At Meta’s International Headquarters in Dublin, Majella Mungovan’s finance team is already reaping the rewards of using artificial intelligence in day-to-day operations The hype surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) continues to gather pace, as professionals across all sectors consider its potential impact on our future working lives. While many accountants grapple with the scope and reach of this emerging technology, however, Meta – the US-headquartered social media giant – is already several years into using AI in finance processes at its International Headquarters in Dublin.  “Five years ago, we decided we were going to really focus on using machine learning to drive efficiency across our finance team,” explains Meta’s Majella Mungovan, FCA. As Vice President of Financial Operations with Meta in Dublin, Mungovan leads a 150-strong global finance team. “Meta has four large finance operations around the world, one of which is in Dublin, where we serve people globally supported by several hundred people at our outsourcing partner,” Mungovan explains. “We are responsible for all activities relating to revenue as well as everything from accounting and reporting to financial operations, and risk and operational assessments to collections.  “Running a very large-scale operations team means we deal with many millions of transactions every year and doing this in a really efficient and scaled way is very important.” Growth, speed and efficiency The move to incorporate AI into processes at Meta’s financial operation in Dublin coincided with a period of intense growth for the company globally, Mungovan explains. “Meta achieved revenue of $100 billion faster than any other company in history, so we have gone through an enormous growth phase over the past 10 years,” she says. “When your company is undergoing explosive growth like this, speed, efficiency and scale are essential. Tasks you might be able to do manually in a slower moving environment have to be done faster and, for us, this meant looking at new technology to help us reach our goals.” Founded in February 2004, originally under the name Facebook, Meta opened its first Irish office in Dublin in 2009 with a team of just 25.  Now, with over 2,000 employees across 80 teams, the company’s new International Headquarters opened in Ballsbridge in Dublin in October 2023. It has additional sites in Co. Meath, where its data centre is located, and in Co. Cork, home to Meta’s Reality Labs.   Since its launch in Ireland, Meta has also undergone rapid growth globally, acquiring Instagram in 2012 followed by WhatsApp two years later. Employing over 66,000 people around the world, the tech giant continues to record milestones, with Facebook’s daily active users reaching a mammoth two billion in February 2024. Automation: first steps “When our global finance team in Dublin started looking at how we might use technology to help manage the sheer volume of work we were dealing with, our first step was to consider very basic automation rules,” Mungovan says. “We built some fairly rudimentary machine learning models that could make some decisions on our behalf. Each machine learning model is essentially an algorithm.  “You ‘plug in’ a large number of criteria to assess whether or not a decision needs to be made and the model learns and improves over time.  “Our first use case was the credit decisioning process, using internal and external data related to customer-recommended decisions. Over time, our machine learning models have become increasingly sophisticated to the point now where they can reliably cover the vast majority of our decisions where they have been rolled out.”  Mungovan’s team has also been exploring how natural language processing might be used to automate some parts of the revenue processes used in customer support. “We are operating in a very heavily automated world. In the last year in particular, we’ve been able to explore new technology Gen AI and this has allowed us to really accelerate the progress we’ve been making in automation over the last five years,” she says. “We can now move to touchless processes and transactions in a much more complete and efficient way – for example, with the helpdesk for our finance team.  “When a customer gets in touch and says, ‘I need help with my invoice,’ we can plug in different AI agents so we can see who the customer is and what kind of problem they are facing with their invoice.  “The agents can read the customer’s messages and communicate with them, in many cases resolving the issue and, in others, ensuring the query reaches the right people so it can be resolved and the ticket closed out quickly.” Accuracy and speed are essential when it comes to customer care. “Our priority is that the customer gets the answer they need as quickly as possible and that, at the same time, we are operating as efficiently as we can in resolving issues before they escalate or cause friction internally,” Mungovan says. Her team is also now using machine learning for cash flow forecasting. “This helps us to understand the customer’s payment behaviour,” Mungovan explains. “If there is any deviation from that, we can very quickly and accurately predict what free cash flow will look like across the company.” What to expect Based on her experience working with AI and machine learning for the first time, Mungovan says that careful preparation is a must at the outset. “It’s a huge learning curve for everyone involved, particularly those of us from a finance background who have to get to grips with a new technology that, in turn, can have a big impact on how we do our work, and on our capabilities,” she says. “My advice is to get out there and find out what other professionals and organisations are doing. Attend conferences and other events, read papers and case studies. Keep an eye on what people are sharing and reach out and ask questions.” Preparing to introduce AI for the first time will likely take “a lot longer” than you expect, she adds.  “You’re going to have to bring a lot of people through the process and everyone will want to make sure that the new model is working and fit-for-purpose before it’s introduced into the ‘live’ working environment. You’re looking at a learning phase of at least 12 months before you can expect to see any kind of return-on-investment.” Machine learning models need to learn and that takes time, Mungovan says. “They tend to generate a lot of false positives at the outset. It probably took us two years to get to a place where our models were really starting to generate a decent return-on-investment, but once we had some traction, they evolved very quickly after that.  “Now, we regard the project beyond its ability to deliver greater efficiencies; we also think about it from an assurance perspective. We have monitoring programmes running continuously in the background, looking for anomalies, exceptions and errors.  Now that Meta’s finance team in Dublin is using AI day-to-day, Mungovan is confident that the technology will play an even bigger role in the years ahead. “Our large language models are becoming more and more helpful to us. The technology environment continues to evolve all the time. What we have now, we didn’t have six months ago. It’s quite extraordinary.” North Star Mungovan’s North Star is, she says, that all finance processes become “as ‘touch pointless’ as possible”. “I want my team examining anomalies and fixing issues at root, rather than having to deal individually with problems as they arise – right across the board from calculation and booking accounting entries to reconciliations, preparing commentary, analysing the movement on a general ledger account or managing expense categories.” Based on her own experience implementing AI, Mungovan believes the technology has great potential to elevate the role of Chartered Accountants and other financial professionals in the future. “I think the way we’re using technology in our own finance team at Meta really convinces me that AI and technological advancements will create more senior and sophisticated roles across finance and other functions,” she says.  “Meta is a very large company with ambitions to become an even larger company. We are growing so rapidly that we need to figure out efficient ways of scaling. AI and machine learning is delivering these efficiencies for our finance team. It is making us faster and improving our capabilities.”  Opportunity for the profession Mungovan believes the use of AI in accounting will become “the norm” in the years ahead as more and more organisations and professionals adopt the technology to support and enhance the finance function. “I remember when I was training to become a Chartered Accountant, people then were asking the same questions about technology and how it would affect the future of the profession, the jobs we do and the way we work. At that time, the big focus was Microsoft Excel and how it was going to reshape accounting norms,” she says. “I view AI in a similar light today. Over time, AI as a tool will fundamentally change the role of the accountant in the same way Excel transformed how things were done 20 or 30 years ago.  “AI will have the same kind of impact. It won’t replace the role of the accountant, but it will become a widely used tool, which will allow us to be more effective in our jobs.  “Ultimately, I think AI is something to be embraced rather than feared. I am really excited about the possibilities this technology will offer our profession. Rather than be frightened, people should see opportunity – and I think this opportunity will be immense.”

Ian Drennan, CEO of the Corporate Enforcement Authority, outlines the State agency’s plans and priorities for 2024 and beyond Collaboration between State regulators, statutory bodies and professional membership organisations, such as Chartered Accountants Ireland, is set to deepen as Government efforts to crack down on white collar crime and corporate corruption continue in the years ahead. “There is very significant work ongoing at State level seeking to further enhance Ireland’s capacity to tackle economic crime,” Ian Drennan, Chief Executive of the Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA), explains. “The Advisory Council against Economic Crime and Corruption is developing a national strategy and the CEA is heavily involved in the formulation of that draft strategy for consideration by Government.” Dealing with economic crime into the future and ensuring that Ireland is “at the vanguard” of the highest standards in business regulation will require a significant level of State collaboration with the private sector and bodies such as Chartered Accountants Ireland, Drennan says. Corporate Enforcement Authority The CEA was established in July 2022 with the commencement of the Companies (Corporate Enforcement Authority) Act 2021, replacing the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement. Leo Varadkar, who was then Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, said the new agency would have “real teeth” with the autonomy and resources needed to thoroughly investigate suspected wrongdoing, such as fraudulent trading and more complex company law breaches. The Act invested the CEA with the autonomy to appoint its own staff and structure itself to meet evolving demands in the future.  The CEA’s budget has been increased by 30 percent and its approved civilian staff complement by 14 additional officers. The Government has also increased the number of members of An Garda Síochána seconded to the CEA from seven to 16.  “This increased level of resourcing gives us capacity to deal with a greater caseload of suspected non-compliance with company law, be it civil or criminal in nature,” Drennan says. “The investigations that we conduct can be document-heavy and complex, with indications of wrongdoing regularly involving suspected serious offences under company law as well as crossing over into other codes of legislation, such as theft, fraud and money laundering,” Drennan explains. “One of the strengths of the CEA is its multi-disciplinary structure. In addition to having at our disposal both accounting and legal professionals, the Gardaí embedded within the organisation bring with them the full suite of powers that they enjoy as sworn police officers.  “This means that, when we are conducting investigations, they can apply to the District Court for warrants under other codes of legislation where the need arises. As a consequence of this organisational capability, it is commonplace for us at this stage to submit files to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions with recommendations for charges under both company law and other legislation.” Scope and remit The CEA’s remit spans investigation, prosecution and supervision of the corporate insolvency process as well as advocacy.  “While we investigate potential breaches of company law, that is only one side of the equation. We also place great importance on promoting compliance with company law, which we seek to do by providing accessible guidance to company directors and through our outreach activities,” Drennan explains.  The “vast majority” of companies will never have any kind of direct engagement with the CEA, he adds. “Most company directors are trying to do the right thing; we know that. They have a raft of challenges to deal with at the moment – high interest rates, inflation, rising energy costs and tight labour markets. “They must manage a wide range of legal and regulatory obligations, ranging from tax and health and safety to company law. In our experience, most company directors try to meet those obligations on an ongoing basis and to a high standard.” It is important that the CEA acts in a proportionate and resource-efficient manner and that the enforcement action chosen is commensurate with the underlying issues, Drennan adds.  “Where appropriate, we try to resolve issues of non-compliance on an administrative basis and without recourse to statutory powers. In other instances, that approach will not be appropriate and a more formal, or robust, approach will be warranted,” he says. The CEA also provides guidance to assist company directors in discharging their responsibilities under company law in what Drennan terms a “relatively non-technical and easy-to-understand forum”. “Prevention is better than cure and, in that context, the CEA’s website hosts a range of information and guidance materials that seek to assist company directors in understanding their duties and obligations and shareholders, creditors and the wider public in understanding their rights,” he says. “It is much more cost-effective from our perspective to assist people in complying with the law in the first instance.” Company law amendments Drennan welcomes the recent publication of the General Scheme of the Companies (Corporate Governance, Enforcement and Regulatory Provisions) Bill 2024 by Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Dara Calleary, TD. Announcing its publication on 15 March, Calleary said the Act would introduce “practical, pro-enterprise” reforms in support of a competitive economy while also maintaining a robust company law framework.  Amendments proposed in the Bill include allowing companies and industrial and provident societies to hold virtual general meetings when the current COVID-related interim legislation expires at the end of the year. It also proposes removing the automatic loss of the audit exemption in respect of the first instance of late filing with the Companies Registration Office by small and micro companies. Drennan particularly welcomes proposals to create new offences regarding the obstruction and intimidation of CEA officials.  “These proposals send out the very clear signal that obstructing or threatening a CEA officer will not be tolerated and that anyone who does so risks facing a lengthy term of imprisonment,” he says. “Balance is important. Company law is crucial, but it must support business as well as safeguarding responsible ways of doing business. “Company directors can forget to file an annual return; they can forget to hold an AGM. These oversights can be rectified relatively easily.   “Their interaction with us in these instances could amount to just one or two letters to close the whole thing out. Generally speaking, the more co-operation we get, the more positive our disposition; the more people are willing to work with us, the less painful the exercise will be.” Beyond correspondence, the “next level up” in the CEA’s enforcement activity tends to involve civil enforcement, Drennan explains. “Our remit extends to the close to 300,000 businesses registered in Ireland. We deal with everything from ‘mom and pop’ operations, SMEs, charities and not-for-profits, all the way up to companies whose securities are publicly listed,” he says. Civil enforcement can involve director restrictions and disqualifications, as well as court applications for the purpose of seeking orders compelling companies, directors and other relevant parties, such as liquidators, to comply with their statutory obligations as regards restrictions and disqualifications. “We receive approximately 700 liquidators’ reports every year, so the process that flows from those reports, which includes scrutinising director behaviour and offering undertakings, accounts for a sizeable portion of our work,” Drennan says.  “Where directors choose to accept undertakings, they can avoid going to the High Court with the time and financial outlay that tends to involve. “Beyond this, the most invasive work we do involves investigations into serious suspected wrongdoing.”  This work tends to be complex, protracted in nature and frequently involves litigation, Drennan says.  The CEA has significant enforcement powers, including scope to issue directions, to enter and search premises under warrant, to arrest (a power conferred upon CEA officers who are also members of An Garda Síochána), and to bring summary criminal prosecutions in the CEA’s own name as well as to refer files to the DPP. “This is the part of our work that might involve a knock on the door at 6am but this is not, thankfully, required in the vast majority of cases we deal with,” Drennan says. Complaints, reports and referrals The CEA receives hundreds of complaints from members of the public each year as well as statutory reports from auditors and liquidators and statutory referrals from other State bodies, such as the CRO, the Revenue Commissioners, An Garda Síochána and the Central Bank of Ireland. “We also open investigations on our own initiative – as a result of media reports or our own analyses, for example,” says Drennan. Emerging trends The number of liquidator reports the CEA is responding to has risen markedly in 2024.  “They dropped during COVID because of businesses being closed and debt warehousing. Now, they are returning to pre-COVID levels, which in turn is driving up the numbers of restrictions and disqualifications,” says Drennan.   “At the same time, the Companies Registration Office has recommenced the involuntary strike-off of non-compliant companies deferred during COVID.   “A subset of these entities fall within our enforcement remit where directors have simply ‘walked away’ from insolvent companies owing debts rather than putting them into liquidation. “Those directors face the likelihood of being disqualified from acting as company directors, as that is not an appropriate or responsible manner in which to behave.” Looking to the future, Drennan concludes: “Our vision for the future is to continue to build the CEA’s presence, to continue to enhance operational capability, and to assist the vast majority of directors who are trying to do the right things by continuing to provide high quality, and accessible, information and guidance resources.  “By doing this and working with other stakeholders in the public and private sectors, the objective is to enhance Ireland’s reputation as a safe and well-regulated economy in which to do business and create employment.”

