Here's how finance and accounting professionals can cope with "silver tsunami"

Aging population brings on unique challenges.

During the panel discussion of the recently held ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) Singapore Health Conference 2014, industry experts lent advice to industry professionals on how they can address the challenges posed by the impending silver tsunami.

“Accountants need to be more proactive in staying abreast of new standards as they face the growing challenges of today’s healthcare sector," said Sanjay Sharma, Life Sciences Health Care audit leader and partner in the Assurance and Advisory Services practice of Deloitte Singapore.

"Rising demands in this booming sector has seen governments investing significant amounts to improve infrastructure. This has led to greater demands for accountants to spend more time and applying their expertise in areas of budgeting and control of costs; more focus on strict corporate governance policies, and quality of IT systems. There will be a paradigm shift for accountants to be more involved in the running of the business and have a board presence in order to be able to influence key decisions,” Sharma added.

Speakers also stressed the evolving role of the finance function in healthcare.

Mr David McKeering, Partner & South East Asia Consulting Healthcare Leader, PwC said, “The role of finance professionals in the healthcare industry is getting increasing challenging and complex with many new factors and pressures, such as those related to cost, that need to be taken into consideration. Today’s CFOs must strive to achieve an acceptable and appropriate balance between compliance, efficiency and providing insight and challenge to the business. As such, mindsets and behaviours need to shift so that the necessary controls and operational models are driven by the objectives of delivering insight and process efficiency, instead of the current compliance-based models.”

For her part, Ms Leong Soo Yee, Head of ACCA Singapore, said, “As we strive to overcome the challenges the ageing population brings to health care delivery, the role and contribution of the accountant will become more critical than ever in not only ensuring the efficient and effective use of resources but also in contributing to the development and implementation of strategies to transform the way in which healthcare is delivered to meet the challenges faced.”