7 February 2023
Professional Accountancy Organizations (PAOs) are ready to accelerate digital transformation to improve the delivery of their mandate. The Digital Readiness Tool assisted 20 countries from Sub-Saharan Africa and other regions in their digital transformation journeys. The IFAC PAO Digital Readiness Tool is a free self-assessment tool designed to help PAOs assess their digital readiness and identify areas for improvement. The results of the assessment should inform the digital strategy of the PAO.
The IFAC article highlights five critical pillars when designing and implementing an effective and sustainable PAO digital strategy.
- Governance sets the tone at the top
The Board should drive the reform, lead in setting direction and provide oversight on digital transformation. Establishing a Digital Transformation Committee is recommended to provide input, leadership, and support to members.
- User-centric approach to developing the digital strategy
PAOs should start with the customer experience, their needs, expectations, and concerns. After this, work back toward the technology. The IFAC PAO Digital Readiness Tool assessment results should also inform the strategy.
- Contents of the strategy
PAOs should analyze their operations, products/services, and business models to determine their suitability considering the competition, environmental issues, and emerging technology. PAOs should establish strategic goals, constitute a Project Steering Committee, involve employees, and select appropriate emerging technologies to achieve success. PAOs should start small, assess the impact, and scale up. Technology deployment should be handled carefully, and personnel should be retrained, reskilled, and redeployed as necessary. Finally, PAOs should deliberately select an appropriate, scalable technology solution that fits their business model and operational processes.
- Implementation
The transformation plan should consider the cultural, technological, and stakeholder-related dimensions while identifying risks and challenges that will spring up during implementation. Contingency arrangements should address emerging challenges, and there should be provisions for feedback to refine the strategy.
- Monitoring the strategy
Continuous monitoring and assessment of the strategy should provide for evaluation of the underlying assumptions and progress to date. Read the IFAC article here.