Ronan Murray, the incoming Managing Partner of EY Ireland’s Cork office tells us how his Big Four career progressed from audit to mergers and acquisitions, and gives his take on M&A trends in 2024  Ronan Murray is the incoming Managing Partner of EY Ireland’s Cork office. Kerry-born Murray has lived in Cork for over 25 years, forging a successful career in corporate finance, starting in audit and progressing to mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory and services. As Partner, Corporate Finance, Strategy and Transactions, with EY Ireland in Cork for the past two years, Murray has provided strategic advice to Irish companies on acquisitions and disposals. Q. Tell us a bit about your background and education?  I grew up in Tralee and I’m still firmly connected to family, friends and clients in Co. Kerry, but I have lived and worked in Cork for a long time. It’s a fantastic place and my two daughters will be proud Corkonians! I started out studying commerce at University College Cork (UCC), graduating in 2001 with a commerce degree and returned to UCC in 2010 to complete an Executive MBA with a focus on developmental leadership education in a knowledge economy.  I met my wife Aideen Creedon, Head of Internal Audit at UCC, while we were both on our Chartered Accountants Ireland training contracts in Cork and studying for our exams.  Q. What inspired you to pursue a career in accountancy?  I remember during the graduate intake period at university reading the various job brochures from companies and organisations. I was struck by the Chartered Accountant (CA) qualification being a portable tool you could use as a foundation to build a wide and varied career in professional services. It certainly hasn’t disappointed. I have been able to gain wide-ranging experience from external audit to transaction services over the course of 22 years working for Big Four firms.  Through secondments, I’ve had the opportunity to live and work in both New York and London.  I started in audit, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 2005 and becoming an External Audit Manager in 2006.  I joined the Transactions Team at EY in 2007 and worked until 2016 in various roles before returning to the firm in 2022 as a Partner in our M&A/Corporate Finance Team. I may be biased, but in the world of corporate finance and M&A, the CA qualification is regarded as a differentiator and a distinct advantage.  It is a badge of honour you can take with you into any boardroom environment. The skills I have acquired through the qualification have served me exceptionally well throughout my career.  Q. As your career progressed, what prompted you to move from audit into M&A?   There is one moment that stands out as an important pivot point for me. Back in 2007, I got to spend some time working with a partner preparing the content for an information memorandum relating to a potential transaction.  I was intrigued and excited by the prospect of supporting on the deal. It was this experience that made me consider moving into M&A. I really enjoy the variety the role offers day-to-day. I get to work with so many different people and businesses. It is fast-paced and I find helping business owners to achieve their goals hugely rewarding. My audit experience has been essential in helping me to understand the core value drivers in business and, over time, it enabled me to move towards the M&A side of the market. Q. What does your day-to-day role involve?  I spend most of my time working with business owners to devise strategies that will allow them to de-risk and obtain growth capital while executing a transaction that delivers value.  Achieving the best outcome is a fine balancing act. It’s important to take time to meet with owners, funders, legal intermediaries and wider market players to ensure your “finger is on the pulse” when it comes to potential opportunities for your clients. I have a lot of meetings with local and international investors so I can fully understand their investment criteria and match them with suitable Irish companies.  The rest of my time is focused on deal execution – preparing information memorandums, agreeing heads of terms and reviewing sale and purchase agreements in tandem with legal colleagues.  From a private equity perspective, business owners often have an opportunity to obtain growth capital and commence a ‘buy and build’ process with a defined M&A strategy.  Dealmakers are looking at synergies across the various functions of a larger organisation. Investors are focused on the objectives behind a transaction. Often, the deal is about unlocking the potential and value that exists in an organisation.  Over the course of my career, I’ve been involved in hundreds of exciting transactions on both the buy and sell side. Some of the recent stand-out deals include the sale of PFH Technology Group to Japanese firm Ricoh and Phoenix Equity’s investment in Nostra Technologies. I have also enjoyed working with Zeus Packaging on several acquisitions in recent years.  Q. What are the biggest trends in the M&A market currently?  There was a global slowdown in transaction activity in 2022 and the first half of 2023, primarily due to uncertain debt markets and macroeconomic factors.  The M&A landscape has since improved and the Irish market is well-placed to see an uplift in deal volumes this year, as Irish assets continue to attract interest from investors, both local and international.  Ireland is a very competitive country internationally with an innovative, technology-driven, service-focused and open trading economy.  Our regions have grown and developed into destinations of choice for global companies, as well as providing a platform for indigenous private companies to develop and scale.  Acquirers are seeking strategic assets and the fundamentals of the Irish economy remain strong, making Ireland an attractive location for investment.  Private equity investment in the mid-market, driven by the availability of ‘dry powder’, is also playing a much deeper role in the Irish market. As we move forward, private business optimism coupled with the existence of a more developed and balanced risk appetite, will define the level of activity for the year ahead.  Q. You are currently President of Cork Chamber. How did this role come about and what does it mean to you?  The passing of both my parents in a short period of time gave me more perspective and a sense that maybe I should work to make more of a difference in society and business in a way that would complement my professional role with EY.  I was appointed Chair of Cork Chamber’s Economic and Enterprise Committee for two years in 2013. Then, in 2018, I joined the Board as Honorary Treasurer and became Vice-President in 2020. I was elected President and Chair of the Board of Cork Chamber in May 2022 for a term of two years.  It was a proud moment and I have fully embraced it and enjoy the role.   Being President of Cork Chamber allows me to play a more active business and political leadership role in the region. The chamber has over 1,200 members employing some 120,000 people. Being President gives me a significant platform to represent the business community in the city and county.  Top tips for M&A transactions Ireland remains a highly attractive location for investment and, looking to the year ahead, there is significant appetite to deploy capital as business owners continue to seek growth capital.  The technology sector continues to dominate the M&A landscape in Ireland in terms of transactions, partnerships and strategic alliances.  Other sectors of interest include engineering, financial services, business support services, healthcare, life sciences (both pharma and medtech) and ESG.  The green transition to a lower carbon economy is also driving investment decisions, and companies with sustainability credentials will continue to be attractive. For Irish companies undertaking a merger or exit, being well-prepared is essential for maximising the value of the transaction. Here are my top five tips: Understand key value drivers; this is essential to both preparation and execution; Have a clear growth story with understandable drivers that underpin financial projections to match specific investor criteria and strategic objectives; Align key management in preparation for a transaction process, while also ensuring the team has the bandwidth to focus on the day-to-day running of the business; Ensure the business/economic cycle supports your plan exit (e.g. historic company performance versus forecast performance and macroeconomic environment); Ensure compliance across all areas of the business (e.g. regulatory, environmental and sustainability). Addressing these areas well ahead of undertaking a potential M&A process will help reduce the risk of value erosion during a transaction.  Appointing advisors can also ease the transaction process and enhance value by allowing owners and managers to continue to focus on successful day-to-day operations. And to advisors, I would also say: take the time to listen carefully. It’s important to be humble and confident. There is no place for arrogance. 

From art to accountancy and audit to recruitment, Mark Baker has forged a multi-faceted career that speaks to the diversity and mobility of the profession today In his career as a financial recruiter, Mark Baker estimates he has met “thousands” of accountants. “Not one is the same as the next,” Baker says. “This clichéd idea that we are boring is just not true, but thankfully I think we’re seeing that cliché less and less these days.” Baker puts this shifting perception of accountants down to the rise of professional platforms such as LinkedIn – which has given people greater insight into the reality of the profession and how diverse it is. “Qualifying as a Chartered Accountant gives you such a strong career foundation. It opens up avenues and gives you a lot of different options,” he says. “You can go anywhere you want with it really because, if you are a Chartered Accountant, people know straight off the bat that you have a high level of competence in multiple areas – you need that to get the qualification in the first place.” As joint Managing Partner of Darwin Hawkins, the recruitment firm he established in 2018 with co-founder and fellow FCA Niall O’Kelly (ex-PwC), Baker has a bird’s eye view of emerging trends in the profession and what might lie ahead for the accountant of the future.   Range of career options Darwin Hawkins provides recruitment services to employers and candidates in the finance sector and has as its Chair investor James Caan, CBE, the British-Pakistani recruitment entrepreneur and former judge on the BBC series Dragons’ Den. “Every day, we’re talking to Chartered Accountants about their career options and the sheer range of choices open to them. You can go into a multitude of diverse areas such as data analytics, corporate finance or sustainability,” Baker says. “I’ve always viewed training contracts as apprenticeships. A lot of people train in audit for three-plus years and move directly into roles as financial accountants or financial analysts. “They can often even move into corporate finance on very good salaries straight after training in audit, but those two roles are actually very different. I think that really highlights the quality of the qualification and the mobility it gives you in terms of your career options right from the get-go.” Baker himself qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte in Dublin, training in audit, and went on to work in the banking sector with Certus, the specialist loan servicing group, before cutting his teeth in recruitment with FK International and partnering with Niall O’Kelly to launch Darwin Hawkins. His path to qualifying as a Chartered Accountant and finding his entrepreneurial niche in recruitment has not been a straightforward one, however, and, as Baker sees it, his story serves as a strong example of the diversity in the profession and varied career paths qualifying as a Chartered Accountant can support. “I really think young people need to hear our stories as Chartered Accountants; about what we do every day, the opportunities we have and how we got to where we are. That’s the best way we can show them what this profession has to offer,” he says.   Path to accounting Baker grew up in the south Dublin suburbs of Shankill and Sandyford, attending Cabinteely Community School, and went on to study Arts at University College Dublin (UCD). “When I was at primary school, all I can remember is that I wanted to play for Celtic FC and, as I got a bit older and wiser, I decided maybe I could be an artist. I was good at art, good at sports. My parents were always very supportive, so I grew up genuinely believing I could be anything I wanted to be,” he says. “I did quite well at school, but unfortunately like many people I know, I can’t say I had great career guidance at secondary school and I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to go in.” While studying at UCD, Baker discovered his entrepreneurial flair, selling portrait paintings for impressive price tags in local art galleries and then online. “As a 20-year-old at college, in my spare time I was selling my paintings through galleries for €2,000 and €3,000. It was a simple business model – I put the work in and got paid for it in direct proportion. I was able to create something from nothing, go to market, and be financially rewarded. That entrepreneurial mindset was always there, and it was now being validated,” he says. “After college, I made the decision to go full-time doing that for a year to see how it would go – selling art through my website and the Green Gallery in Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre – famous faces, portraits, realism.” “I did reasonably well, but then the recession hit in 2008 and everything just fell off a cliff. Nobody wanted to spend money on paintings. My little bubble burst. I had to step back and ask myself, not just ‘What do I want to do?’ but also, ‘What’s a solid career?’ I didn’t want to be a starving artist.” To this day, Baker continues to paint in his own time and has been commissioned over the years to produce portraits of high-profile subjects, including Barack Obama, Stephen Spielberg and Dave Grohl, lead singer of the Foo Fighters. “I promised myself I would never give up on it and I haven’t. I still sell my paintings and hold exhibitions, but I knew when the recession hit that I also needed security. I liked the open-ended nature of accountancy. When you become an accountant, you can essentially go into any kind of business, and even start your own. That appealed to me,” he says.   Professional diploma in accounting Baker went on to complete the Professional Diploma in Accounting at DCU Business School, a conversion course designed for non-business graduates who want to work in accounting. After graduating, he joined Deloitte as a trainee and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2011. “I found Deloitte very supportive. They give you everything you need. The people are the best thing about it, particularly at your own level. You have a support group when you are doing your exams and training contract,” he says. “Without the support of those around me, and the opportunity to ask questions when I needed to, I think I would have struggled. I learned a lot. I learned what professionalism is. I learned what a high standard of performance is – the best in the business. For me, the Chartered Accountants Ireland professional training programme is the peak, the pinnacle. I learned a million little things through my training contract that still stand to me today.” Now, as a recruiter and co-founder of his own firm, Baker is intent on using his experience in life and work to provide candidates and employers with a personal, tailored recruitment experience. “With Darwin Hawkins, Niall and I backed ourselves and each other. We took a risk starting a recruitment business, but it’s also delivered the biggest reward. I believe that people need to take more risks,” he says. “We’re different from many of the other recruiters I’ve come across in our field. We’re a team of qualified accountants. Having met thousands of accountants, I know more now about every facet of accounting and every possible career path, than I ever would doing the one role. “Accountants are very nuanced due to the wide-ranging career paths open to them. Every accountant we meet has a different story, different skillsets, and will have different opportunities. We try to help people realise and seize these opportunities”.   Future of the profession As for the future of the profession? The basics will always matter, Baker says. “Employers will always want to know that candidates have the basics of accounting mastered. Interpersonal skills will always be a major selling point, but I think now with the emergence of different technologies, adaptability is also very important,” he says. “Employers want to know that you will be willing and able to get stuck into tasks and projects that are outside the day-to-day – a systems implementation project, for example, or something that’s heavy on data analytics”. “Knowledge and experience in big data and Power BI data visualisation tools are increasingly important along with a good understanding of systems implementation and process improvement”. “Because technology is evolving so much, these systems have to be implemented and finance teams are heavily involved because they are the ones who are going to be using them. When you get involved, you become an integral part of the business”. “Artificial intelligence is another obvious one. There are multiple AI tools already being used in finance, but you still need the people with the ideas and knowledge to train these systems with the correct prompts, and to ensure that ethical standards are being maintained. “I believe that there will always be a need for accounting talent, no matter what technology brings and how it might change the way we work.”

