Vladimir Konstantinovich, Doctor of Economics, professor, and mentor to many, is a towering figure in the history of Kazakhstan’s accounting and auditing. His name is forever entwined with the establishment and development of these fields, and he is deservedly called as the founding father of Kazakhstan’s financial audit and accounting systems.
The message to young people who choose the life path
(the last lifetime publication of V.K. Radostovets -
magazine "Accountant's Bulletin" No. 50, December 1997)
ACCOUNTING! AMAZINGLY INTERESTING!
The word “accountant” in the days of Peter the Great comes from the German “der Buchhalter”, meaning “bookkeeper”. Obviously, for this reason, and because of an overestimation of the importance of accounting and control in general, the attitude of the state and society towards the accounting profession in the former USSR has been rather cool, to say the least, throughout the existence of the administrative system of management.
Recall the image of an accountant from any film or book from the Soviet times and you will see an old man with a goatee, glasses - such a relic of the past, wearing large armbands, inevitably a bureaucrat, interfering with everyone and everything with his little understandable actions.
You will name dozens of heroes of socialist labour, honoured workers of branches of the economy, order-bearers. They will be shepherds and scientists, milkmaids and engineers, cattle breeders and soldiers, doctors, agronomists... - everyone, but not accountants. I personally know hundreds of accountants, thousands were trained at the former Alma-Ata Institute of National Economy (now the Kazakh State Academy of Management), where I have the honour of working for the fortieth academic year, but I can't name a single one who has been awarded one of the above-mentioned government awards for his hard work in accounting.
In the last years of the Soviet regime, many universities and dozens of colleges and universities trained accountants with higher and specialised secondary education. However, the 130,000-strong army of accountants in Kazakhstan with higher and specialised secondary education was replenished at a slow pace: graduates preferred to work as economists of all specialisations, anyone but accountants.
As times change, so do attitudes towards this and other professions. Let us remember that two hundred years ago, doctors who joined the medical guild took an oath that they would never disgrace their profession by performing surgery on the human body. For this reason, surgery was often performed by barbers (hairdressers): they shaved, leeched and “opened” blood for their clients. Today, there is no need to say kind words about surgeons and their profession.
In connection with the transition of Kazakhstani economy to market relations, the attitude towards the profession of accountant has changed dramatically.
The current accountant, who used to be a “government controller”, has turned his face to the needs of business. Today, as never before, the fate of the company depends on his ability to work and his knowledge of tax and accounting legislation. We do not have exact statistical data, but from the experience of audit work we know that the accountants and managers who work in many companies operating in Kazakhstan do not know the Tax code in a proper way, and sometimes because they think that they know it too well and can easily “get around” it.
Economic reform in Kazakhstan led to the creation of tens of thousands of small businesses, each of which had to employ a chief accountant. In the first few years of the reform, the number of accountants grew to 250,000. Of course, universities, colleges and the various short-term courses that sprang up like mushrooms after the rain were unable to train such a large number of new accountants.
As a result, economists, engineers, veterinarians and other specialists entered the accounting profession; many of them fell in love with the profession, acquired practical skills and became quite successful in their new specialty. However, this is generally a temporary phenomenon. We are sure that the recovery of Kazakhstan's economy, which will take place in a very short time, will bring many “refugees” back to their former companies and positions. And there they will be able to work in specialties that are no less necessary for the republic than accounting. This will lead to a new deficit in Kazakhstan's accounting “shop”. It is necessary to prepare for this today, to show young people all the advantages of the accounting profession.
Whereas in the past the accountant's workstation consisted of an office book and a microcomputer, and his work was purely manual and unproductive, today it is difficult to imagine an accounting department without powerful computers, photocopiers and other office equipment that facilitate and ennoble the accountant's work.
The accountant has almost completely lost his purely accounting functions, his main task now being to analyse economic situations, prepare and participate in management decisions together with economists. The fact that Kazakhstan was one of the first CIS countries to adopt new tax legislation and International Accounting and Auditing Standards also contributes to the growing prestige of the accountant.
Many international organisations and foundations support the full implementation of these standards.
The prestige of the accountant will increase even more because, in accordance with the requirements of the market economy and the International Accounting Standards, it will be necessary to create two accounting departments within one accounting department: financial and managerial.
The first one is already available in practically every functioning company; the second (managerial) one should be created on the basis of production subdivisions of financial accounting and economic services of the company. This accounting department will summarise information on production costs, calculate the cost of production (work and services), keep records and movements of semi-finished products in production, perform all other accounting, regulatory, planning, financial and analytical work, prepare production reports. Management accounting will be confidential. This is due to the fact that the owner of the company, having a certain “know-how”, advanced organisation of production and management, does not want these innovations to become the property of his competitors. Management accounting is "closed" not only for external consumers of information, but also for employees of the company who are not part of it.
As far as we know, the Department of Accounting and Audit Methodology of the Ministry of Finance is currently successfully working on the development of regulations on financial and management accounting and the status of the chief accountant of an economic entity.
In the new Management Accounting Department there will be a complete merger of almost all accounting and economic services of the company, reorganisation of their work in the direction of solving common accounting and economic tasks.
A restructuring of the training of accountants and economists in higher and secondary specialised educational establishments is forthcoming: accountants and economists will have to receive an almost equal amount of knowledge in accounting and specific economics at the expense of a rather sharp reduction in general and general economic disciplines. If this does not happen, many of the graduates will not be in demand in the new conditions.
It is gratifying to note that the “Accountant's Bulletin”, which is a favourite of many accountants, having grasped the existing and forthcoming changes in accounting, has decided to open a column in its pages from the new year, in which materials on the basics of accounting will be regularly covered.
This will help to update the knowledge of “acting” accountants, to help with the study of accounting students and students of universities and colleges, to assist all those who wish to learn accounting in one way or another.
Remember, friends, that love, music and accounting are eternal!
V.K. Radostovets, Doctor of Science, Economics, Professor, Kazakh State Academy of Management
This site honors the memory of Vladimir Konstantinovich Radostovets, a visionary whose profound impact on Kazakhstan’s economic development and thought will continue to inspire generations to come.