The theme of Accountants Week 2025 highlights this evolution and underscores an urgent call: more young men are needed to join the women leading the charge in modern finance.

Speaking on the occasion, Andrea St Rose, President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Eastern Caribbean (ICAC), noted the gender shift in the field.

“Once upon a time, the accounting profession was dominated by men. In today’s world, we find that the men have disappeared and the women tend to be the ones leading in the profession,” she said.

“We also want to take this opportunity to engage the aspiring young men who would like to pursue a designation as a professional accountant because we are very concerned that they are almost like protected species when it comes to our profession.”

The role of accountants is evolving rapidly, with technology reshaping daily tasks.

St Rose explained, “No longer would we be preparing financial statements or spreadsheets. I see the days coming where AI would be presenting you with all that information based on the data that is fed into your AI technology. Our new role would be one of analyzing that data that is presented to us, large data, to analyze it in a concise format that we can use to communicate with those in decision-making positions towards helping your business thrive.”

Accountants Week 2025 will be held from Saturday, October 8th to Saturday, October 15th, with events hosted across Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Grenada, and Saint Lucia. Each island will maintain its own calendar of activities, which can be accessed on the ICAC’s Facebook page.

St Rose concluded, “Yes, we are super excited about our activities. This week is not just a celebration of our profession, but a call to the next generation of accountants to embrace innovation, strategic thinking, and leadership in shaping the future of business in the Eastern Caribbean.”