The achievements of the vibrant network of over 700 Chartered Accountants in the US continue to represent the best of the profession and provide a crucial conduit for inbound investment to our shores US members represent best of the profession  For decades, Ireland’s Chartered Accountants have beaten a well-worn path across the Atlantic, writes Sinead Donovan, President of Chartered Accountants Ireland. Facilitated by a Mutual Recognition Agreement with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), our members have had the opportunity to build their careers in roles across industry and practice. Many make the move in the early years of their career, looking to explore the world and gain post-qualification experience in a new market. As you will see in this special report, many remain there through their careers, becoming embedded in the local economy, their achievements in senior positions representing the best of the Chartered qualification. These more established representatives of our profession become highly effective advocates across the United States, and indeed for the island of Ireland, as they become influential ambassadors for inbound investment to our shores. This flow of investment is well-established and mutually beneficial for our economies, and I am proud of the critical role our members play in driving and servicing this. As a membership organisation, one of the most critical things we can do is support members in this work. In what I like to call the “family” of accountants, I have come to realise that no matter how far from home members are located, there is that strong desire for community and a sense of belonging with their fellow members overseas and with the Institute at home. On the ground in the US, there is also a strong network of overseas chapters, run so effectively by local volunteer members, many of whom I had the pleasure of meeting last year when I visited. The other crucial way we support members is through the power of our professional network. Over the years, we have built strong and enduring relationships with AICPA, the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy and Chartered Accountants Worldwide, among many others. This collective voice is invaluable in continuing to help our profession to grow and further develop meaningful economic and societal impact.  Colm Mackin, Act+Acre As co-founder and Chief Executive of Act+Acre, the New York headquartered haircare business he runs with his wife and business partner Helen Reavey, Colm Mackin has just launched the brand in 235 US outlets of Sephora, the cosmetics retail giant. It is a major milestone for Mackin, a Chartered Accountant from Co. Down, and Reavey, a top hairstylist from Armagh, who launched the brand together in 2019. They partnered with scientists at Stanford University to develop a range of patented cold-processed haircare products designed to resolve scalp-related issues ranging from product build-up to thinning hair. Since then, Mackin and Reavey have employed a successful e-commerce strategy that has seen Act+Acre grow from strength to strength, netting the venture US$12 million in private investment. “That first spark of an idea came from Helen’s experience working at Paris Fashion Week with all these models who were going from show to show,” Mackin explains.  “They had nothing to remove scalp build-up and their hair wasn’t performing. We saw this gap in the market for a range of products that could address these issues and promote scalp health as the basis for healthy hair.” At the time, Mackin had transferred from PwC in Dublin to work on the international tax team at the firm’s New York office. His decision to leave a secure role in practice for the unfamiliar world of entrepreneurship was bolstered by his pure belief in the Act+Acre concept. “What I had been doing in practice gave me a really good grounding for what we’ve gone on to achieve with Act+Acre, but there are different chapters to the story,” he says. “We spent six months researching our products and the cold-processed process behind them. Then, you must get the product/market fit right, build your team and raise the money you need. “I think that’s where I’ve really seen the benefits of my qualification coming through. America is a place where you have access to investors you wouldn’t necessarily find in smaller markets and being Irish helps because we’re naturally good storytellers and we are naturally passionate.  “That helps to get the conversation started, but being a Chartered Accountant also means I have a very good understanding of profit and loss on a balance sheet. I can speak with confidence to investors; it’s just innate. I can answer their questions. You’re speaking to them on their level and that helps hugely when you’re out there raising money to build your own business.” US market appeal Mackin is one of over 700 members of Chartered Accountants Ireland currently living and working in the US.  More than one-in-three are in the 24-44 age bracket, demonstrating the market’s ongoing appeal to, and demand for, talented Chartered Accountants from Ireland building their careers.  While concentrated in cities such as New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and LA, their footprint can be found right across the country, from Washington State to Florida and from Texas to Michigan.  Eighty-two percent of Institute members in the US work in business. The second largest cohort (10%) work in practice.   Una Troy, SS&C Technologies One of the 82 percent of Institute members in the US working in business is Una Troy. Troy is a Managing Director with SS&C Technologies, a provider of services and software to the financial services and healthcare industries with some 20,000 clients and offices around the world. Based in New Jersey, Troy qualified as a Chartered Accountant in Dublin and had already worked in high-level positions in the funds industry in the UK and Australia by the time she found herself en route to the US in 2005. “I was working with BISYS Fund Services in Dublin in 2005 when the company started hiring people to support its growing hedge fund business in the US and I decided to make the move across to New Jersey,” she says. Almost immediately, Troy found her qualification as a Chartered Accountant beneficial to her career progression in the States. “At the time, BISYS had acquired the hedge fund administration arm of an accountancy practice and I was able to help that business integrate into BISYS,” she says. “My accountancy background gave the local leadership team confidence in me and the group I was leading and, when BISYS was sold to Citi, I became Global Head of Operations for Citi’s hedge fund business.” Troy was subsequently appointed Managing Director, SS&C GlobeOp, following SS&C Technologies’ acquisition of Citi’s Alternative Investor Services Business. “I have found the US very welcoming as a place to live and work. There are a lot of commonalities culturally between Ireland and the US; both share a very strong work ethic. There are great career opportunities here and your efforts are rewarded.” Troy’s advice to Chartered Accountants who have relocated to the US more recently is to make full use of the professional network facilitated on-the-ground by Chartered Accountants Ireland. “You’ll start to form a network of colleagues within your work role, but it’s also important to broaden your contacts outside that,” she says. “Attend events hosted by Chartered Accountants Ireland and other organisations relevant to your work. Once you start to attend these events, you automatically start to broaden your network.” The Chartered Accountancy qualification is relatively well-recognised in the US and associated with high professional standards, Troy says, but certain roles may require applicants to hold a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) designation.  “For many Irish Chartered Accountants, the qualification itself will suffice but where a CPA designation is required, an accelerated path has been facilitated by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the National Association of the State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) through a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) with Chartered Accountants Ireland,” she says. About the MRA Chartered Accountants Ireland first signed its MRA with the AICPA and NASBA in 2004 and the agreement has since been renewed several times.  “Irish Chartered Accountants can access the US designation and gain practice rights in the US,” explains Ian Browne, Director of Education, Chartered Accountants Ireland. “This is of particular relevance to those who wish to work in practice in the US and is increasingly required by US firms.” To successfully complete the process, Chartered Accountants are required to pass the International Qualification Exam (IQEX) operated by NASBA. This can be done in Ireland before moving to the US. “Additionally, as the US CPA qualification includes audit rights, you should ideally have obtained the Irish Audit Qualification before you leave should you plan to work in audit,” Browne says. Ken L. Bishop, President and CEO of NASBA, says the MRA gives Irish Chartered Accountants a relatively easy route to securing the necessary certification to work in the US. “Irish Chartered Accountants are typically highly valued by the US profession and many have taken advantage of the MRA,” Bishop says. “I believe that the MRA and the flexibility and mobility of practice privileges that can be accomplished is hugely important. We live in an increasingly global economy, and the business and economic nexus between the US and Ireland continues to increase.” Alan T. Ennis, former Revlon CEO For Alan T. Ennis, who has lived and worked in the US since 1999, his qualification as a Chartered Accountant provided the crucial foundation on which he has been able to build a high-flying career in business. Ennis studied commerce at University College Dublin and qualified in 1991 with Arthur Andersen, where he continued to work as a manager for a few years before moving to the UK to join Ingersoll Rand in Manchester. It wasn’t until he negotiated a transfer to the US multinational’s New Jersey office in 1999, however, that his career really began to take off. “I moved through various different financial roles from internal audit to financial planning and investor relations there,” he says. In 2004, as he was considering a potential move to North Dakota to take up a position as CFO of Ingersoll Rand’s Bobcat division, Ennis was headhunted for a very different role. “I was offered the position of head of internal audit at Revlon. I was in my early thirties and my choice was between Bobcat in Fargo, North Dakota, and this other role with a very different and much smaller company that would put me in New York.  “Revlon had a lot of debt at the time. It was a high-risk move, but I thought, ‘you know what, I’m going to go for it’.” It was a risk that would pay off for Ennis who quickly climbed the ladder at Revlon. “Being a Chartered Accountant put me in a very good place to understand the financial operations of any corporation and that really stood me in good stead at Revlon,” he says.  “I could understand financial statements, I understood the importance of profitability and cash and how investments work.  “What happened next was really a combination of readiness and serendipity. Within two-and-half years, I had gone from Head of Internal Audit to Corporate Controller to President of International and then Chief Financial Officer.” As CFO, Ennis again found his training as a Chartered Accountant invaluable. “The Board of Directors could see that I knew how the business worked; how it operated.” After two-and-a-half years as Revlon’s CFO, Ennis was appointed to the top role of Chief Executive of Revlon for five years. “I had a great run and a superb team of people behind me and when I left that role in 2014, I got a great package and I wasn’t under pressure anymore really to prove myself. I had choices,” he says. In the years since, Ennis has “dabbled in private equity and joined a couple of boards, both profit and not-for-profit.”  “In everything I’ve done here in the US, my qualification continues to be the most valuable jewel in my chest of knowledge,” he says. “My advice to Chartered Accountants moving from Ireland to the States now is to make sure you start to connect with other Chartered Accountants over here straight away – and there are lots of us in New York, Boston, San Francisco and other places. That’s a valuable network. “The other piece of advice I would have is that it’s okay to put yourself out there – in fact, it’s a good idea. Americans tend to be confident in how they present themselves professionally. They are proud of what they have done and they’re confident in their success and in abilities.  “They’re not afraid to talk about it. Irish people, myself included at times, tend to downplay our achievements and abilities. In the US, people won’t necessarily understand that so it’s not a bad idea to learn to advocate for yourself, your skills and talents.” Significant contribution to New York business community Irish Chartered Accountants make a significant contribution to the New York business community, writes Helena Nolan, Consul General of Ireland in New York. Its active members are a testament to the wide reach of Irish and Irish American accounting professionals in the broader New York business and finance sectors. It was a pleasure to host Chartered Accountants Ireland again for another networking event at the Consulate in New York during St. Patrick’s week in 2023 and an honour to have Irish Minister for Education, Norma Foley TD, present to address the gathering of members and partner organisations. Networking events like these are important for showcasing members’ contribution, for raising awareness of the increasing opportunities available now for businesses in Ireland and to help underpin the vibrant professional relationships between professional organisations and individuals in the United States and Ireland. The Consulate team is always pleased to support and reinforce these strategic linkages between our two countries and our two economies, where we see an increasingly mutual relationship, in terms of trade and investment, and great potential for the future. Chartered Accountants play important role in winning FDI for Ireland    Ireland’s investment relationship with the US is strong and enduring with about half of all IDA Ireland clients headquartered in the US, writes Brian Conroy, Executive Vice President and Director, North America, IDA Ireland. These US companies employ more than 180,000 people in Ireland across a range of sectors such as technology, life sciences, financial services and engineering. US investments in Ireland are by no means gained effortlessly. With over 30,000 members, Chartered Accountants Ireland plays a very important role in the winning of FDI for Ireland. The Institute’s members work in senior positions in practice and industry both in Ireland and in the US and provide the financial leadership and talent crucial to Ireland’s success. A key reason our country is an attractive place for US companies to do business is because people here in government, industry and academia work hard to make it that way. The activities of US multinational companies supported by IDA Ireland make a crucial contribution to our FDI success. US members: key decision-makers driving NI inward investment Alongside our wider diaspora network, professional membership bodies like Chartered Accountants Ireland play a significant role in bringing people together, writes Andrea Haughian, Executive Vice President and Head of Americas with Invest Northern Ireland.  Organisations like Chartered Accountants Ireland afford agencies such as Invest Northern Ireland the opportunity to engage with members across the US, many of whom are, or can facilitate access to, key decision-makers responsible for investment decisions. We deeply value the relationships facilitated by Chartered Accountants Ireland. For more than 20 years, Invest Northern Ireland has supported US companies to successfully establish centres of excellence in Northern Ireland.  Northern Ireland’s global reputation as a trusted business partner with a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem, talented workforce and deep expertise in research and innovation, has long been a magnet for significant foreign direct investment from the US. Companies such as Seagate, Citi, Aflac, and Microsoft have joined more than 230 US-owned businesses operating across the region and employing over 30,000 people in sectors as diverse as technology, advanced manufacturing and engineering, life and health sciences and financial and professional services.  Demonstrating the importance of the relationship between the US and Northern Ireland, US President Joe Biden has appointed Joe Kennedy III as the US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland for Economic Affairs with a focus on advancing economic development and investment opportunities. 

As we prepare to usher in the New Year, three Chartered Accountants tell us about the biggest changes and challenges they have faced in their professional lives over the past 12 months Michelle Hawkins  Head of Business Advisory FPM 2023 has certainly been an interesting year!  As Head of Business Advisory at FPM, I support both public sector and private clients as they navigate these difficult times. A key challenge in 2023 has undoubtedly been the unprecedented rise in interest rates, resulting in difficulties accessing and servicing finance.  Clients increasingly require support in this area. To address this, our organisation established a dedicated Funding Solutions Division designed to help clients renegotiate their banking and loan commitments. The talent shortage and skills gap that our clients have experienced in the past year has been among the biggest in history.  It’s hard to believe that, in the current economic climate, lack of available talent is the number one challenge keeping businesses from growing and innovating. In response, we launched a Virtual Finance Function to support businesses that need to strengthen or fully outsource their finance department.  Another challenge this year has been the need to help businesses prepare for the impact of the Windsor Framework, which came into force in October. We are fortunate to have customs experts within the AAB Group with which we recently merged, whose knowledge and skills have greatly supported clients adapting to the new regime. John Morgan  CFO Dale Farm Coop I will most certainly view 2023 as a pivotal year in my career.  After spending 20 enjoyable years in a plc environment with BT, I took a leap into the unknown, joining Dale Farm Coop as Chief Financial Officer – switching not just to a different business model but also a very different sector.  Cash management has been crucial in both roles. During my time working with a plc, good cash management was about ensuring that we delivered our quarterly cash commitments to the city.  At Dale Farm, it’s about ensuring that our debt levels are controlled while paying a milk price that’s as competitive as possible. On reflection, the main challenge so far in this role has been managing the balance between profit and milk price. As a coop, our primary objective is to pay our members the most competitive milk price we can.  To achieve this objective, we need to generate a certain profit level to fund working capex/capex requirements and ensure we pay a competitive milk price over the long term. Managing this balance is critical to the role of CFO at Dale Farm.  Communicating directly with our board, leadership team and members to explain why we need to make a certain level of profit has been a key focus for me in 2023.  My second biggest priority since joining Dale Farm has been the management of interest costs and working capital levels.  Due to our investment strategy, debt levels have increased and, as interest rates have doubled over the last 12 months, this has required greater attention on working capital management. Educating the business on the parameters and importance of working capital has been a priority for me.  I would advise anyone considering a move between industries and business models to embrace the opportunity. I’ve found the change invigorating and I’m pleasantly surprised at how the core skillset of a Chartered Accountant can be applied so well in such different environments. Brian McNamara  Managing Director SwiftFile Customs When the post-Brexit trading environment kicked in almost three years ago, much of the initial focus was on keeping goods moving whereas ensuring compliance was not necessarily given the same level of attention by importers unfamiliar with customs obligations.  After a relatively relaxed initial approach from the Revenue Commissioners, 2023 has seen a significant increase in the number of companies selected for customs audits. With this, we have certainly seen a heightened awareness of the importance of managing customs risk. With Revenue audits now becoming the norm for importers and the potential fines and penalties that go with them, this is a trend I expect to see continue. October 2023 also saw the introduction of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), the EU carbon tax on imports.  While not a core customs issue, the CBAM reporting requirements for importers of iron, steel and cement (initially) are particularly onerous.  Staffing continues to be a challenge in our industry. The economy has slowed in 2023, and there have been some high-profile job losses in the technology industry. As with other sectors, however, there are industry-specific reasons for staffing challenges in customs clearance.  Thirty years of single market membership has meant a shortage of customs professionals. Now that the UK has left the EU, it will take time to build the knowledge base on customs in Ireland. In the meantime, we address this issue by providing comprehensive in-house training.  Thankfully, everything stops moving over the Christmas period. This will allow us all to take a well-earned break and come back ready to meet challenges as they present themselves in 2024.

Jonathan Wilson talks us through his career from his training in Belfast in the nineties through to his current role as Managing Director, Chief Internal Auditor with Barclays Europe In the 30 years since he began his training contract in 1993 with BDO Stoy Hayward in Belfast, Jonathan Wilson has carved out an accomplished career in internal audit in banks ranging from National Australia Bank and Danske to NatWest and now Barclays. Here, he tells Accountancy Ireland why he chose to specialise in audit and the decisions, opportunities and lessons that have helped him progress his career to date. Do you remember when and why you decided to train as a Chartered Accountant? When I was ten or 11, it seemed like all the kids around me wanted to be pilots or astronauts. I wanted to be an accountant. My uncle was an accountant, and I had a genuine interest in business – in particular, business performance – from a young age.  That’s why, when I finished at Methodist College in Belfast, I chose to study economics at Queen’s and, from there, to join BDO Stoy Hayward in 1993 to train as a Chartered Accountant. I got great training with really broad experience and, at an early stage, decided I wanted a career in industry rather than practice.  I started to focus on internal audit and risk management and joined Northern Bank in Belfast as a Senior Auditor in 1999.  Because National Australia Bank owned Northern Bank at that time, I got the opportunity to move to Melbourne in 2002 as a Senior Audit Manager working across areas ranging from corporate banking to retail services, finance and risk. That role also allowed me to work in New Zealand and in Asia and, when Northern Bank was taken over by Danske Bank in Ireland, I was asked to come back to help manage the transition as its Head of Internal Audit in the North and south. After five years, I was given responsibility for Danske Banks’ Internal Audit in new markets including Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia, Poland and the Baltics. I then had a brief period as Group Chief Auditor with the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation followed by 18 months as Head of Audit with AIB. I joined NatWest as Chief Auditor in 2014 and started in my current role with Barclays in January 2023.  Are you glad you decided to qualify as a Chartered Accountant? Has the qualification helped or hindered your career? Being a Chartered Accountant can open up so many professional opportunities. You need a lot of discipline, patience and perseverance to earn the qualification in the first place and this experience has helped me enormously in my career since. Chartered Accountants can work in a really broad range of environments – from all kinds of businesses to practice or the public sector – you name it. This scope has given me a strong grounding in understanding how business works, not just from a financial point of view, but also in a broader sense. Tell us about your current role as Chief Internal Auditor with Barclays Europe. When I joined Barclays, it had been in Ireland for more than 30 years, but it was facing a new set of very exciting opportunities in the wake of the Brexit vote.  I now lead a very experienced team of audit professionals based in Dublin, Paris and Frankfurt. The organisation is incredibly diverse, not just geographically but also in terms of the people I work with every day. I am ultimately responsible for the quality of the assurance work our team provides and I am lucky to have a team of strong directors working with me. As well as our assurance work, we are expected to add real value to the business in terms of risk management and systems of internal control. What are the biggest trends and developments you have seen in your profession and the wider market since starting out? Traditionally, auditing was very manual with lots of paper records stored in Lever Arch files and big, heavy briefcases. Audit software was only just beginning to emerge at the start of my career and it’s amazing to reflect now on how much this whole area has since evolved. Today, we are dealing with metadata and approaching the operating audit with a much greater emphasis on digital tools. Auditors nowadays need to be digitally enabled and we are also beginning to look at how we can use artificial intelligence in our work in the future. When I did my MBA with Manchester Business School, my specialist topic focused on the various financial crises we have experienced going right back to the Wall Street Crash of 1929. In the years since, the time lag between financial crises has narrowed dramatically. We used to get one every 50 years, but now we are finding ourselves in a crisis every five or ten years. I have experienced a number of these crises working in internal audit, and my international experience has given me a good perspective on how best to deal with them. Is there anything in particular you have learned in your career that has stood you in good stead? When I was with National Australian Group, Mark Martinelli was the Chief Auditor. He was a big influence on me. He taught me to ask the simple question: “If it doesn’t make sense, why doesn’t it make sense?”  We can get carried away, agonising over complex and difficult tasks and challenges. Sometimes, the best approach is to return to your key audit principles and ask this one simple question – and keep hold of it until you get the answer. Audit standards have been developed and refined over the years, but the core principles are the same today as they were when I was starting my career. Our role is about providing assurance and gathering sufficient audit evidence; it’s about our control objectives. Asking the simple questions is vital. What career advice would you offer your younger self if you had the opportunity? Don’t narrow your horizons. Keep your aspirations broad and try to work across as many different companies and countries as you can.  Also, do things you like to do and enjoy what you are doing. My son once considered a career in medicine, but he’s now an accountant – somewhat to my surprise!  When he told me he had taken a job with a film company making documentaries for Netflix, Disney and Amazon, I had some concerns given the insecure nature of the industry. Then I thought, “Actually, that sounds really exciting”. In the end, I told him to go for it – he would have anyway! I suppose my advice is that you shouldn’t make choices in your career to please anyone else. Do the things you want to do for yourself and don’t be afraid of failure. Finally, what are your career plans from here on in? I love the job I have right now. I’ve only been with Barclays for a short time and I have the ‘fuel in the tank’ to expand and develop in this role. It is a big challenge, but it’s very enjoyable. Another aspect of my career as a Chartered Accountant I find really rewarding is the scope it has given me to apply my skills volunteering as a trustee with various charities and sporting organisations.  I have done a lot of volunteering outside my ‘day job’ and my background in Chartered Accountancy has been incredibly valuable here. When eventually I am no longer working full-time, I hope to be able to continue in non-executive board positions and to continue to use my skills and experience where it may be required.

