INTHEBLACK April 2026 - Magazine - Page 14
“Yes, we have gone from ledgers and books to
calculators and computers and now to prompt
engineering. So accounting and its requisite skills
will change, but the profession is still very much
needed for the sustenance of the world.”
KAUSHIKA JAYALATH CPA, ORACLE
F E AT U R E
MOMENTOUS TIMES
In Australia, part of this force for change started
in 1886 when 45 accountants met in Melbourne
to discuss the future of the profession.
Recognising the need for greater rigour and
substance in accounting, the group decided to form
the Incorporated Institute of Accountants, Victoria
(IIAV), which was formally registered in 1887. In so
doing, those accountants became the founders
of what is now known as CPA Australia.
Over the years, CPA Australia has grown to include
over 176,000 members while opening offices in
New Zealand and key Asian jurisdictions such as
Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Malaysia.
Kaushika Jayalath CPA, a technology consultant
at Oracle and a member of the CPA Australia board,
says the professional body has made an indelible
mark on accounting in the Asia-Pacific region, helping
members stay engaged and informed on topics such
as AI, cloud computing and environmental, social and
governance (ESG). “These are all aspects that I see
a CPA Australia member being able to tap into much
quicker than others because of our core program,
as well as the professional development offerings
available at our fingertips.”
1960–80
1961
1969
1970s
1979
The post-war
and Cold War
environments give
rise to multinational
corporations and
the need for global
standards for financial
reporting and
auditing.
The first official
Australian Companies
Act 1961 passes,
establishing a
uniform, Australiaspecific set of rules
for corporations,
including uniform
accounting practices.
The LANguage for
Programming Arrays
at Random (LANPAR)
is created. It is one
of the first electronic
spreadsheets for
mainframe and
time-sharing
computers, and it
later inspires other
alternatives to
paper-and-pen
financial analysis.
Inflation soars
amid rapid oil
price increases
and rising wages,
highlighting the need
for accounting to
track price-level and
purchasing-power
changes. This prompts
the development of
a different accounting
system: Continuously
Contemporary
Accounting.
Electronic
spreadsheet VisiCalc
is released and
later transforms the
personal computer
into a business tool.
14 INTHEBLACK APRIL 2026 SPECIAL EDITION
