Guidance for the Accounting Profession in Namibia

The accounting profession is particularly important because any business needs competent financial management, accounting and bookkeeping resources. The increasing occurrence of fraud and corruption is a reflection of the limited pool of accounting and financial resources in Namibia. The national economy cannot perform optimally without the resources of these critical skills. To achieve Namibia?s Vision 2030, an important factor is the supply of the necessary skills, and one of those critical skills is the accounting profession in all its different forms.

It includes Finance, Accounting Management Consulting and goes hand-in-hand with the Financial Services Sector. This includes investment entities and trusts and company secretary services, stock broking and financial markets; financial development organisation, accounting, bookkeeping, auditing and tax services; business and management consulting services, the Namibia Inland Revenue Service; the national and provincial treasures and other activities auxiliary to financial intermediation, such as debt collection.
Namibia experiences a definite shortage of professionals in the accounting profession

From clerks to bookkeepers and accounting officers, CA?s and auditors. Just open the daily papers and you will see that many positions advertised are in the accounting profession: from bookkeepers and accountants to financial managers and financial directors.

CHOOSING A CAREER

Choosing a career is one of the most important decisions that you will make in your life. Although most people make several career changes in their lifetime, the first career decision you make will have an impact on various aspects of your life. It will for example determine the direction in which you will develop skills, the type of organisation and working environment in which you will start working and the income that you will earn. In choosing a career, a number of steps have to be followed.

Step 1: Know yourself (self knowledge)

Develop a true understanding of yourself in terms of your skills (what you are good at), your educational background (what qualifications you have), your values (what will give you satisfaction in your career) and your personality (what kind of person are you).

Step 2: Identify your options (career knowledge)

Gathering information and researching careers.

Step 3: Evaluate career options

Examine the information you have collected, identify what additional resources and information you will need.

Step 4: Based on the information you have gathered and analysed, you should now be able to choose one of the career options

Step 5: Design an action plan

You can now begin developing and implementing a plan of action. Determine what information or resources you need to complete each step of your plan of action. Identify the obstacles to implementing your career decision and how you can overcome them and lay out the steps you should take to implement your career decision. These steps may refer to getting the required training and applying for financial aid.