Mike Hanrahan, FCA and Chair of Sustain.Life, tells Accountancy Ireland why carbon accounting capability is becoming a must-have for suppliers to big corporations  Wexford-born Chartered Accountant Mike Hanrahan is Chair and co-founder of Sustain.Life, the innovative tech start-up behind a software-as-a-service platform that helps companies decarbonise their operations. Sustain.Life combines environmental, sustainable and governance (ESG) and carbon accounting tools so companies of all sizes can better manage and mitigate carbon emissions while also cutting costs. Based in New Jersey in the US, Hanrahan launched Sustain.Life in 2021 with co-founders Annalee Bloomfield and Patrick Campagnano, and is now gearing up to scale the company globally. Here, he talks to Accountancy Ireland about the professional path that has taken him from Ireland to London and the US, and from a career in accounting to banking and finance, e-commerce and, now, sustainable entrepreneurship. Tell us about Sustain.Life. How did the company come about?  Before I established Sustain.Life, I co-founded the e-commerce company Jet.com in the US with two guys, Marc Lore and Nate Faust.  By that stage, I had moved to the US, but before that I worked in London having trained as a Chartered Accountant with PwC in Ireland.  I started working in The City in the mid-nineties when I was in my early twenties and moved from risk management into technology, building risk and trading systems for banks. Marc Lore was my boss while I was working at Credit Suisse. He became a great mentor and, when he moved to the US to set up his first e-commerce start-up, I agreed to move over as well to work with him. We subsequently set up Jet.com together. I was the company’s Chief Technology Officer and when we sold Jet.com to Walmart in 2013, I became Chief Executive of Walmart’s Intelligent Retail Lab. That’s where I met Annalee Bloomfield and Patrick Campagnano. Annalee was Head of Product and Customer Experience and Patrick was Head of Engineering. We had all this expertise in building scalable, accessible technologies that could meet market needs and we could see the challenges Walmart’s suppliers were facing trying to adhere to its ESG standards and requirements.  We wanted to make sustainability more accessible – to democratise it – for smaller companies in the supply chain. Climate change is humanity’s greatest threat and, together, SMEs account for a significant amount of the greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change. We need the tools to enable more organisations to take meaningful climate action – and we need them quickly. That’s what Sustain.Life is all about. How does Sustain.Life work? How does the platform make it easier for SMEs to be more sustainable?  Big corporations like Walmart tend to have the resources they need to invest in sustainability programmes whereas SMEs don’t.  It’s much more difficult to introduce carbon accounting and climate action programmes in a small company where you have less money and fewer people. That was our starting point for Sustain.Life and the sizable market need we are addressing with the platform. Sustain.Life gives SMEs who don’t have in-house expertise the tools they need to start measuring the environmental impact of their internal operations and supply chains.  It helps them understand how to manage and reduce their emissions by introducing operational changes in areas like energy, water and waste. The platform is also designed to help them comply with reporting frameworks, even as they are evolving in different jurisdictions, and allows them to report their sustainability progress to customers, investors and employees using verifiable data.  Tell us about your interest in sustainable business, and in using technology to help combat climate change.  I have been passionate about sustainability for a long time, really since I first moved to the US in 2010. Prior to that, I hadn’t really understood some of the psychology around climate change and the power of the fossil fuel industry on people’s thinking here in the US. It was so different to what I had experienced in Europe. I found that quite a lot of people here didn’t take climate change seriously and didn’t see it as a critical threat. That was very worrying. Climate change is barrelling at us really quickly and we need to act now.  Back then, I think there was still wider optimism that climate change was a problem we could solve relatively easily. It’s not. Energy is at the heart of our entire global economy and fossil fuels power a large percentage of our energy. The threat is enormous and it is complex. We need to find solutions to electrify the global economy and that is going to take many years.  We have to invest money now and start to move very quickly if we are going to get ourselves into a position where we can stop the rot and figure out how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through carbon capture and other means. What is the state-of-play now in the US regarding efforts to curb climate change and where does Sustain.Life fit in?  When we were starting Sustain.Life, we saw two big potential drivers in the US for a carbon accounting platform: sustainability in the supply chain and regulation, either at state or federal level. Both predictions are starting to materialise. In October, a new law was approved in California requiring big corporations with annual revenues of over $1 billion to report greenhouse gas emissions. We have also recently started to see some of the biggest Fortune 500 companies introduce new policies requiring companies in their supply chain to be able to report on, and set goals for, their own carbon emissions. Amazon, Microsoft and Costco have all now introduced these policies. We already had experience of this at Walmart, which introduced Project Gigaton back in 2017 with the aim of reducing or avoiding one billion metric tonnes of greenhouse gasses from its global value chain by 2030. When we were out raising money for Sustain.Life, we were telling the venture capitalists that smaller companies supplying the Big Fortune 500 corporations like Walmart, Amazon and Costco would be out of business within a few years if they were unable to report on their carbon emissions.  It’s wonderful to see that sea change starting to happen in reality. You launched Sustain.Life in November 2021. Tell us about the development of the business so far. The version of the platform that went live in late 2021 was our MVP. Our revenue function kicked in early in the second quarter of 2022 and that’s really when we were ready to start selling into enterprises. For most of 2022, if you were to ask me what was keeping me up at night – it was wondering if we had timed the company right. We knew companies would need this technology, but you still have those questions: Are we too early? Is this demand going to materialise as we had anticipated? Now, I feel really good about both how our product and our market is developing. We’re able to go toe-to-toe with our competitors and that’s really important because our market is extremely competitive. There are new entrants nearly every week and we’re up against big enterprise players offering solutions in this space like Microsoft and Salesforce. We come up against these guys all the time and we seem to be able to beat them out. The market opportunity is massive and we’re ready to scale. We already have US customers in sectors like food and beverage, electric vehicles and fintech. We also work a lot in the US with accounting firms. We have some great accounting partners. What is the plan now for Sustain.Life? What is your strategy for the company over the next 12 months?  Our biggest focus right now is on internationalisation and tailoring the platform for the needs of different markets. It’s a complex process because you need to be able to support different currencies and units of measurement. Calculating carbon emissions requires a lot of different data sets – but we’re ready.  Our product is mature, as is our team, so our main focus now is on sales and building strong partner channels in different markets. Our first test market will be Australia, where we already have salespeople. Once our model is bedded down there, the plan is to copy it very quickly in other markets. In Europe, a big focus for us will be the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and Ireland – in particular, Ireland’s accounting sector – is very much in our sights. *Interview by Elaine O’Regan

As Chartered Accountants prepare for 2024, Ross Boyd outlines key measures to stay one step ahead in a challenging climate Whilst the dawn of a New Year brings with it a sense of hope and often optimism, accountants across the world should brace for a difficult 2024.  I established my practice over a decade ago, having earned my stripes for about 15 years before that, but in all that time I’ve never experienced such volatility and uncertainty.  The year that’s gone has presented the most complex economic test of a generation with the impact of two wars, Brexit and the pandemic completely transforming the business landscape.  I commend my fellow Chartered Accountants for powering through and continuing to do their best for their clients, and their own teams.  Chartered Accountants across the island will already be preparing for a tough 2024, aware of the implications of the current economic climate. The accountancy sector faces additional hurdles, including a skills shortage, retention issues, the continued rise of artificial intelligence and digital tools, and ongoing consolidation across the sector.  While changing business taxation is a big issue in the North, talent and technology are two common themes facing businesses across the island on the cusp of the New Year. Change continues at a relentless pace, and we must pause, embrace and adapt to remain relevant. Here are the key areas I recommend you focus on now, so that you can grow your business and continue to provide trusted and expert counsel to your clients.  Talent Labour shortages, paired with the capacity pressures these shortages cause, are likely to be the most pressing issues restricting growth across many sectors in 2024. Unfortunately, the war on talent is a trend our own sector will continue to battle too.  To put it bluntly, the sector’s image needs reinvention if it’s to continue attracting and retaining talent.  And to put it even more bluntly, investing in human capital is non-negotiable – after all, talent and growth are entirely correlated. As employers, we must adopt a two-pronged approach here.  First, we must invest in existing employees to support their continued contribution to the sector. I would advise any practice to objectively assess their employees’ skill sets and put the necessary plans in place to help them develop.  These development plans should look beyond ‘number crunching’ and financial recording to include a broader set of responsibilities, such as analysing forecasts, identifying emerging trends and networking.  It is crucial we ensure that the role of the Chartered Accountant isn’t limited or constrained, and that it is clearly positioned as that of strategic advisor. Second, we must focus on creating the type of organisation – and providing the kind of leadership – people want today.  Organisations that prioritise diversity, inclusion and flexibility are proven to have higher employee retention, and this is becoming even clearer post-pandemic as Gen Z becomes more present in the workplace.  Now aged between 11 and 26, this generation will account for 27 percent of the workforce by 2025.  At RBCA, we have spent a lot of time developing our graduate programme so that we can give our trainee recruits every opportunity to thrive, including supporting their interpersonal development. We also recently invested in a new office in Belfast to provide a physical environment that supports productivity and learning, and our annual Away Days continue to be invaluable to the culture of RBCA.  Technology  We have all come to understand the importance of digital tools in recent years and it is critical that, in 2024, we continue to use technology to improve both efficiency and security.  At RBCA, we moved to cloud computing in 2011 and we recently invested in new cloud technology, successfully tackling our tech stack. Some ill-advised pundits would argue that accountancy’s future is limited in our increasingly digital world, but our experience is that new accounting technologies have been complementary to our work.  Technology will never replace our profession, however. Why? Because, in my opinion, people will always buy into people.  Relationships and quality communications are the greatest tools at the disposal of today’s Chartered Accountant, providing that crucial competitive edge.  Often, we are so focused on our clients’ businesses and their success that we don’t focus enough on the resilience of our own, but it’s vital that we harness the passion and commitment that exists across the sector to thrive in the New Year.  Ross Boyd is founder and director of RBCA, a Belfast-based Chartered Accountancy 

The objectives of the National Action Plan Against Racism will be implemented within the Institute, and among members and students, under a recently unveiled Ethnicity Network Group initiative At Chartered Accountants House on a recent evening in late October, members of the Ethnicity Network Group (ENG) announced their plans to implement the objectives of the National Action Plan Against Racism (NAPAR) within the Institute. The ENG is committed to supporting the implementation of NAPAR recommendations within the Institute both as a professional body and employer, explains Deborah Somorin, ENG founder and Co-Chair.  “The National Action Plan Against Racism will be a catalyst for creating more equitable, diverse and inclusive workplaces for people from ethnic minority backgrounds in Ireland,” says Somorin, who is Manager, People Advisory Services, EY Ireland. “Organisations will now acknowledge that racism exists in Ireland and hopefully put in place policies to create authentically anti-racist environments where everyone has fair access to opportunities to gain employment and grow in their careers.” As well as supporting the implementation of NAPAR recommendations within the Institute, Somorin and her ENG colleagues are also committed to supporting members and students who want to implement the recommendations within their own organisations. This is especially important given the recent rise in anti-immigration narratives in Ireland – and the profession is not immune, explains Somorin’s ENG Co-Chair Aisling McCaffrey, Director of Sustainability and Financial Services Advisory at Grant Thorton. “A recent Chartered Accountants Ireland survey found that 43 percent of members and 66 percent of students have personally witnessed or heard someone else being discriminated against in the workplace,” says McCaffrey.  “The survey also found 28 percent of people who identified as being an ethnicity other than white felt their ethnicity had a negative impact on their career as a Chartered Accountant. Only three percent of people who identified as being white responded the same.” The development of NAPAR This isn’t the first time Ireland has attempted to tackle the issue of racism. The country’s first National Action Plan Against Racism was introduced in 2005. When it ended in 2008, however, it was not renewed, leaving “an important vacuum contributing to a ‘normalisation’ of racism”, according to a report by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, published in 2019. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued guidelines on creating a new National Action Plan Against Racial Discrimination in 2014. In turn, Ireland – with a mandate established under the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act – created the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission in 2014. Its purpose was to “protect and promote human rights and equality in Ireland and build a culture of respect for human rights, equality and intercultural understanding in the State”. An Anti-Racism Committee was subsequently established in 2020 by then Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality, David Stanton TD.  The committee was given the mandate to conduct research on racism in Ireland, research best practice in other countries and come up with recommendations to tackle racism here. “We did a number of interviews and consultation processes with different departments and ministers, agencies and bodies,” explains Dr Bashir Otukoya, Anti-Racism Committee member, law lecturer and Higher Executive Officer for the Courts Service.  Dr Otukoya took part in a panel discussion at the October launch of the ENG’s NAPAR initiative at Chartered Accountants House. “We had hundreds of written submissions from members of the public, and we put all of that together to end up with NAPAR,” he says. “Each of the board and community members have their own expertise in different fields, like human rights, anti-discrimination and equality law – and [we have] members of communities that are affected by racism. We went at it from an angle of experience and knowledge.” For ENG member Reabetswe Moutlana, Audit Manager at EY, one of the most important aspects of NAPAR is the momentum it creates for collective action. “NAPAR recognises that the journey towards an inclusive society is a collective journey and, therefore, puts the onus on everyone – the State, private actors, organisations and individuals – to work together to make Ireland a safe place for all,” says Moutlana. “The Action Plan also focuses on a victim/minority-centred approach. The key principle of the plan is that ‘affected groups should participate in the development and oversight of all government policy initiatives and targeted measures to address racism…This essentially means that this is a plan created by affected persons, for affected persons.” NAPAR and the Ethnicity Network Group Established in 2022, the mission of the Ethnicity Network Group within Chartered Accountants Ireland is to promote a sense of belonging and inclusion for people who belong to Traveller, Black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups within the profession. “As such, we see it as our role to promote awareness of NAPAR, provide suggestions for key actions across the profession and assist with its implementation where possible,” says Deborah Somorin. Both Somorin and Dr Otukoya recognise that the strengths of the plan are its five key objectives, comprising very specific action points and target dates. The plan also acknowledges the intersectionality between racism and other forms of oppression, and that the required actions and remedies cannot follow a one-size-fits-all approach.  “We were very careful with how we set the objectives in NAPAR,” explains Dr Otukoya. “We wanted it to be relatable to everyday citizens. So, objectives like being seen, being equal, being heard, and being counted were [designed to be] persuasive and in plain language, usable and implementable by anyone.” NAPAR awareness Even though NAPAR was launched on 21 March 2023, few members present at the ENG event at Chartered Accountants House in October were aware of it, according to McCaffrey.  “This could indicate a lack of awareness around the plan, which means that it is more difficult to keep those in charge of it accountable for the actions proposed, especially as this is more of a short to longer-term plan,” she says. “We want as many people as possible to know about NAPAR and become allies towards creating a safe and equal environment while also promoting it. It’s important that the responsibility for raising awareness and promoting NAPAR does not solely rest on affected persons. This is a collective journey.” NAPAR and the Institute The Ethnicity Network Group has devised a four-step plan to integrate NAPAR into the operations of the Institute, explains Somorin: We will support Chartered Accountants Ireland in its role as an employer, in creating an anti-racist working environment by implementing relevant NAPAR actions; We plan to work with decision-makers to implement NAPAR actions related to Chartered Accountants Ireland’s role as a professional educational body; We will develop members’ and students’ awareness and understanding of NAPAR and how they can implement it within their organisations; and We plan to roll out the industry’s first Ethnicity Pay Gap report. NAPAR can positively influence the world of work, not just for employees, but also employers, Somorin believes. “As noted in NAPAR, inclusive communities are vital to ensure that minority ethnic groups feel a sense of safety, connection and belonging,” she says.  “For employees, we believe that being part of an inclusive workplace, where the impacts of racism are acknowledged and addressed, creates an enabling environment for individuals to reach their highest potential.  “For employers, I believe that embedding key considerations linked to NAPAR will lead to improved retention of staff and, in turn, increase access to a more diverse talent pool.  “This increase in diversity enables companies to relate better to all customers and clients, promotes balanced internal discussion and challenges thinking, which often results in driving innovation – all of which is good for business.” *Written by Liz Riley Northern Ireland Racial Equality Strategy 2015–2025 In Northern Ireland, The Racial Equality Strategy 2015–2025 was launched in December 2015. Alfie Wong, MBE, is Head of Racial Equality Delivery at The Executive Office, Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) Race and Ethnicity Champion, founder of NICS Race and Ethnicity Network and Chartered Accountant. Here, he outlines the key outcomes of the strategy: - Outcome 1: Equality of service provision People from a minority ethnic background can access and benefit from all public services equally. - Outcome 2: Elimination of prejudice, racism and hate crime Effective protection and redress are provided against all manifestations of racism and racist crime, and a victim-centred approach is promoted. - Outcome 3: Increased participation, representation and belonging People from minority ethnic backgrounds participate, and are represented fully, in all aspects of life – public, political, economic, social and cultural – and enjoy a shared sense of belonging. - Outcome 4: Cultural diversity is celebrated The rights of people from minority ethnic backgrounds to maintain their culture and traditions in line with human rights norms – and to pass them on to subsequent generations – are recognised and supported.

