The International Federation of Accountants is rolling out some ideas on how accountants can leverage their skills and their tool kits to do more predicting and forecasting.

The IFAC's Professional Accountants in Business Committee has floated some proposed guidance that would steer accountants to use more predictive analytics to achieve more forward-looking insight into performance. The idea is to help accountants think more in terms of anticipating future events, forecasting possible outcomes, and steering decisions and actions toward improved performance.

The principles are just as applicable for accountants following U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles as they are for those following International Financial Reporting Standards or any other accounting rule book, says Stathis Gould, a senior technical manager at IFAC and head of the PAIB Committee. “It applies in every context and every organization where there are increasing expectations within the organization to know where you are and to get more value out of the finance function,” he says. “Geography doesn't come into that.”

Gould says the PAIB developed the guidance to help accountants facing increasing expectations to produce better management information, which would enable better decision-making. Corporations are demanding better management information, both in the range of data required and the level of analysis applied to it. The guidance is intended to inspire accountants to think about how they can use their skills and their resources to meet those demands, he says.

“It's a mindset,” Gould says. “It's looking at what you're currently doing and thinking about how you can improve it. It's really about implementing better processes in the finance function, led by accountants, so the information that is required is actually delivered.”

The guidance is not a direct response to the economic crisis, but it's a timely development in a movement that has been evolving, Gould says. “This has been gaining momentum over the last three to five years,” he says. “Many of the issues in the financial crisis were the result of a poor understanding of external issues and drivers and how they impact the organization.”

The PAIB is accepting feedback on the proposed guidance through July 29.