Human Resource Accounting Becomes Imperative In 4IR Era — Prof. Salisu Abubakar

By Idris Umar Zaria A Professor of Accounting and Financial Reporting, Professor Salisu Abubakar, has said the world has transit...

By Idris Umar Zaria

A Professor of Accounting and Financial Reporting, Professor Salisu Abubakar, has said the world has transitioned from the information era to a knowledge-based economy, a development he said has contributed significantly to the emergence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

Professor Abubakar stated this while delivering his inaugural lecture titled “From Financial Reporting Gobbledygook to Inevitability: Human Resource Assetization in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) Era and Beyond” at the Yusufu Bala Usman Hall, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria.

According to him, the global economy is rapidly evolving towards another era, the Fifth Industrial Revolution, as service-oriented companies continue to grow at a faster rate than manufacturing businesses.

He noted that the transformation had created significant challenges for accountants, particularly in responding effectively to the changing nature of businesses and the global economy.

Professor Abubakar said accountants had responded to these challenges by expanding the scope of the profession and becoming more innovative and inventive in their approach.

He identified Human Resource Accounting (HRA) as one of the major innovations in the accounting profession, stressing that the formal adoption of HRA in financial reporting was no longer a question of if, but when.

The inaugural lecturer explained that the boundary between technology and traditional accounting metrics would continue to lose relevance if accounting practices remained anchored solely in the material world.

He therefore called for deliberate action at multiple levels to transition Human Resource Accounting from a theoretical concept into a core operational reality in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and beyond.

On academic and professional development, Professor Abubakar advised that future professionals must be equipped with multidisciplinary tools and competencies required to audit, measure and effectively manage human-asset data.

He emphasised that accounting education and professional practice must continue to evolve in response to technological advancement and the growing importance of human capital in modern, knowledge-driven economies.