Rochelle Beluso-Tadique talks to Accountancy Ireland about her experiences as the parent of an autistic child, and her hopes and expectations for the future  Rochelle Beluso-Tadique is an Auditor and Associate Director with KPMG Ireland. Originally from the Philippines, she moved to Dublin in 2008 and has worked with KPMG since then.  Rochelle and her husband Sherwin Anthony Tadique welcomed their elder daughter Kate in 2012 and, Khloe, her younger sister, was born one-and-a-half years later. Khloe was diagnosed with autism aged three-and-a-half.  Here, Rochelle tells Accountancy Ireland about her experiences as the parent of an autistic child, and about how she would like to see the world of work change to better support the needs of people who have autism and other forms of neurodivergence. Tell us about your daughter Khloe; when she was born and your journey to learning that she has autism. Khloe was born in November 2013. She had a routine check with a Public Health Nurse who found that she was not meeting her milestones both developmentally and behaviourally.  The Public Health Nurse recommended that Khloe be assessed but it was a long journey from that point on because of HSE waiting lists. Khloe was about three-and-a-half when she was finally diagnosed.  I struggled a bit when the diagnosis first came. I was aware of autism but there is a big difference between being aware of autism and having a child who is autistic.  There is a lot to learn. Autism has a very wide spectrum. Some people with autism can manage very well with social communication and interaction. Khloe is non-verbal. She doesn’t talk.  What have you learned about autism and how Khloe experiences and interacts with the world around her? Khloe experiences sensory overload. She doesn’t like strangers or closed spaces and noise upsets her. She is wearing headphones now, which help to eliminate noise and make life easier for her. Because she is non-verbal, she uses an iPad as her communication tool. This helps her to tell us what she wants to eat, when she wants to play, when she wants to wash. It really helps her to communicate her needs. How has your experience with your daughter influenced the way you see the world of work? Fully functioning autistic people tend to have very good attention to detail. They can be very good with numbers and working in fields like data analytics.  The challenge right now is that it can be difficult to get these people into the workforce, despite their strengths, because most companies do not have strategies for supporting and managing neurodivergent employees. It can even be challenging to get internships for people who are neurodivergent. Do you think employers are well prepared to work with people who have autism and other neurodiverse conditions? This is a complex area. If you look at the hiring process alone, someone who is autistic may have different ways of communicating that are not facilitated in the recruitment process.  They may not engage in eye contact, for example. They may speak very loudly and excitedly. Ideally, companies should have managers and other people involved in the hiring process who have been trained to interview neurodivergent people. Supporting people who are neurodivergent at work isn’t just about hiring. Employers also need to think about how these people experience work day-to-day and how best they can support them.  If you have someone who is neurodivergent in your organisation, you must be aware of their needs, including intolerance to noise in some instances.   You could allow this person to wear headphones, for example, or give them access to a room where they can get away from noise. There is a lot to think about, but it is manageable with the right approach. My advice is that employers link up with organisations that are working with and serving the neurodivergent population.  These organisations can help companies develop strategies to manage the specific areas they need to address. Based on your own experience and knowledge, what do employers need to know and understand about people who are autistic so they can offer them the right support? A lot of companies have policies on diversity and inclusion in areas like ethnicity and physical disability, but the majority do not address neurodiversity. Every one of us has our own unique traits, characteristics and preferences, but we need to pay special attention to employees who have neurodiverse conditions, such as autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia. This process must be collaborative and prioritise talking to these employees, listening to them, and using their feedback to decide on the approach that works for them. How would you like the world of work to be when your daughter Khloe grows up? I used to worry a lot about Khloe’s future but less so now. At the moment she is non-verbal and I don’t know if she will be able to read or write because her literacy skills have not been assessed.  There is a long way to go for Khloe so we will just have to wait and see what happens. How would you like to see the wider world change to better meet the needs of neurodivergent people? There will always be challenges but I want people who are neurodivergent to be given the same opportunities as neurotypical people.  Ideally, companies should have neurodiversity policies and strategies in place, not just to support, but also attract neurodiverse employees.  Neurodivergent people have a lot to offer. They have unique talents. They think outside-the-box and they can bring something unique and beneficial to the companies that employ them.  On a wider scale, there is now better awareness of neurodiversity because of media coverage in newspapers, magazines, radio and TV shows. In Ireland, I can already see companies like Starbucks employing people who are neurodivergent. Hopefully in the future, more companies will integrate more neurodiversity into their workforce. It’s a very long journey, however, and right now we need a lot more support from government and health organisations and from society in general to be able to really move forward. How is your employer supporting you as the parent of an autistic child? I was very grateful that I was given the flexibility to work my own hours specifically at the early stages of Khloe’s diagnosis when I needed to attend therapy sessions with her, usually for two to three hours per week over six to eight weeks each time. This was offered in addition to my existing leave entitlements, such as parental leave, carer’s leave, etc. KPMG has also introduced wellbeing initiatives, hosting sessions to help parents deal with the challenges we face.  In the latest session I attended, they mentioned that they planned to introduce sessions specifically for parents of neurodivergent children. This will be very helpful for me, I think, and it is very welcome. Are there any books you have read that have been particularly helpful or organisations you lean on for advice and information? One of the best books I have read is The Reason I Jump. It was written by Naoki Higashida, a non-verbal autistic boy who was 13 at the time. Reading about Naoki’s experiences really helped me to understand Khloe’s experiences because she is also non-verbal. I am currently reading Not What I Expected by Rita Eichenstein, who is a Paediatric Neuropsychologist based in the US. This book is about helping people like me to navigate our lives as parents of children who are neurodivergent. In terms of organisations, AsIAm (asiam.ie) has been very helpful for me because it provides up-to-date information and a forum for connecting with other parents and people in the autistic community.

Lorna Conn, CEO of Cpl, talks to Accountancy Ireland about her career, unconscious bias, and how women can support each other to advance together I have always wanted to be an accountant, so I studied hard at University College Dublin for my BComm, did the ‘milk round’ and was fortunate to get offers from all the ‘Big Five’, as they were known at the time.  I joined Deloitte, which sponsored my accountancy master’s degree, also at University College Dublin, and where I trained to become a qualified Chartered Accountant.  I stayed with Deloitte until I was an Audit Manager and gained experience I don’t think I would have if I hadn’t trained as a Chartered Accountant.  I travelled to the US for three months on CRH’s SOX (Sarbanes–Oxley) readiness programme and relocated to Australia on secondment to Deloitte Darwin. I also worked with some really great clients, including Kerry Group plc and Microsoft.  The Chartered Accountant skillset is incredibly transferable, and I believe career progression opportunities are limitless with this qualification. Many CEOs of large multinationals have started their careers as Chartered Accountants, and I think the new era of accounting is much more strategic in outlook.  Financial literacy is a remarkably marketable skill around the world.  Now, I am 43 years old. Married to Geoff with three children – Ollie (11), Lucy (9) and Louis (6) – and I’m CEO of Cpl – a talent solutions organisation with 14,000-plus staff operating in 13 countries with 47 offices worldwide.  I am a Senior Managing Executive Officer of our parent company, Outsourcing Inc (OSI), and a member of OSI’s Group Executive Committee. Finally, I am a Non-Executive Director of Bord na Móna plc. Life is fairly busy and I am lucky to have a great support network around me, including my husband. As someone once said to me – equality starts at home.  Geoff works full-time too, but we share the load 50:50 – and this includes the mental load of raising children. School WhatsApp groups, sports activities, their emotional well-being, etc. fall equally on both our shoulders. We are also privileged to have two sets of healthy grandparents who mind the children one day a week each. Mutual respect and equal opportunity Many women assume the role of working mum and caregiver all on their own but to their detriment. Not only do we need support from our partners, but we must insist on that support when it’s not forthcoming. This is the same in our profession as it is at home. As the stats show, accountancy is a popular profession for women – 43 percent of the members of Chartered Accountants Ireland are female, and the new student intake is 47 percent female.  While I have seen great representation at graduate level, however, this tends to wane on the climb to partnership. Our workplace structures were created in an era when women stayed in the home. These structures need to fundamentally change to accommodate a growing and hugely valuable female workforce. I have experienced conscious and unconscious bias – lazy assumptions that my ambition to succeed was somehow tempered by having a family.  To the best of my knowledge, I have never been adversely impacted in my career because I’m a woman, and I’ve only ever considered my gender as a positive attribute. Women bring different skills and perspectives to the workplace, and the right mix of men and women at the top table can be very impactful for an organisation.  I think men and women are hugely effective when they work together in an equitable working environment – one of mutual respect and equal opportunity. In my view, equity is top-down – see it at the top, and you will feel it throughout the organisation.  That said, I continue to be impressed by accountancy firms that promote women to partner mid-pregnancy and mid-maternity leave. It is a smart approach to retaining top talent, and I would like to see the trend of female representation in top finance roles continue. Empathy, compassion and communication While expertise and strategic acumen remain crucial in business, the need for empathy, compassion, the ability to communicate openly and transparently and to make decisions has taken centre stage, in my opinion. These are traits equally required of women and men to succeed today. Leaders who can understand and connect with their teams on a human level are not just desirable but crucial.  Empathy allows leaders to comprehend the unique concerns and aspirations of their employees, fostering a sense of belonging and loyalty. Compassion enables them to provide support during difficult times, building trust and camaraderie.  Moreover, open and transparent communication cultivates an environment of trust where employees feel valued and informed, empowering them to contribute their best.  The need for these skills has become pronounced in an era of social media and in a generation that wants to feel empowered, not controlled.  For many women, these skills come naturally, and that is the ace card we bring to the table.  I have developed these skills over time by seeing them as a strength and not a weakness. I also choose companies that align with my personal values. These are the environments where I know I can thrive. Women and career progression With the advent of gender quotas, ESG best practices, and an increasing focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, I think this is our time to advance in the workplace.  Businesses need more strong women at the helm. With better family-friendly structures (hybrid working, affordable childcare, etc.), we have a good shot at attracting, advancing and retaining women in the workforce.  If there are issues with advancement in your workplace, I have found the best tactic, assuming you’ve exhausted all avenues, is to move on. There are lots of great companies out there, and you are the navigator of your own career.  You are not entitled to career progression. It’s your responsibility to create opportunities and pursue them elsewhere if you have reached your cap with your current employer.  It might be nerve-wracking to move on from what’s comfortable and familiar, but I have always looked at my career as a 40-year horizon – plenty of time to take risks and explore new opportunities. And women should be taking advantage of their networks. Mentoring and networking enables women to broaden their circle of advocates.  People who will publicly endorse and support you can be a very valuable asset to have. I think women, in particular, need to advocate for each other more – at all levels across an organisation.  I’ve certainly been helped along the way, and it has been hugely impactful for me during my own career advancement.  Authenticity is key. Being unapologetically ‘you’ is incredibly empowering.  The old stuffy image of an accountant is long gone. There is widespread recognition now that accountancy skills are enduring, and they will serve you in every facet  of life.  If you’re starting off in the profession, absorb every bit of knowledge you can from your colleagues as you progress through your accountancy qualification. This will be the foundation for a successful career in private practice or in industry – the options are literally limitless. Interview by Liz Riley

Permanent TSB’s Norma Conway tells Accountancy Ireland why neurodiversity must be part of every organisation’s diversity, equity and inclusion strategy Employers who embrace neurodiversity stand to benefit from new ideas and fresh thinking that can boost the bottom line. So says Norma Conway, Diversity and Inclusion, Wellbeing and Engagement Manager with Permanent TSB. As Conway sees it, the neurodivergent community is currently a largely untapped resource for employers in Ireland, many of whom are unaware and unprepared for the strengths and capabilities this cohort can bring to the talent pool. “The benefits of neurodiversity are undeniable. Companies with neurodiversity programmes already in place report improved retention rates, reduced turnover and increased productivity and innovation,” Conways says. In “Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage”, an article published in The Harvard Review in 2017, for example, authors Robert D Austin and Gary P Pisanom reported that neurodiverse teams were 30 percent more productive than their neurotypical counterparts. Similarly, a still oft-quoted survey commissioned back in 2003 for the BBC series Mind of a Millionaire found that 40 percent of the UK’s self-made millionaires were dyslexic. Neurodiversity: what it means So, what is neurodiversity? The term was coined in the late nineties by Judy Singer, an Australian sociologist, to recognise that everyone’s brain develops in a unique way.  Harvard Health defines neurodiversity as, “the idea that people experience and interact with the world around them in many different ways; there is no one ‘right’ way of thinking, learning, and behaving, and differences are not viewed as deficits”. While Singer primarily views neurodiversity as a social justice movement, research and education in the area is also increasingly used by clinicians to understand numerous conditions, according to Harvard Health. These conditions range from autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia. The upside for business For Conway, the benefits of these different ways of thinking are obvious for employers.  “Neurodivergent people bring a ‘business upside’ literally because they think differently,” she says. “In general, people with dyslexia are better at visual thinking and they are more creative. They have an approach to looking at data and problem-solving that I wouldn’t see myself.  “People with ADHD bring creativity, energy and passion. That’s built into the mindset of how they think and how they approach problems.” For employers, this can mean valuable access to better problem-solving capabilities and a more effective approach to strategising. “In most workplaces, we are generally trying to solve problems, improve things or find solutions, so having someone in the room who thinks differently automatically brings a new approach,” Conway says. “If you’re trying to brainstorm ideas and you bring someone into the mix who thinks differently, is more creative and asks questions nobody else is asking, the power in that is phenomenal.” Understanding and embracing neurodiversity in workplaces, schools and communities can also improve inclusivity for everyone, Conway adds.  “Every human is unique, with a unique combination of abilities and needs. Creating an environment that is helpful to neurodivergent people and that recognises everyone’s individual strengths and talents embraces this idea,” she says.  While she sees growing awareness of neurodiversity in society generally, Conway says the majority of employers continue to adopt a one-size-fits-all approach to recruiting, managing and supporting their employees.  “We have students in Ireland now receiving supports and accommodations throughout school and college, but they reach the workplace and hit immediate barriers as these supports and accommodations don’t exist in most companies,” she says. There is a “huge opportunity” here for employers to access a talent market that is thus far largely untapped, says Conway. The Same Chance Toolkit: A Step by Step Guide to Becoming an Autism Friendly Employer, published earlier this year by AsIAm, Ireland’s national autism charity, revealed that 85 percent of autistic individuals are either unemployed or underemployed.  “This is an opportunity for companies, not only to fill roles, but also to contribute to social justice and employment equity,” says Conway. The Permanent TSB experience As a large organisation employing 3,000 people nationwide, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) first became a key strategic priority for Permanent TSB back in 2017. Neurodiversity has been part of this strategy from day one and continues to evolve in line with developments in the wider world. “The focus on neurodiversity has changed in more recent years and there is an awareness that we need to do more, which has been captured as part of our latest DE&I Strategy for 2023 to 2025,” Conway says. “We now understand the complexities of neurodiversity, how neurodivergent colleagues are impacted by the work environment and the multiple potential business advantages to having diversity of thought in teams.” Ability is one of the main areas of focus in Permanent TSB’s DE&I strategy. “In May, we announced the establishment of our Ability Employee Resource Group (ERG) encompassing both physical ability and neurodiversity. We wanted to hear from colleagues and get their input as we plan to increase awareness and supports,” Conway says. “We’ve worked with the Trinity Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities (TCPID) for a number of years and more recently we started working with Specialisterne (specialisterne.ie) and AsIAm (asiam.ie) to help understand what a positive experience should look like for candidates and colleagues when hiring neurodiverse talent.  “We have taken their advice on how we can improve our existing processes, onboarding and training and they have also helped us to understand accommodations that may be needed.”  AsIAm is currently working with Permanent TSB’s Digital and Direct Office teams on a sensory review of the banks’ premises and facilitating training for managers.  “It’s important that managers have a core understanding of the realities of neurodiversity and have the strategies needed to respond and take action,” Conway explains.  “Our first Ability ERG workshop will be facilitated in October by the Irish Centre for Diversity and, from there, we will have a clear plan of action based on our colleagues’ feedback and their needs.” Best practice advice for employers Based on her own experience with Permanent TSB, Conway’s advice for other employers is that supporting the needs of employees who are neurodivergent starts right at the beginning of the employment relationship – the recruitment stage. “Standard recruitment practices can be a barrier. Aptitude tests or complex job descriptions and formal interview processes can be challenging – so working with external experts who can advise on any adjustments needed has been a big help for our team,” she says.  Accommodations should be considered relative to the built environment, communications and sensory supports.  “Simple adjustments, such as the lightbulbs we use, or having a decompression room available away from the open-plan office space if needed, can make a difference,” Conway says. “We’re also in the process of rolling out Microsoft 365 and a team of neurodiverse colleagues and allies have worked with IT to ensure that all accessibility features are switched on for all colleagues.  “To complement this, we aim to introduce a support toolkit to include, for example, noise-cancelling headphones and screen readers colleagues can order online.”    Also key to supporting employees who are neurodivergent is buy-in and input right from the top of the organisation. “The support of our own leadership at Permanent TSB has been very important for us,” Conway explains. “It’s great to try to start initiatives and broaden communications and training but without their support – and a willingness to be visible in their support – it would be very challenging.” Start today: first steps  So, what are the first steps employers can take now to begin implementing a workforce strategy that encompasses neurodiversity? “First, listen to the experts,” Conway says. “There are many organisations out there that understand the complexities and supports needed that can guide you – they have the answers so ask for advice as you map out a plan.”  Second, listen to your employees. “Most people now have a personal interest in making the workplace more neurodiverse inclusive, whether it’s from their own perspective, a family member’s or a friend’s,” Conway says.  “Listening to these employees, encouraging them to share their stories and helping them shape your strategy will build trust that is invaluable.”    Ultimately, implementing a workforce strategy that accommodates neurodiversity benefits everyone, Conway says: “It has a knock-on effect on how we interact with each other, our openness with each other, and comfort in sharing information. It is well worth the effort.” Written by Tess Tattersall and Elaine O’Regan  

