03rd October 2013: The accounting profession in Sri Lanka received a renewed boost with 250 new chartered accountants being granted the Associate membership by the country’s national accounting body, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) at the annual convocation held at the Water’s Edge in Battaramulla.
The convocation was held under the patronage of the Hon. Johnston Fernando, Minister of Co-operatives & Internal Trade, and Mr. Samantha Rajapaksa, Group Managing Director of Associated Motorways (Pvt) Limited as the guest of honour.
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During the convocation, another 73 associate members were conferred the distinguished Fellowship status elevating them to the highest stratum in their professional careers.
Joining a fraternity of 4300 existing CA Sri Lanka members, the new associate members were officially granted associate membership during the convocation which also signified the completion of their professional qualification in chartered accounting.
Extending his congratulations to the new associate and fellow members, CA Sri Lanka President Mr. Sujeewa Rajapakse addressing the convocation highlighted the need to continuously demonstrate professional skills whilst strictly maintaining the integrity andethics of the profession.
“Maintaining your professional integrity is a must and so is sticking to ethics, and as you are exposed to more and more opportunities both good and bad, you need to understand the implications and think before you act, because not only is your reputation at stake, but so is your profession and your institute,” he noted.
Mr. Rajapakse pointed out that in today’s context, accountants sits close to the nerve centre of any organization. This close proximity to the decision making process provides numerous opportunities for their career enhancement and growth.
“But the business world is becoming more challenging; organisations are becoming more complex, demanding more from professionals. Keeping up with the continuing changes at a global and local level is challenging, yet to succeed one has to be well informed and up to date constantly. Therefore it is important to continue your learning process and for this the institute organizes various CPD events for your professional advancement,” he said.
Mr. Rajapakse also invited the new members to play a more active role in institute activities by supporting the various initiatives aimed at improving the institute’s standing in Sri Lanka and abroad.
In a message released for the convocation, Minister Johnston Fernando said, since its inception in 1959, CA Sri Lanka has continued to hold a focal place in maintaining a comprehensive financial structure in the country, while working to ensure the knowledge base in this specialised sector continues to be elevated to internationally accepted standards.
“Today, this important profession is further strengthened with the graduation of yet another batch of members for whom this is the beginning of a journey which will give them an abundance of opportunities to thrive and achieve success,” the minister said.
The Minister also commended CA Sri Lanka for propagating the importance of the chartered accounting qualification to the rural most areas in Sri Lanka; thereby giving access to everyone who wished to embark on one of the world’s most sought after professions.
Chief Executive Officer of CA Sri Lanka, Mr. Aruna Alwis noted that over the years, CA Sri Lanka has made vast strides by introducing an impressive variety of professional and academic level programmes including of international repute for the benefit of the country’s diverse professional community.
“Offering our stakeholders the best of services and qualifications remains at the top of the institute’s agenda, and so we will continue in this endeavor to provide our stakeholders with the best,” he added.
Chairman of the CA Sri Lanka Member and Student Services Committee, Mr. Channa Manoharan said chartered accountants bear a great responsibility towards the profession and nation. “Therefore I call on our new members to bear this in mind when exercising their professional duties.”
“I am certain our new members will play a tremendous role in helping propagate the importance of the accounting profession across Sri Lanka and the world, and I am positive that the newly conferred fellow members will continue to play an influential role to safeguard CA Sri Lanka’s impeccable standing in the finance world,” he added.
Special prizes were also awarded to a total of 12 prize winners who fared exceptionally well at the strategic level examinations and at the top CA case study examinations.
