”, he explained Hector Rosato (III Commission for Foreign and Community Affairs in Montecitorio).
Stephen Distilli (president of Cassa Dottori Commercialisti), recalled how “We need to question ourselves about new spaces and horizons of the profession, also to involve young people. It is a question of reinterpreting roles and skills that have always been in the nature of accountants, but which must find an improvement in the regulatory framework and a definition of the role of statutory auditors also in terms of risks”.
According to Louis Pagliuca (President of the Cassa dei Ragionieri e degli Esperti Contabili), “being part of the Boards of Statutory Auditors is one of the specific functions of the accountant. The real problem is that the responsibilities are unlimited and the fees are not able to cover the risks. It could happen that only professionals ‘strangled’ by the crisis will accept the assignments. In this way the very meaning of the supervisory body is distorted”.
The book was presented during the working day “The time of the builders” by Claudio Siciliotti (past president of the National Council of Accountants): “The Board of Statutory Auditors is a source of pride for the country’s legislation, a virtuous example that should be imitated throughout Europe. At times when company budgets need to be controlled, who better than accountants to give this type of assurance, remembering that the College intervenes upstream, preventing the wrong things from being done”.