Three Chartered Accountants share their perspectives on the changing role of the Chief Financial Officer in today’s fast-paced business, regulatory and societal environment Johnny Harte Founder True Fund Solutions  The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in a company has long been considered the chief bean-counter whose job has been to say ‘no’ more than ‘yes’.  And in the past, this has been true. CFOs today still have responsibility for the core finance function in an organisation, but they are now increasingly regarded by management and key stakeholders as value-creation partners in a business, and their expanding role reflects this. As a starting point, to realise more efficiencies, CFOs are now investing more in technologies to assist the finance team. Transactional activities are being replaced by artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, and the way in which financial information is being presented, shared and consumed has changed in line with the expectations of end-users. The CFO may have responsibilities outside the core finance function, too, like human resources and IT, so collaborating with many other departments in the business is more important than ever.  New initiatives to address issues such as environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns fall under the remit of the CFO as well.  As an example, the financial implications and reporting obligations of ESG are felt company-wide, but they ultimately feed into the finance function. Companies find themselves in times of rapid change that offer potential opportunities, like product innovation, access to new markets, and even the development of new business models. Change can also result in potential risks such as cyber security, geopolitical and environmental concerns, however.  CFOs, by necessity, find themselves at the heart of all of this and play a vital role in navigating the landscape and advising on strategic decisions that can shape the future of the business. CFOs are in a unique position in a company in so far as everything that is important eventually gets reflected in numbers. The old line of “you can’t manage what you can’t measure” still holds true. Karen Sugrue Hennessy  Sustainability Consultant and CEO Real Leaf Farm As our nation, along with the rest of the world, faces mounting pressure to fulfil its climate change commitments, Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) are stepping into a critical leadership role.  According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ireland is currently on track to achieve just 29 percent of its committed 51 percent net zero target by 2030. Finance stands as a pivotal enabler in the acceleration of climate action, as emphasised by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report (AR6).  CFOs, accountants, bankers and directors are primed to lead the charge by shifting their focus away from financing environmentally detrimental projects and redirecting their efforts toward funding initiatives that bolster the transition to a sustainable economic model. By 2029, all businesses, including SMEs, will be mandated to enhance transparency and accountability concerning corporate sustainability, operating under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.  Significant challenges lie ahead, however. Recent research conducted by LinkedIn revealed that close to 95 percent of financial professionals in 48 countries, including major European nations, lack essential green skills.  Shockingly, Ireland ranks at the lowest end of the spectrum in Europe, with just 0.16 percent of finance job postings related to green skills, according to LinkedIn data. So, where should CFOs begin their journey to upskill in this pivotal area, which is undeniably becoming a sought-after area of expertise?  An excellent starting point is joining Chapter Zero Ireland – a collaborative initiative between Chartered Accountants Ireland, IBEC and the Institute of Directors.  Chapter Zero’s primary purpose is to ensure that companies are well prepared for the future and that global net-zero aspirations translate into robust plans and measurable actions.  The evolving role of CFOs in Ireland is not merely a response to regulatory demands; it represents a unique opportunity for financial leaders to champion a more sustainable and responsible future for both their businesses and the nation.  Embracing this transformation is not only a strategic imperative but a moral obligation that can reshape Ireland’s path toward a greener, more prosperous future. Mark Mulqueen CFO KPMG Ireland Like other C-suite roles, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) role has evolved significantly, reflecting the evolving landscape of business, technology, regulation, global markets and shifting expectations from internal and external stakeholders.  In addition to the traditional CFO responsibilities as financial ‘gatekeeper’, the role has broadened beyond core topics to become more like that of a strategic partner. At the centre of this evolution is a business appetite for greater insights, data-driven commercial partnering, and a more significant focus on profitability and an organisation’s need to transform operating models and core supporting technology.  Consequently, CFOs must keep up to date with the changing landscape of data, technology, taxation and compliance while also managing the organisation’s financial health. As business models continue to transform, looking to the future, this presents opportunities and challenges for CFOs. The value of data – going beyond traditional finance data to provide valuable insights to enhance forward-focused decision-making. Embrace the challenges of data – overcoming disparate systems with multiple data sources to ensure reliability and accuracy is critical to the role. Automation – managing the changing role of technology and staff in traditional finance processes. Talent retention and acquisition – with a broader set of new challenges, it is essential to have the right skills in the team to leverage the opportunity presented by data and technology. Risk – managing risks posed by fraud and cybercrime. Expectation gap – managing the strategic role of the CFO versus the volume of traditional finance work. Leveraging technology, adding new skills to finance teams, and managing this change will allow CFOs to help companies become more agile and responsive to market changes.  The result will provide more value through greater insights on a broader range of topics and the ability to support faster data-driven decisions through automation and technology while simultaneously supporting business change and managing new risks posed by regulation toward sustainable, profitable growth.  The one constant that will remain for CFOs is change.

The launch of CleverCards marks the latest chapter in Kealan Lennon’s entrepreneurial story and the FCA has ambitious plans for his latest venture It was while taking part in an IDA Ireland trade mission to China in 2019 that Kealan Lennon hit upon the first spark of an idea for CleverCards, the payments platform provider that would, four years later, bring to market what the serial entrepreneur calls “Ireland’s first tax-free digital Mastercard”. “It all goes back to that trip because that’s when I noticed that no one around me was using plastic cards to pay for anything,” Lennon explains. “People in shops and restaurants were using their mobile phones to pay wherever I went and, at the same time, I could see neobank players like Revolut, N26 and Starling starting to gain traction in Europe. The shift was obvious, but the main focus was the consumer market.” Lennon saw a gap in the market for a payment processor that would focus on businesses rather than consumers and set about developing the technology that would underpin the CleverCards platform. “We agreed a partnership with Mastercard pretty much right at the beginning; becoming a payment processor is effectively the foundation of the entire business,” Lennon says. “For a small company trying to integrate with one of the world’s biggest financial service providers – it was a very tall order. We worked with Mastercard in Ireland, then London and Belgium. It took three years.”  CleverCards launched its first product – a digital prepaid employee gift card – just over a year ago on the back of the Small Benefit Exemption introduced by the Irish Government in 2022.  This exemption allows employers to give their employees up to two small benefits each year, tax-free but capped at €1,000 overall. These benefits cannot be made in cash, nor can they be redeemed for cash. They can only be used to purchase goods or services. “It amazes me how few employers actually know about this benefit,” says Lennon. “It’s frustrating. The Government brought this in, and people just don’t know about it.” Cue CleverCards: “We’re the only game in town here. Employers can order our gift cards online on clevercards.com and email it out to their employees loaded with credit of up to €1,000 tax-free,” says Lennon. Employees can, meanwhile, use CleverCards to pay for goods or services anywhere online or in-store using Google or Apple Pay contactless technology. “They can use the cards for cost-of-living expenses and they can use them in small shops and restaurants the length and breadth of the country, whereas traditional plastic gift cards are restricted to a limited selection of retail networks.” Business strategy So far, CleverCards has signed up over 5,000 businesses and 250,000 cardholders. The company generates revenues via a Mastercard fee on all transactions and also charges clients a small handling fee.  Lennon’s ambitions for the business stretch far beyond employee gift cards and the Irish market, however. “Right now, our focus is Ireland but also the UK. We’ve seen pretty rapid growth and we’re expecting to do significantly more business in the run-up to Christmas,” he says. “Looking ahead 18 months, our goal is that every employee in Ireland and the UK has one of our digital Mastercards on their phone.” In the New Year, Lennon also plans to launch CleverCards’ second product – a digital Mastercard for employee expenses. “We want to start expanding further into Europe from late 2024 and, ideally, we want our existing multinational clients in Ireland and the UK to carry us into new territories by recommending CleverCards to other offices in their European network,” says Lennon. “It’s much faster and more cost-effective than spending millions on marketing in each new market. You’re letting your existing customers bring you there instead.  “That’s our strategy and our USP is that our digital cards can be used for all sorts of expenditure, they give control to the financial controller who has visibility of where spend is going, and transactions are automatically authorised because we are the payment processor.”  Early career Lennon’s confidence in CleverCards’ potential is drawn from a longstanding career in entrepreneurship and a seemingly insatiable desire to identify a gap in the market and run with it. Originally from Leixlip in Co. Kildare, the FCA has had an “eye out for opportunities” almost from the very beginning of his working life as a Chartered Accountant. Lennon initially qualified with Simpson Xavier and worked in corporate finance before leaving the firm in 1992 to strike out on his own. “I took the commencement route to becoming a Chartered Accountant. My first choice on my CAO form was commerce, but I missed it by one point and I couldn’t wait around,” he says.  “I was lucky that I started my career under the leadership of Anthuan Xavier at a very entrepreneurial firm. Being able to get in front of clients straight away was a buzz for me.” Lennon decided to leave the firm aged just 23, however, so he could set up his own financial consultancy, offering corporate finance, tax and accountancy advisory services. “I took an office with a big brass sign on the door and I landed my first client, quite honestly I’d say simply because I was a one-man show so I was cheaper than any of the bigger firms,” he says. “That client owned Kartoncraft, a pharmaceutical packaging business, and he had an offer on the table to sell his business to Inistech, an Irish plc at the time. He hired me to manage due diligence.  “The guy they had hired on the corporate finance side was also a one-man show. Once I had a full understanding of his selling price, I said to the client one evening ‘don’t take this the wrong way, but I think your business could sell for a lot more’. “I got the whole textbook explanation of ‘well, it’s an x percent discount on PE multiples and so on’, but he listened to my advice and came back having doubled the price of the business. He fired his corporate finance advisor and hired me instead.  “The Government and IDA Ireland at the time were focused on bringing more pharmaceuticals into the country. I looked at this strategy, put a five-year plan together for my client and, about six weeks later, we went back to the plc and we doubled the selling price again.  “My client made four times his asking price from the time I started working with him. He paid me £100,000. I was able to buy my first house for cash at just 23 and I had a red BMW. I really thought I’d made it.” Kartoncraft and MeadWestvaco But more was to come for Lennon, who was subsequently asked by Inistech to join the board of the newly acquired Kartoncraft in the role of Finance Director. Within 18 months, aged just 25, Lennon had led the management buy-out of Kartoncraft from Inishtech Plc, backed by AIB in Ireland and Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, a London-based private equity house.  He sold Kartoncraft five years later for $20 million to the NYSE-listed MeadWestvaco and joined the US packaging company’s Board of Directors as Head of Mergers and Acquisitions for Europe. “I was the youngest board director of MeadWestvaco Europe, which had 35,000 employees worldwide,” Lennon says. “It’s interesting now to see the media reports about MeadWestvaco and Smurfit Kappa merging, because when I sold Kartoncraft, Smurfit was the underbidder. “It’s quite a ‘full circle’ feeling to see them coming together to become the biggest packaging group in the world, and those early connections are still part of my life today. Both Michael and Tony Smurfit are investors in CleverCards all these years later.” By the time he left MeadWestvaco in 2007 to set up investment firm K Partners, Lennon was ready for a new challenge. “That corporate role was kind of like an on-the-job MBA. I learned so much about strategic development, people management, motivation and incentivisation. “It gave me an incredible insight into how large corporates work, but, deep down, I am an entrepreneur and I wanted to build something again from the ground up. I had an eye out for potential acquisitions and decided to go for it.” K Partners went on to participate in private equity and VC-backed investments spanning the media sector, publishing, telecoms, leisure and hospitality. Its interests included education publisher CJ Fallon and broadcaster Wilton Radio, now trading as iRadio and recently acquired by Bauer Media. The Netflix of payments Lennon’s vision for CleverCards is to see the venture become the “Netflix of payments”. “Our focus isn’t streaming obviously but I see our market opportunity in the same way,” he says.  “It’s pretty clear to me that everything is moving to the mobile phone and our focus is the configurability of payments. The market is wide open. There’s a big blue ocean of potential there and nobody else is doing it.” That said, he is under no illusion that crossing this “big blue ocean” will be plain sailing all the way. “It can be tough going in any early-stage business when you are trying to spot a gap in the market, launch a new product or service to fill that gap, and keep driving it through in the face of the forces that might be going against you,” he says. “There are challenges every day in business. People talk about an early-stage business being a rollercoaster and that is so true because it implies ups and downs,” he says.  “What people don’t realise is that there can be an up and a down in just one day. I don’t mean a small move in either direction. I mean really big ups and really big downs. You just have to deal with it and move on. You have to be resilient.” Interview by Elaine O’Regan

Ronan McGovern, FCA, barrister and Stanford Scholar, talks about his experience living with ADHD and why more support is needed for neurodiversity at work  He is a Chartered Accountant, barrister and strategy manager with one of Ireland’s biggest banks but, for Ronan McGovern, the title he is most proud of is Stanford University Scholar. It was while studying for his MBA at the prestigious US university in 1996 that McGovern was first diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). And it was through his continued work with Stanford that McGovern would go on to discover what he calls his “life purpose”. “In 2019, I was invited to work for six months on the Stanford Neurodiversity Project at Stanford Medical School, and it changed my life,” he explains.  “I discovered my unique offering to the world – what I was put on this earth to do; to be a neurodiversity champion and innovator.” His path to learning he had ADHD and discovering the world of neurodiversity was a long one, however. McGovern was already well into his thirties by the time he received his diagnosis. Although, these days, he views ADHD as the fuel powering “all the amazing things I have done in my life”, his experience growing up with the condition was not always positive. “I have been given these amazing gifts – academic excellence, creativity, ideas, energy, productivity – I stand out and I am authentically myself. I think differently but thinking differently wasn’t a good thing in the Ireland I grew up in,” he says. “In Irish society in the sixties and seventies, there was a very homogenous culture. Being different generally meant you were punished.” Early years McGovern grew up in the west Dublin suburb of Palmerstown and started primary school in 1965.  “It was long before there was any recognition of neurodiversity and I have to say I learned very little because my mind was always wandering,” he says. “Everybody’s mind wanders, but for an ADHD person, the inattention and mind-wandering are pronounced. The teachers had no idea I wasn’t learning anything. I just basically sat in class not telling them.” By the time he was ready to progress to secondary school in 1975, corporal punishment was still very much part of “the school culture” in Ireland, McGovern says.  “Some teachers saw me as what, in those days, they might have called a ‘a bold boy’, disrupting the class and with no apparent interest in learning,” he reflects. “During my time at secondary school, I would say corporal punishment was used on me maybe four or five times more often than my peers. “There was also shaming of different descriptions – I remember being put outside the door of the classroom as punishment – but that kind of treatment wasn’t exclusive to my secondary school at that time.” Despite this, McGovern’s academic performance remained strong throughout his school years with his exam results “ranging from average to top of the class”. “I believed in myself,” he says now. “Sometimes I was made to feel ‘less than’; I was shamed and ridiculed for being honest and straightforward, but throughout it all, I always believed in myself.” Path to diagnosis After leaving school, McGovern went on to train with a small accountancy practice and joined PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Dublin office in the early eighties. “In 1993, I was accepted into the MBA programme at Stanford Business School. The tuition at that time was about €30,000 per quarter so I decided to apply for a transfer to PwC New York for the sole reason of earning the money I would need to join the Stanford programme,” he says.  McGovern began his MBA studies in 1995 and was about eight months in when he was approached one day by one of his classmates.  “She said to me, ‘Ronan, I want to ask you a question. Have you ever heard of ADHD?’ I said no. She explained the condition and said that she had been watching me in class and believed I may have it,” he explains. “She was a doctor, and she knew a lot about autism and ADHD. She gave me a reference to the Stanford Medical Centre and told me they would point me in the direction of an educational psychologist who could assess me.”  Following a 10-hour assessment by an educational psychologist in Palo Alto, McGovern received a 15-page report.  “It told me that I had what was called Combined ADHD; a combination of hyperactivity and inattention. That was in early June 1996,” he says. “At the time, I felt a bit of sadness over the fact that I had not been diagnosed earlier, but I also felt a bit of relief and then excitement. My final observation was: Let me see what I can do in the future now that I have this diagnosis.” In the years since, McGovern has come to view his ADHD as “a gift”. “I bring creativity and ideas to the table,” he says, “an understanding of how everything is connected, be it biology, business or machine learning. That has really stood to me in my life and work.” Stanford Neurodiversity Project McGovern took a six-month career sabbatical in 2019 and returned to California to take part in the Stanford Medical School Neurodiversity Project. Led by Dr Lawrence Fung, the aims of the Stanford Neurodiversity Project include maximising the potential of neurodiversity and establishing a culture that treasures the strengths of neurodiverse individuals.  It defines neurodiversity as “a concept that regards individuals with differences in brain function and behavioural traits as part of normal variation in the human population” and says, “the movement of neurodiversity is about uncovering the strengths of neurodiverse individuals and utilising their talents to increase the innovation and productivity of society as a whole”. Following his six-month stint on the neurodiversity project, McGovern took part in Stanford Rebuild Innovation Sprint, launched in 2020 to help develop solutions for the challenges and opportunities society would face in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Stanford invited alums and others to initiate an entrepreneurial project aimed at rebuilding society,” he explains. “Professors gave their time to assist volunteers and I volunteered to do something on neurodiversity in business and formed a core team with Susan O’Malley, an Irish Stanford business school alum, and Tiffany Jameson, a neurodiversity consultant.  The group recruited 50 other volunteers and, “over three months in the summer of 2020, we all co-authored our Stanford Rebuild Report,” McGovern says. “When our Rebuild project drew to a close that August, we formed NDGiFTS to prevent this work coming to an end.” NDGiFTS stands for Neurodiversity Giving Individuals Full Team Success and is, McGovern explains, a movement dedicated to building a “global community whose aim is to increase the inclusion and celebration of neurodiversity at work”.  To this end, NDGiFTS has produced a 78-page report, available at ndgiftsmovement.com, with input from 70 contributors and insights from 300 stakeholders worldwide. NDGiFTS’ mission “The mission of the NDGiFTS movement is to prove that neurodiverse individuals are worth investment from organisations who stand to reap the reward of innovation,” McGovern says. “Our core belief is that the neurodivergent individual, when appropriately supported and embraced, brings cultural and economic advantages to the workplace, including creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial energy.”  According to McGovern, as many as 20 percent of people worldwide have neurodivergent conditions ranging from ADHD and autism spectrum disorder to dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia. “Even now, all these years since my diagnosis, the sad truth is that society has not yet built the structures to support and service people who are neurodiverse,” he says. “This applies as much to the business environment, apart from a very small minority of companies, Goldman Sachs being a particular exception to the rule.” In 2019, the US banking giant launched the Goldman Sachs Neurodiversity Hiring Initiative, an eight-week paid internship for people who identify as neurodiverse. “It went on to hire more than 50 neurodivergent people over three years. Every one of the participants in that internship programme was made a permanent employee,” McGovern says. As it stands, however, Goldman Sachs remains the outlier with few organisations having made the same strides in neurodiversity inclusivity. McGovern is, meanwhile, once again partnering with Stanford University to publish a book in 2024 that will detail his experiences growing up and living with ADHD. “My own experience of work was that my experience at school carried through to my professional life. When I was challenged to progress in a certain role, I found the perception was that I didn’t fit the mould of my other colleagues,” he says. “My message now is that we need to focus on the intentional recruitment of the neurodiverse talent base, similar to the Goldman Sachs model. “I would like employers to look at my personal journey and start thinking seriously about neurodiversity and the potential of people like me.  “My story is not unique, but I think I can help to open a serious conversation about neurodiversity in Ireland and around the world. We should not have a society where people spend all their time swimming against the tide.” Written by Elaine O’Regan

