Georgian accountancy federations support uptake of financial advisory services by SMEs

Georgian accountancy federations on Wednesday shared their experience of supporting provision of financial advisory services to small and medium-sized businesses in rural regions of the country, the Swiss Foundation for Technical Cooperation said.

At an exchange event in Tbilisi, the Georgian Federation of Professional Accountants and Auditors and the Federation for Accountants, Auditors and Financial Managers  explained how they had provided improved financial advisory services to around 700 rural-based SMEs by “upskilling regional-based accountants” in their networks.

Switzerland promotes equality in accessing funds and service for rural population in Georgia. One of our key directions for improving economic development and creating decent jobs is to improve financial literacy and management capacities of rural SMEs. Therefore, I am pleased to see Swiss contribution to strengthening the service market for financial advisory services in rural areas of Georgia”, Beka Tagauri, the Head of the Economic Development Programme of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, said.

Over the last two years, the federations have been supported to develop a capacity-building programme for over 200 accountants, the body said, adding the programme aimed to enhance financial literacy and management capacities for rural SMEs, boosting economic development and creating jobs.

Through training and support, over 200 accountants have been equipped to offer services such as profit-loss analysis, cash flow management and budgeting to SMEs.

Over 60 percent of the SMEs have continued to use the services, with 42 percent reducing their costs and around 25 percent indicating they had improved access to financial resources, the body said.