CASL, ICTA and SLASSCOM to launch FAO qualification

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka), the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) and the Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM) have teamed up to offer a professional qualification for the Financial Accounting Outsourcing (FAO) sector.

The qualification which is due to be launched this year, comes at a time when Sri Lanka is aspiring to become the Business Process Outsourcing Hub in the world.

The preliminary work has been completed.

This Business Services Accounting qualification is expected to give the FAO sector a tremendous boost by fulfilling an important need which will produce highly skillful professionals who will steer the FAO sector in Sri Lanka.

President, CA Sri Lanka, Arjuna Herath said Sri Lanka produces accountants of exceptional ability of international standing having the capacity to serve not only the domestic market but international markets as well.

"This is one of the key attributes as to why our country is a preferred destination for the BPO industry.

CA Sri Lanka has embarked on a journey with the participation of the industry body SLASSCOM and the government policy making arm in this area ICTA, to create professionals with the right skills and knowledge specifically needed for this industry," he said.

Chief Executive Officer, ICTA, Reshan Dewapura said, "In the journey to become the knowledge hub of Asia, accreditation of the labour force in specific skills is imperative. Sri Lanka as a Centre of Excellence for FAO no doubt will greatly benefit from this step taken in the right direction".

Executive Director, SLASSCOM, Imran Furkan said, "Sri Lanka's financial accounting outsourcing sector is poised for spectacular growth due to a unique combination of skills of international standard prevalent in the country.

This qualification will contribute to further raising the bar in terms of quality and quantity of the workforce pool available to absorb the new business volumes that are expected to come Sri Lanka's way soon".

Amidst globalisation and technological advancement, Business Services as a domain has grown across the globe, with developing countries largely benefiting from the emergence of such services. Today, India is the leading global destination for Business Services with a significant number of Fortune 500 companies being present across India.

Over the past five years, Sri Lanka has also witnessed mega growth in the Business Services sector with leading Sri Lankan companies setting up finance and accounting services, while foreign companies have also extended their off-shore global operations to Colombo.