As tens of thousands of students across the country receive their Leaving Cert results, Chartered Accountants Ireland has said reform of the "dated" Accounting syllabus is critical for the sector.
The accountancy body believes incoming changes will encourage more students to enter the profession, and address what it describes as an "accute" shortage of accountants.
"While I'm the youngest President in Chartered Accountants Ireland’s history, it’s still over twenty years since I sat Leaving Cert Accounting," Barry Doyle, President of Chartered Accountants Ireland said in a blog post.
"Despite this passage of time, I studied the same syllabus, frozen in time since the 1990s, as the students who are getting their results this Friday," he said.
The Department of Education has said a revised specification for Leaving Certificate Accountancy is expected to be introduced in schools from 2026.
"The preparation of those revised specifications is advancing through the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) structures," a spokesperson said.
"The Subject Development Group is chaired by Ronan O'Loughlin of Chartered Accountants Ireland and also has other professional representatives in its membership."
As things stand, Mr Doyle of Chartered Accountants Ireland claims that students are having to "unlearn" much of what they learn at senior cycle and learn the subject at third level and in their professional training.
"The need for companies to provide reliable and transparent information beyond financial metrics has increased exponentially in the last decade, and the dated syllabus does not reflect the work that accountants do, and will do, in a modern economy," he said.
Mr Doyle said there has been growing demand for accountancy services, but said this demand can only be met if there's a strong pipline of talent coming through, starting with Leaving Cert students.
"Salary levels for qualified accountants reflect this demand and the vitally important roles that accountants perform in all organisations," he said.
"This demand continues to grow and so too does the range of opportunities."
Chartered Accountants Ireland says it has been engaged with the Department of Education for some time on the need to reform the Leaving Cert Accounting syllabus.
"We are now in the redevelopment process, but this change is so long overdue, and the rate at which the profession is innovating and transforming is in sharp contrast to the lack of agility over the last couple of decades at Department level in keeping pace," Mr Doyle said.
He said it is important that the revised syllabus is relevant for students beyond second level education.
"And this is critical, as accountants are found across most business functions now, they are no longer confined to finance teams," he added.
