Varsity Don Asks Accountants To Embrace Human Resource Accounting

A professor of Accounting and Financial Reporting at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Prof. Salisu Abubakar, has advised accountants to embrace emerging innovations in human resource accounting to remain relevant in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and beyond.

Abubakar made the call in his inaugural lecture titled, “From Financial Reporting Gobbledgook to Inevitability: Human Resource Assetisation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) Era and Beyond,” at the Yusufu Bala Usman Hall, ABU, Zaria.

He said the world had transformed from the information era to a knowledge-based era, a development which, according to him, had ushered in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The don said the transformation was rapidly evolving towards another era, the Fifth Industrial Revolution, as service-oriented companies were increasing geometrically compared with manufacturing businesses, which were growing arithmetically.

According to him, the development had presented significant challenges to accountants in responding adequately to the changing business environment.

He, however, noted that accountants had responded to the challenges by expanding the scope of the discipline while becoming more innovative and inventive.

Prof. Abubakar identified human resource accounting as one of the major innovations in the accounting profession, stressing that the formal adoption of human resource accounting in financial reporting was no longer a question of if, but when.

He explained that the boundary between technology and traditional accounting metrics would continue to lose relevance if accounting remained anchored solely in the material world.

The inaugural lecturer recommended concerted action at multiple levels to successfully transition human resource accounting from a theoretical concept into a core operational reality during the Fourth Industrial Revolution and beyond.

He further advised that, at the academic and professional development levels, accountants of the future must be equipped with multidisciplinary tools required to audit and manage human asset data effectively.

Speaking at the occasion, the Vice Chancellor of ABU, Prof. Adamu Ahmed, said the university’s greatest assets were its professors, researchers, lecturers, students and other professionals, alongside its infrastructure.

He stressed the importance of investing in people, noting that while infrastructure remained essential, the people who created, preserved and transmitted knowledge were even more critical to the success of the university.

According to him, investment in human capital constituted an important part of the university’s expenditure, describing Prof. Abubakar’s lecture as commendable.

Prof. Adamu said the lecture had raised an important challenge that could benefit institutions across Nigeria, Africa and beyond.

He added that the future of the Fourth Industrial Revolution would not be determined by technology alone, stressing that artificial intelligence should not be viewed as a limitation on the many opportunities available to transform society and institutions.

The Vice Chancellor congratulated Prof. Abubakar for delivering the inaugural lecture and contributing to the ongoing discourse on human capital, accounting and the future of the profession.