How the profession has changed (and what comes next)

Professor Scott Henderson AM FCPA
Retired accounting academic
Adelaide, South Australia

A former accounting academic and past national president of CPA Australia, Scott Henderson has seen technology reshape the accounting profession, but believes it will never replace the need for sound, ethical judgement.

What first drew you to accounting?

I was planning to become an economist with ANZ Bank when I was offered a job as a university tutor in accounting.

A lecturer said to me that a big business can do hundreds of thousands of transactions with hundreds of thousands of people and, at the end of the year, you can summarise them all in a single number. I thought that was absolutely amazing. So, I made the switch from economics, and I have never regretted it.

What have been some of the most impactful changes to the profession?

The biggest change has been the computer revolution, which did not change the fundamentals of accounting, but changed how it was done.

Another significant change has been environmental reporting, which I think introduces a degree of subjectivity and guesswork. I am not sure accountants are confident to report on it just yet.

Also, I think accountants are now more broadly educated than they used to be. When I was a student, it was all about how to do it. Now, I think there is a lot more emphasis on why we do it, and I think that has made us more adaptable. 

You became national president of the Australian Society of CPAs in 1996 and were involved in the lead-up to its rebrand to CPA Australia in 2000. Why was this an important change for the organisation?

It helped us to achieve an international standing, which has been very successful — and it certainly helped to expand our membership.

What do you see as the biggest challenge facing accountants today?

Most people would say AI, but we survived the computer revolution without much damage. I am confident that we will survive AI, because it is not very good at making judgements.

What legacy do you hope to leave in the profession?

I hope I have helped to create two or three generations of competent and ethical accountants due to my teaching and writing.