Audit committees face increasingly complex risks in modern business, according to the latest KPMG survey. Arlene Harris speaks to Niall Savage about the four main risks and how committees can mitigate them KMPG recently published the results of its Global Audit Committee (AC) Institute survey, which collates the views of 768 AC members and chairs, of which 31 were operating in Ireland.  Niall Savage, Partner and Head of Audit Markets at KPMG, says the survey results indicate that, while it may seem at odds with its traditional role, the AC and its members continue to have a “bellwether role for the business as they scan the risk horizon”.  Consequently, ongoing geopolitical issues, cyber threats, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and considerations around environmental, social, and governance (ESG) will remain top of the AC agenda in the coming months. “The traditional and essential role of an AC is overseeing the numbers, controls and, as its title suggests, the audit process – both internal and external,” he says. “So its priority is more in the monitoring than the advising. This work is critical for ensuring financial transparency, confidence and compliance but does not encompass the broader aspects of business. “However, given the typical composition of the AC, the external non-executives with wide-ranging experience, the effective AC Chairperson draws upon the insights of their members to identify and advise on risk areas and strategies to address them.  “The findings suggest that the things driving the agenda of the AC are big-picture risks that underpin their organisations’ strategies. And four key themes – geopolitical, cyber, AI and ESG – were identified as foremost in the minds of AC members.” Indeed, these four themes don’t come without challenges, but there are ways in which ACs can navigate them in their role, supporting the board and management. The effects of risk on the market “Volatility by its nature creates uncertainty in the market, making it difficult for businesses and their stakeholders to make strategic operational and investment decisions,” says Savage. “For example, consumer sentiment in uncertain times can fall rapidly, with non-essential purchases frequently deferred, impacting large parts of the consumer market and leisure industries. “Geopolitical volatility can also undermine investor confidence, cutting off access to finance and creating barriers for businesses through restricted access to markets, currency fluctuations and shifts in trade policies. There is also a heightened risk of supply chain disruption.” In the last 12 months, ACs have been faced with:  post-lockdown uncertainty, which is driving cashflow forecasts (and risks) of how to meet consumer demands; geopolitical conflicts, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, necessitating a rapid response to secure the safety of people and assess the impact on the business in addition to instability in Latin America and the Middle East; rapid and often unexpected inflation across energy, wheat and other commodities, which created unforeseen risks of business failure if these could not be passed on easily; increased interest rate rises and global financial market fluctuations in response to inflation, which changed base case forecasts for investment decisions, funding, and potentially going concerns; ongoing global trade tensions, including those between the US and China, with increasing tariffs, which had ripple effects on global supply chains; and the fallout from COVID and Brexit, which continued to affect the global economy. Geopolitical risks “It is difficult to predict what the next 12 months have in store, but some key actions for AC members to manage these risks include engaging with management and stakeholders to understand their assessment of geopolitical risks and existing strategies to mitigate those risks, and asking management to provide timely updates on geopolitical developments and the organisation’s risk mitigation efforts,” said Savage.   “Also, understanding the geopolitical risks that can impact the organisation and monitoring global political developments, regional tensions, trade disputes, regulatory changes and other geopolitical factors that may have implications for the organisation. “And, staying informed about current events and diplomatic developments that can impact the organisation’s operations – along with knowing if the organisation is especially exposed to certain regions or risks, should the AC consider recruitment or training to ensure that they have the expertise to address any challenges they face, is also important.” Savage also suggests assessing an organisation’s exposure to geopolitical risks, understanding management’s approach to contingency planning, and understanding the full list of regulatory compliance requirements and whether the organisation has processes in place to identify, monitor and adhere to applicable regulations.  ACs must also consider with management the need for scenario planning to model impact and respond to geopolitical events. Cyber risks Advances in modern technology have also brought about a growing number of cyber threats, and in the past 12 months, many Irish businesses and organisations have reported data leaks and thefts as cybercriminals become more sophisticated and professional in their approach to both getting access to systems through ransomware and social engineering but also monetising this access.  As firms try to protect themselves from this, the list of targets and potential weaknesses continues to grow with the proliferation of the internet of things (IoT), which may not have the same level of security and is, therefore, easier to compromise. “For those engaged in public work, there is an additional political dimension and risk to cybercrime with nation state targeting for political gain, which has seen recent coverage of European Commission staff removing certain apps from their phone restrictions on Telco suppliers due to concerns over security,” says Savage. “But there are some essential actions that ACs can take, which include understanding the cyber risk landscape, the type of threats it faces, potential vulnerabilities and the impact of a cyber incident.  “They can also evaluate the organisation’s cybersecurity governance and strategy while focusing on risk assessment, incident response, training and vendor competence. It is important to be informed – stay on top of cybersecurity initiatives and maintain open lines of communication to address any concerns or gaps identified.” He would also encourage organisations to consider engaging external cybersecurity experts or conducting independent audits/penetration testing to assess the effectiveness of these controls, to ensure the AC is informed of cybersecurity incidents and evaluate the organisation’s response and promote cybersecurity awareness through training and incident reporting and ensure that appropriate cybersecurity risk reporting mechanisms are in place. AI risks The advent of AI has brought a new set of risks to business. “Although long discussed and the subject of many films (Terminator 2 springs to mind), the potential impact of AI really hit home late last year with the launch of ChatGPT, which was quickly followed with spectacular claims of cost savings, entire professions wiped out and of course the danger of ‘the rise of the machines’,” says Savage. “Clearly, there are significant risks and opportunities for businesses and ACs to deal with, many of which are ‘unknown unknowns’ to combat this and assess risk.” In the face of this new business landscape, “ACs should understand the concerns and opportunities for people, customers, suppliers and regulators. They should try to understand how best to get the right level of knowledge, evaluate the existing risk management framework to assess whether additional controls are needed, consider policies around the implementation and use of AI and review critical AI implementation projects.” ESG risks The final issue Savage addresses is ESG, which he says has been an “alphabet soup of regulation” for the past few years – and KPMG research indicates compliance with standards is only one of the ESG risks occupying the minds of AC members.  “There is a broader menu of risks to consider, which impact reputation, performance and financial success,” he says. “Failure to address these can lead to reputational damage and financial implications. So, AC members should consider the potential reputational risks associated with the company’s ESG performance and how they are managed. Climate change risks can impact the value of assets, and non-compliance can result in fines or penalties.”  To address these risks, it is important for ACs to understand and work closely with all stakeholders including management and internal auditors. Areas of focus should: ensure the AC has the necessary expertise to effectively assess ESG risks – this may involve recruiting or training existing committee members; engage with investors, regulatory bodies and industry associations to understand their expectations and perspectives on ESG; develop a list and understanding of ESG risks relevant to the company across climate change, labour, data and inclusion and diversity; review how data is currently captured and analysed and how reporting is verified; look at the existing risk management practices and policies and assess the key controls and how the risks are currently monitored and reported; benchmark these to peer groups and industry standards to ascertain whether they align with recognised frameworks; and seek regular updates on ESG initiatives and consider external assurance on related reporting.  “There are more insights to the survey, and it is interesting to benchmark different priorities across the regions, priorities around finance team talent, the need for in-person time with management and a focusing agenda to maximise effectiveness,” says Savage. “However, by elaborating on and identifying some common-sense actions on the four critical themes – geopolitical, cyber, AI and ESG – we have supported AC members for the next, hopefully, less volatile, 12 months.”  

Maria McHugh shares how she set boundaries, shed the notion that she “can do it all”, and that achieving a successful career while prioritising family is possible with the right mindset and support Growing up, I had a keen interest in business and enterprise. Because of this, I completed a BSc in Finance at University College Cork, and, after considering career options, I felt that becoming a Chartered Accountant was the best fit for me and a good start to my business career.  This, however, wasn’t without its challenges. Coming back after a break Like many women, I had to make a decision about having children and consider how my career would be impacted.  Between 2014 and 2021, my husband and I had three children, and during that time, we decided that I would be a full-time stay-at-home mum because of a lack of childcare availability.  This unplanned, seven-year break in my career had a much bigger impact on me mentally than I ever would have thought. I felt that I had lost my professional self. I didn’t realise how important that identity was to me.  I watched as my peers’ careers progressed and felt left behind.  After seven years at home, I started to consider what returning to work would look like; frankly, it was terrifying.  I suffered from post-natal depression after my second baby, and it left me with low confidence and self-belief. Thankfully, earlier in my career, I met Karin Lanigan in Member Services at Chartered Accountants Ireland, and I always remembered her openness and honesty.  Personal priorities While I wanted my career back on track, it was also important that I continue to be available for my children. I lost my mum at 13 years old, so it has always been especially important to me to be at home for my children. I had to consider what type of professional role I wanted and how to balance my work and home life.  I felt passionate about helping start-ups, sole traders and being involved in local enterprises. Having completed the Chartered Accountants Ireland Diploma in Tax in 2018, opening my accountancy and tax practice seemed the best fit for me and the family.  I was excited by the prospect, but I was also incredibly overwhelmed, daunted, and the self-doubt and fear were crippling.  I had three small children, was moving from Dublin back to my native Dungarvan, and was now opening my own practice. It seemed insurmountable. Karin guided me in breaking the tasks into manageable steps and helped me see that this was achievable. Professional Standards and Practice Consulting were also very supportive, and I was delighted that so much support was offered by Chartered Accountants Ireland.  While on my journey back into the workplace, I was really heartened by all the supports that were available through the Institute, and I hope these only grow and extend to more women.  In some ways, I think women put themselves under too much pressure with the social narrative that “we can do it all”. I think we are our own worst critics, and we can each have an expectation for ourselves that we should be doing everything, and when we don’t, we think we are failing.   This perception is false and needs to change. It is OK to choose to stay at home with young children, and that  decision should not feel detrimental to our career or be something we need to explain or justify.  For me, it is all about balance, and this is personal to every family. We are all just doing our best to have a career in whatever way possible to suit our family life.  Setting boundaries Since I started my business, I have always had the mindset that I am going at my own pace.  The aim of having my own practice was that I could balance both my career and my family life but I recognised early on that working in my practice full time was just not going to work for my family. As a result, I learned how to say no. I created boundaries around my work schedule, especially during school holidays, and I don’t apologise  for it.  I sometimes think that women feel they need to be singularly career-orientated and driven to succeed to be taken seriously or that admitting the kids come first is a weakness. I don’t agree at all.  At the start of the summer, I announced on social media that I was taking a step back from work for the school summer holidays. The support from peers and clients was fantastic. People told me that my being upfront about the summer break was refreshing and inspired other parents to do the same.  It’s like anything – if you don’t see it being done, you don’t realise you can do it. This doesn’t mean that I am not career-driven or don’t have aspirations for my own business. But this is a marathon, not a sprint, and I will do it in my own time. Building your tribe Networking is vital to sole practitioners for promoting themselves and, more importantly, building solid support. When I started my practice, I had no colleagues to bounce ideas off or to ask questions. I feel strongly that this kind of support is important for my personal development, so I reached out to a fellow mum in practice from my PwC days and asked how she would feel about coming together to set up a small group.  We now have a core group of four accountants (also mums) in practice. We support each other, answer technical questions and get opinions on issues we come across. This group has been vital to growing my confidence and has shown me that there are others also dealing with the same problems. In my experience, the most important qualities for women in business are self-belief and self-confidence.  I am a great champion of women and our abilities but I have struggled with self-confidence in the last few years. When left unchecked, this self-doubt can be very limiting.  I would love to see the topic of low self-confidence as ways to manage it spoken about more. My self-confidence has grown over time, but it is something I work on and still struggle with to this day.  The more it is discussed, the more women will realise, like me, that they are not alone in this mental battle.  I am also very lucky to be a member of the 2023 Chamber of the Year, Dungarvan and West Waterford Chamber. Through this membership I have found another group of like-minded women on their own business journey. We support each other, attend events together and help each other when we can.  Finding your tribe in business is so important and having that sense of community and support from different groups has had a positive impact on my own business and personal development. Maria McHugh is Founder Owner of McHugh Accounting and Consultancy

