youth, perhaps more than ever before, accountants were told at an annual banquet.

William Spriggs CMA, general manager of the Bermuda Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC) told the Certified General Accountant Association (CGA) of Bermuda at their annual banquet and graduation ceremony that the Bermudian marketplace in the 21st century will provide more opportunities for entrepreneurs.

He said more small businesses are appreciating the need for quality management accounts, regular strategic planning, keeping track of competitors and economical marketing.

He told accountants that their body of knowledge can be used to provide value to micro and macro small businesses in a diverse and developing business community.

Mr. Spriggs added, "Medium and large businesses will continue to re-engineer and outsource key services to take advantage of efficiencies provided by small specialised units.'' He said, "We must continually search to redesign the finance function. We must move from getting lost in the traditional low value added reporting process to become key management players in the organisation's strategic decision-making and problem solving. "The generation of financial reports cannot be neglected, but we have skills to be involved in more complex business analysis and the never ending search for new business profits.

"Herein perhaps lies our challenge. Whether a small or large business, we as financial experts, have a significant role to play, as organisations prepare for the next millennium.'' He concluded that a new breed of entrepreneur is here to stay, using small businesses but technologies that make use of electronic commerce to create large ideas and large opportunities that overwhelm larger, older and sluggish businesses.

And Mr. Spriggs said that a programme imported from the UK, Investors in People (IIP), is in its pilot stage with eight local companies participating.

The training and development initiative is sponsored by the Bermuda National Training Board, aimed at becoming one of Bermuda's premier quality standards for local businesses.

He said, "A range of small to large businesses are involved in the pilot process, and although the IIP model may have to be tweaked for the average small business after the pilot, it represents a significant model whereby small businesses can evaluate themselves objectively in a disciplined, systematic way.'' BUSINESS BUC