ACCA's annual review

by Helen Brand, chief executive, ACCA

While my last post was a look into the future, sometimes it can be just as important to look at where we've come from. With this in mind, I thought I'd take this opportunity to nudge you towards ACCA's annual review for the past year.

This will just be a quick overview; you can go into more detail in the review itself. We're also publishing a separate CSR report for the first time.

Over the past year, we've been working hard to make our organisation fit for the future, while at the same time supporting our members across the globe through tough economic conditions.

It's these tough conditions that have underlined the importance of finance professionals to businesses. As businesses have battled with cuts over the past 18-months and now look for new finance in the recovery, it is finance professionals and accountants that will be on hand to provide much needed advice.

From an organisational point of view, it's been a very positive year for ACCA. We continue to see sustainable growth in membership, reputation, and influence - all in line with our strategic objectives heading towards 2015.

Some of the highlights include:

• our most recent surveys indicate 99% awareness of awareness of ACCA among employers; 48% of employers internationally now see us as the leading global professional accountancy body
• we now have 57 strong global accountancy partnerships
• ACCA now has 140,225 members
• we have opened new offices in China and Bangladesh

On a personal note, I'd like to say thank you to ACCA's global team that has offered great support to our members, students and employers, and contributed so significantly to the development of the profession. Everyone has achieved a great deal in challenging times.

Looking forward again, over the next year we hope to ensure that ACCA continues to be focused on providing the best possible services for our customers to enable us to meet our strategic aim of being the leading global body by reputation, influence and size.

And lastly, a small piece of housekeeping: ACCA's Global Virtual Conference will be on Wednesday this week. There are some really interesting lectures and debates lined up, with some great speakers, including Mervyn King, the chairman of the Global Reporting Initiative. We have almost 5,000 people already registered for the day.