Accountants Offer Services Free-bahmas

 Accountants Offer Services Free

By TAMARA McKENZIE

BICA president, Mr. Daniel Ferguson

After hundreds of workers were laid-off from their jobs in recent weeks and business owners witness decreased profits as a result of the economic downturn, beginning today, the 400-member Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) will offer free accounting and financial advisory services to local businesses and individuals who cannot afford these services.

"We are also encouraging our members to exercise the utmost business prudence and discretion when billing their clients. A client’s survival means a continued source of income for our practice. This service will extend to Grand Bahama as well as to the Family Islands," said BICA’s president, Mr. Daniel Ferguson, during a press conference Wednesday at the British Colonial Hilton Hotel.

To access these services being offered, persons may contact the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants. All information submitted to BICA will be lodged by the administrator who will schedule appointment with the participating professional accountants or accounting firms.

Yesterday, Mr. Ferguson told a packed room of professional accountants that the global financial crisis is directly affecting the Bahamas and its economy and it appears that no one – not even the powerful United States with all of its high powered technology and high powered intellectuals – appear to be able to predict the end of this global phenomenon.

"Meanwhile, the reaction of the Bahamian public range from that of nonchalance to panic," Mr. Ferguson said about the existing state of the economy. "Both situations do not auger well for any resolution or stability. The high faulting financial jargon of the financial sector and the berating of the attitudes and conduct of the Bahamian society by others are not helping. It is simply exacerbating an already tense situation. It renders no real immediate assistance."

Mr. Ferguson said BICA recognizes that the survival of local businesses and personal financial stability are an integral requirement for the survival of the Bahamas and maintaining its sovereignty; therefore BICA, he said, will make every effort to aid this endeavor.

"There are many ways that one can assist but what we do have is the expertise to restructure a persons financial situation, make recommendations and advise them just to try and survive this situation that that we are now in," Mr. Ferguson said.

The BICA president said since the economic crisis unraveled in the Bahamas earlier this year, BICA has been advising a number of persons to curb spending and be more prudent. He noted, however, that many persons have interpreted this to mean that they should not spend and such a move is bad for the economy.

"If you don’t spend, money is not circulating in the economy and that can result in a disastrous situation," Mr. Ferguson said. He also noted that if a laid-off person can manage their debt portfolio with whatever severance pay they receive and not apply their entire severance to pay off debts, they can survive a bit longer until they get another job."