Accountancy Ireland sits down with Carol Phelan, CFO of Dalata Hotel Group. From her journey at one of the Big Four to private equity, Phelan shares her insights into the business side of the hospitality industry and Dalata’s people-centric approach to success A lifelong interest in business took Carol Phelan on a career path that has seen her work in a Big Four firm, an Irish private equity house and, ultimately, become CFO of Dalata Hotel Group – Ireland’s largest hotel operator. Speaking to Accountancy Ireland  in Dalata’s new state-of-the-art headquarters in Sandyford in south Dublin, Phelan explains how she grew up on a farm in County Laois and was always interested in business.   “At school, I gravitated towards business success stories, particularly Irish ones. I was always strong with numbers – they made sense to me, but it wasn’t just about balancing the books. It’s what people are doing with the business. I did a broad Business degree at the University of Limerick. I specialised in accounting and finance and did a Master’s in Accounting. I knew it was a qualification that would stand to me whatever I did.” Her undergraduate degree included an internship component, and in a forerunner of her future career, it took her to work in a hotel in France for nine months. “I got to work with numbers in a real business and found I could bring some skill to that.” After college, she joined KPMG and qualified as a Chartered Accountant.  “I wanted to develop my skills and build my professional and business network,” she says. “I worked in the financial services and transaction services divisions. That allowed me to work with companies doing deals and making strategic acquisitions. I was able to go into businesses of different sizes in various sectors and work with leading advisors. I enjoyed my time with KPMG.” She also learned something about herself. “I realised I didn’t want to be an advisor. I wanted to be the one making the decisions and living with them.” Moving on from the Big Four Phelan joined private equity house Ion Equity in 2007, just before the global financial crash hit. It could hardly have been a more challenging time for that sector.  “It took me out of my comfort zone,” she says with no little understatement. “It was about going in, putting deals together, and putting money behind them. It was also about helping finance teams in investee companies deal with the challenges presented by the crash.” Given her qualifications and experience, she was often asked why she didn’t go to one of the major international private equity firms. “I wanted to be where the leadership was,” she explains. “I wanted to be close to the decisions. No matter how small a role I had, I wanted to be part of the decision making.” Her next move saw her join Dalata in 2014.  “I wanted to get into the finance function of a large Irish company,” Phelan explains. “The Dalata opportunity came up, and it ticked all the boxes. The people leading the company shared my values – ambition, a desire to grow and challenge oneself, and always wanting to do better. Dalata has that in spades.  “The company has always been led by people very concerned about building a business that works for everyone and not just about generating higher numbers and profits. They want a business that creates opportunities for everybody. I knew the people in Dalata before I joined, so I knew it was all true.” The company was on the cusp of significant change when she joined. “It was just after the IPO. All the structures had to be built to accommodate it. I was able to use my skills for that. It was great to have that challenge.” A people-centric business The culture of the business is very important to Phelan.  “Hospitality is a very people-centric business. It’s about more than numbers and the bottom line. That sits well with me and my background. Dalata has always said it wants people with ambition: ambition to grow and develop themselves but to bring others with them, as well.” Dalata places great store by training and development, with over 113,00 training courses completed by its staff in 2022.  “The company is growing and ambitious. I can’t tell you the opportunities that will exist in three years, but we will put everything behind people who want to grow and develop.  “People who joined the company in 2015 are now working in roles that didn’t exist back then. We give people support to get the experience and skills and take on those roles. We opened seven hotels in 2022, and the majority of the leadership teams in them is made up of people developed in Dalata. That creates opportunities for those following behind them.”  Career mobility is also important. “You can join the finance team here, but who knows where you will end up. We have operations people who ended up in finance and operations people who started in finance. You can’t pigeonhole people. As a major plc, we also have all the finance strands here so someone can build a full suite of experience.” There is a need to look beyond functional skills, she adds. “You can develop skills for a role in finance, but it has never been just about the numbers. I can tell by sitting across the table from someone if targets will be met without looking at numbers on a page. We all have that ability if we work on it.” The people-centric approach delivers real business benefits. “We see ourselves as an employer of choice. That’s very important in the hospitality industry. We are not as challenged as others in the industry regarding recruitment. We are now back at 2019 job vacancy rates. We will always have several vacancies. That’s the nature of the business.” “The only way was up” She was appointed Group CFO on 1 July 2021. “The only way was up, having been shut down for most of the previous two years [during the pandemic],” she says with a smile. “It was easy coming in after that. Anyone can look like a hero in those circumstances.” Looking back on COVID-19, she believes it showed Dalata at its best.  “We never panicked. We stood back and said it would resolve itself. That was based on a genuine belief that science would get there. That was our underlying expectation, and we had to be ready when we came out the other side. We looked at it through a longer lens. Everyone stepped in to do whatever needed to be done. Our bottom line was to protect our people. They represent our biggest asset. The accounting standards haven’t figured out a way to measure the strategic value of people yet, but we know what it is.” The aim was to keep people employed during COVID-19.  “Our focus was on everyone doing the right things in the right ways to keep people on. That’s the Dalata way of doing things. We ensured all our people had full access to the Dalata Online Academy. Even at home, they could continue to grow and develop.” The operations software platform also proved its worth. “We use it in the hotels for people management, rostering, onboarding, as a communications tool, and for pushing out video updates,” Phelan explains. “We have a lot of young people in the industry, and the ability to access information over the phone is so important to them, particularly when they can’t get together physically. We ensured people remained connected to the business even when apart.” That approach was extended to customers, landlords, suppliers, bankers and other stakeholders.  “We gave refunds to customers when they asked for them. We never even considered not paying rent. All our decisions were taken with a view to the long term. That will stand to us in the future.” Growth Having delivered record profits in 2022, there will be no let-up in the growth and development of Dalata Hotel Group, Phelan says.  “We now have 52 hotels in Ireland, the UK and continental Europe, and another five in the pipeline in London, Brighton, Manchester and Dublin. Forty percent of our rooms are in Dublin, 40 percent in the UK, and the balance is in regional Ireland and continental Europe.  “We have great ambitions for continental Europe, but our priority growth focus is the UK. There is a gap in the four-star hotel market, and we are in a great position to fill it. Dalata is a very ambitious company. The focus is always on what’s next. I love that attitude. But there is strong discipline. There will never be trophy assets in Dalata. Everything must make sense for the broader business and deliver a return for our shareholders.”  She concludes by pointing out that her own role reflects the core values of Dalata.  “I am an executive director and sit on the board as well as leading the finance team. I must be able to contribute to Dalata strategically, not just in my own expert area. Board members need to be able to challenge each other. We may approach it from slightly different angles, but it’s important to hear everyone’s views. That’s the Dalata culture overall. People are encouraged to bring their individuality to work. Everyone is encouraged to have a voice and to speak up. Who we are and where we’ve come from shapes that. We all bring different perspectives to the debate.”

Chartered Accountant David Malone, Chief Executive of the Irish League of Credit Unions, believes that credit unions are uniquely positioned to fill the gaps left by the departure of major banks and cater to the needs of small businesses and individuals, offering a personalised and community-focused approach Having recently achieved the top ranking in the Ireland RepTrak 2023 study of corporate reputation, credit unions are now poised to provide a real alternative to traditional retail banks for the full range of financial services products.  The credit union sector’s strong local presence with over 500 locations across the island of Ireland demonstrates a clear community focus now combined with soon-to-be-enacted new legislation, which will see credit unions unlock their full potential to become the country’s primary financial services institution of choice. David Malone, Chief Executive of the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU), an advocacy body for credit unions in Ireland, believes the unique ethos and DNA of credit unions place them in a strong position to fill the void left by the departure of KBC and Ulster Bank, as well as other service gaps. “There have been significant changes in the financial services sector since the global financial crisis,” he says. “Twelve retail banks were operating in Ireland back then. It’s down to three now. That has led to a lack of customer choice, particularly in the mortgage and SME lending markets, where competition is highly concentrated between the three pillar banks.  “Along with that, we have seen bank branch closures, decimating Irish towns and even where branches remain, decision-making has migrated from the local branch to the centre.” That centralisation has created problems for customers, says Malone.  “For example, small businesses have a real challenge trying to get loans from banks,” he notes. “There is limited interaction with local bank branch managers. Many such loans are turned down. A small business owner can visit their local credit union and sit with staff to explain their business and its needs. Our staff have that vital local knowledge and will understand the specific needs of the business that, in many cases, can help in providing the appropriate loan finance.”  Building relationships Malone joined the ILCU as Head of Finance and Deputy CEO seven years ago, after spending over ten years in audit and assurance with PwC.  “I trained as a Chartered Accountant with PwC after doing my degree in Accounting and Finance and Masters in Accounting at DCU,” he says. “I am now a Fellow of the Institute. It’s a great qualification, providing a real platform for your career. “At PwC, I worked with a wide range of clients, from large Irish plcs to SMEs to Irish subsidiaries of multinationals. Going into different businesses and seeing how they are run was fascinating.” Auditing is much more than a numbers game, he explains. “You have to build relationships with audit clients. You are there to add value and recommend improvements to the client’s financial processes.” He was drawn to the business world as a student during his summer job. “I worked for five summers in my aunt’s business, which was a busy tour operator during the 90s. I learned all about customer service and how the true value of timely and reliable financial information is key to decision-making and strategic direction.” Malone was appointed ILCU CEO in July 2022.  “In conjunction with our board, I had been leading the transformation programme for the organisation prior to that,” he says. “The programme aims to deliver on our new purpose to lead, support and sustain the development of credit unions on the island of Ireland. “Our areas of focus include facilitating collaboration of credit unions, repositioning the credit union brand, and effective advocacy to government and regulators. We also provide a significant suite of professional services to member credit unions in areas such as risk and compliance, legal, human resources and training.” The evolution of credit unions “Our transformation has brought significant additional expertise into the organisation with a number of new skill sets adding huge value as we deliver our purpose,” Malone notes. Malone is excited by the evolution of credit unions. “Credit unions have a 42 percent share of the personal lending market. They have issued close to half a million loans in the last year. In addition, credit unions in over 200 locations across the country are now providing current accounts that are potentially accessible by over two million credit union members. These can be accessed through an app and support Apple Pay and Google Pay. Credit unions now account for over 10 percent of new current accounts opened.” The new legislation, the Credit Union Amendment Bill, is a game changer, Malone says. It allows for the establishment of Credit Union Service Organisations (CUSOs) by groups of credit unions. These CUSOs enable credit unions to pool resources to invest in back-office infrastructure that will enable more credit unions to provide a wider range of financial services, particularly SME lending and mortgages. The new legislation also allow credit unions to provide services to members of other credit unions where the credit unions agree and allows credit unions to pool loans and risk between each other. “Credit unions have significant funds to lend,” says Malone. “They are not relying on the wholesale money markets for their funding. Instead, members continue showing confidence and trust in credit unions by depositing their savings.  “A number of credit unions now offer some of the lowest interest rates in the mortgage market. Credit union mortgage lending has increased by 25 percent in the last year. There is circa €11 billion of funds in credit unions that is available to be lent and can be used to fund small businesses, help people buy their homes, and support community organisations. The new legislation will help credit unions significantly increase their footprint in these areas. “Digitalisation presents great opportunities,” he explains. “Credit unions embrace technology by providing online payments, digital membership and loan applications. However, there is an important difference: credit unions are not digital only; they are digital with the essential human touch. Credit unions are omnichannel, so you can go into a branch or call on the phone and get an answer in real-time.” There is also the issue of financial exclusion. “People still need access to cash, and with banks closing branches and removing ATMs around the country, credit unions have an important role to play in providing that access.” Trusted organisations Malone believes that personal service is the chief reason for credit unions’ top ranking in the Ireland RepTrak 2023 study of corporate reputation.  “We got under the bonnet of that ranking, and we found the key contributors are our human, friendly and authentic service. The study emphasises attributes such as trust and respect, which are core to the ethos of credit unions which are locally owned and managed. We are proud to be at the heart of communities nationwide working towards a more inclusive society, where no one is left behind.” That contrasts sharply with some of the other lenders in the market. Malone is concerned about the impact of ‘buy now pay later’ (BNPL) and personal contract purchase (PCP) products on borrowers. “People don’t realise they are accumulating significant amounts of small debts with these products,” he says. “When people get a loan from the credit union, it’s very transparent and open. We want a lifetime relationship with members. It’s not short-term. Credit unions have helped members consolidate debts to deal with issues created by those products.” He explains that credit union loans are very different to other loans.  “For example, credit union loans provide flexibility, including no early repayment penalties. There is also loan protection insurance that effectively repays the loan in the event of a member’s death. This is a unique credit union benefit that you won’t get with the bank.  “I recently learned about a young person in their twenties whose parents had died. The parents had bank and credit union loans. The credit union loans were paid off automatically as they were covered by the insurance. The bank offered a repayment plan. Our approach is so different to other credit providers. We genuinely care about our members.” That membership is ultimately the critical point of difference, he believes.  “Our members are much more than customers; they are part owners of their credit union. They have a say in how it’s run. Members can volunteer to be on the board and committees. The boards are made up of community volunteers who have the locality’s best interests at heart. They selflessly give their time to credit unions. I would encourage any Chartered Accountant to consider becoming a credit union director, as it is enormously rewarding. “We see credit unions becoming primary financial institutions of choice migrating from the periphery to the front and centre of the financial services landscape,” he continues. “We are building on over sixty years of service to communities around Ireland. We are here to stay, not retrenching or closing – quite the opposite. We are growing and moving forward. We are building on a great reputation and great customer experience. We are offering a much wider range of products and services across the country, and that’s great news for members and the people of Ireland.”

Imelda Hurley, CEO at Coillte, the semi-state forestry company, talks about her passion for sustainability and the importance of Ireland’s climate action and biodiversity agenda for the Irish economy and society  Imelda Hurley knew from an early age that she was destined for a career in business. Hurley tells Accountancy Ireland about her career path and how Coillte’s strategic vision will further support its contribution to Ireland’s climate targets, optimising the multiple benefits from forestry.  Tell us about yourself and the start of your career. I grew up on a family dairy farm just outside Clonakilty in West Cork. My first job was with Clonakilty Black Pudding, a little-known brand back then, but now a very successful and entrepreneurial operation. I completed a Business Studies degree at the University of Limerick. Following that I joined Arthur Andersen and became a Chartered Accountant. During that time, I had the opportunity to engage with multinationals and indigenous companies. That gave me a great lens into how organisations successfully operate, develop and implement strategy. How has your career evolved since you qualified as a Chartered Accountant? A: I always had an ambition to become a CFO and eventually a CEO. My career experience has been from farm to fork to forestry, working in the food, agribusiness and agriservices businesses across a variety of ownership structures.  During my role as CFO and Head of Corporate Sustainability at PCH International in China, I had the opportunity to learn more about sustainable product development and supply chain management.  That was over 10 years ago, when few organisations were talking about sustainability. I’m left reflecting on how times have changed over those 10 years and how there is an increased focus on sustainability today.  You were appointed as CEO of Coillte in November 2019. Tell us about your role and what attracted you to the position. I really enjoy the outdoors and nature. Coillte gave me a great opportunity to work in a business with a commercial focus, but also a business delivering social good. I joined Coillte in November 2019 and I spent much of the first two years navigating the pandemic. I wanted to ensure that Coillte emerged from the pandemic as a sustainable, viable and vibrant organisation. I am pleased to say that when we reported our 2021 results, we delivered record revenues, record profitability and a record dividend to the State.  Coillte manages 440,000 hectares of primarily forested land, circa seven percent of Ireland’s land, with about 6,000 individual properties. We have just over 800 employees and 1,200 contractors working across three divisions: Coillte Forest, Land Solutions and Medite Smartply.  Coillte is the nation’s largest forester and producer of certified wood, a natural, renewable and sustainable resource and the largest provider of outdoor recreation space in Ireland. It enables wind-energy on the estate, processes forestry by-products and undertakes nature rehabilitation projects of scale. When you were presented with your Businessperson of the Year Award in December, you were described as an “advocate for sustainable business practices and a leader in sustainability discussions”. Why is sustainability important to you? We are on a journey that requires us to leave the planet in a better place than we found it. There is a financial balance sheet but also an environmental and social balance sheet. Good business brings these together. From my perspective, I accepted the award on behalf of Team Coillte, all of whom work every day to balance and deliver the multiple benefits of forestry.  Tell us about the strategic vision you launched last year and Coillte’s plans for the next 12 months and beyond. In April 2022, we launched a new forest strategic vision focusing on four pillars – Forests for Climate, Wood, Nature and People. This vision sees us, as an example, enabling the creation of 100,000 hectares of new forests by 2050. Those forests will sink approximately 18 million tonnes of CO2.  We are also working on how we manage our existing forests to capture an additional 10 million tonnes of CO2 by 2050.  We have an ambition to redesign approximately 30,000 hectares of peatland forests through a programme of rewetting or rewilding for climate and ecological benefits and also aiming to enable the generation of one gigawatt of renewable wind energy by 2030.  From a people and recreational perspective, we are targeting to enable €100 million of investment to create world-class visitor destinations by 2030.  In July 2022, we launched Beyond The Trees, Avondale at Avondale Forest Park in County Wicklow and in June of this year, we opened the newly refurbished Avondale House, further adding to Avondale Forest Park experience, which has had over 300,000 visitors since June 2022. Our ongoing focus is to continue to ensure a strong, viable, vibrant Coillte that focuses on optimising our contribution to Ireland’s Climate Action plan, while continuing to deliver sustainably certified timber to support the decarbonisation of the built environment.  Our strategic vision also involves increasing from 20 percent of the estate being primarily managed for nature and biodiversity to 30 percent by 2025 and to 50 percent in the long-term. Another major focus for us is workforce capacity, planning for our organisation and the industry more broadly. We have 440,000 hectares under management and between now and 2050 the State has an ambition to increase forest cover from 11.6 percent to 18 percent. As such there will be a requirement to attract more people into our sector going forward. Are you glad you made the decision to qualify as a Chartered Accountant and what career advice would you offer your younger self? A: In the early years of my career, I looked up to others. Ultimately, I realised what was much more important was to follow my own path and enjoy the journey. You have to do what makes you happy and if you work hard and are determined, good things will come.