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Your exams are over and your next lectures aren’t until the autumn – what should you do with this in-between time? Grace Tighe has a few suggestions. Working full time and studying on the side can be tough. It is important to make the most of your time off between the end of your exams and the start of your new lectures. Here are my top tips on what you can do during this time to ensure you are refreshed and prepared heading into another year.  Take a break  You have spent the year working and studying – you have put in a lot of hard work. Take this time to refresh and recharge the batteries. Organise to meet up with friends, enjoy social nights out, or pick up a hobby you haven’t given attention to in a while. Do whatever helps you unwind and relax.  Downtime is important for our brain health. Research has found that taking breaks can improve your mood, boost performance and increase ability to concentrate. If we don’t take this time to give our minds a chance to pause and refresh, our brains won’t work as efficiently, and burnout can occur. Keep up-to-date with current affairs  Discussing issues topical in the current business environment is a great way to show competence in exams. You can get this information from many sources: newspapers, news bulletins on the radio, podcasts, YouTube videos or online subscriptions.  Personal suggestions of mine would include the News Briefing podcast from the Financial Times, The Daily podcast from the New York Times (less of a focus on finance but excellent for current affairs) and Chartered Accountants Ireland’s The Bottom Line magazine (especially important on the run up to exams) and the Accountancy Ireland podcast.  You may like to listen to a podcast on your daily commute or prefer to read a newspaper at the weekend. There is no silver bullet. Find out what works best for you.  Organise your notes  Before starting lectures again, find a day or two to go through your old notes and folders, whether that be from previous Chartered Accountancy exams or from university. Clear out rough answers and additional material that you don’t need. Focus on having a solid set of notes that you can draw on in your studies.  Make a plan  Like organising your notes, take a day to set out a rough plan for the next term of lectures. I would recommend adding your lecture timetable to your work calendar. This will ensure you don’t forget when lectures are on, but also allows your work colleges and managers visibility as to the evenings you must attend lectures and can’t work late. Schedule in time at the weekends to watch your lectures and seminars, as well as time for breaks and to get out for some exercise.  In summary, use this time to recharge the batteries, get some exercise and plan ahead for the new academic year. Grace Tighe is an audit executive in PwC and the CASSI Education Officer.

At the end of your Chartered journey, the training and studying will all be worth it when you can finally become a member. How do you gain membership and what are the benefits once you have it? You’ve worked hard over a number of years – you’ve studied and trained and put in the hours so you can start your career as a Chartered Accountant. There are a few steps you have to go through first, however.  Step 1: Complete FAE Successfully complete and pass your FAE exams. This could take you a few attempts, but you will get there. Step 2: Complete your CA Diary Membership will only become available to you once you have finalised your CA Diary. The resources page on the Chartered Accountants Ireland site contains all the information you need. You can also contact the support team on trainingsupport@charteredaccountants.ie or ring us on +353 1 637 7202. Step 3: Complete training You may have passed the FAE but have not yet completed the required term of training. It’s necessary for you to complete the entire term of your contract, or the required training period if you are on the Flexible Route. When you have completed those three steps, you’re ready to apply to become a Chartered Accountant. For queries about admission to membership, please contact admissions@charteredaccountants.ie or visit the Admission to Membership website. Benefits of membership Membership of Chartered Accountants Ireland means that you will belong to a strong, supportive and sociable community of more than 29,000 colleagues and friends on the island of Ireland and around the world. Membership is the beginning of a lifelong relationship with your Institute, your fellow members and a journey we look forward to meeting you on again and again. Members can use the Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA) designation after their name, allying them with peers around the globe. The designation and qualification are internationally recognised passports to a varied, challenging, rewarding and flexible career. Building connections As you progress through your career, you will see the importance of networking. The people you meet will help and support you in many ways and you will do the same for them. Professional advice, brainstorming and new friends are all out there and the Institute can help you make contact. There are a number of very active networking groups, committees and district societies with whom you can build business, educational and social relationships. The learning never stops We all value professional development and understand the importance of keeping abreast of new information and issues within our profession. The Institute offers a wide range of continuous professional development that will ensure you keep your skills and competencies up-to-date so you can provide the highest quality services to your clients and employers.  Once you are admitted, the Member Experience team is there to support members in all aspects of their career and professional development. They provide career coaching and mentoring and  technical skills development through CPD and our other specialist qualifications. It might feel like qualification is ages away right now, but your time as a trainee and student will pass quickly, and when you are admitted to membership, the sky is the limit.

Clare Monaghan, Chair of the Chartered Accountants Student Society Ireland, outlines what you can expect while you continue your training. Like most students, I started my journey of becoming a Chartered Accountant through a graduate trainee role, enthusiastic to learn but naïve to what was ahead of me. Three years on and I am now approaching the final hurdle – my FAEs, and I know first hand how a little guidance on my training contract as I progressed through my education would have gone a long way. The beginning The first fortnight of a training contract usually consists of trainees going through an induction, outlining the dos and don’ts with a dash of double entry. If you are lucky enough, you might even be spoiled with some social activities which creates a camaraderie between you and the other trainees.  You will have also gained access to the ‘Learning Hub’ – home to all lecture and webinar recordings, accompanied by various documents such as the Competency Statement, PowerPoint presentations and many supplementary handouts to help you through your studies. Also, a large box of textbooks arrives at your front door at the start of each academic cycle, preparing you for the year ahead.  Like in those first few months of your contract, organisation is key when it comes to progressing through your studies. Adding lecture dates to your diary along with reminders helps you prepare for the week ahead. There are pre-class recordings that must be watched before lectures. This is highlighted on both the Competency Statement and timetable, and it’s important to schedule that in throughout your training. CA Diary During the preliminary stage of your training contract, you were introduced to your CA Diary and diary mentor. The CA Diary is a running log of all the exciting opportunities you encounter throughout your training contract, thus confirming that you are gaining relevant work experience by meeting the essential competencies in areas of financial reporting, business environment and professional values. Your mentor will continue to review your diary entries every six months, validating your success in attaining the relevant experience providing valuable and constructive feedback.   My day-to-day work involves local and central government audits, north/south body audits and public reporting. No training contract will be identical, and like many of my student peers working for the Big 4 or smaller firms, we experience a different hurdle to jump each day; however this provides great writing for the  CA Diary.  Student societies With so many students carrying out the training contract throughout Ireland, there is a superb social side. I joined the Chartered Accountants Student Society in Ulster during the first year of my training contract, building a network of new and lasting friendships. Now, as Chair of the Chartered Accountants Student Society Ireland, I have expanded that network further and continue to thoroughly enjoy my training.  The training contract is not easy and requires a lot of hard work, dedication and time. That said, the volume of work should not discourage you from the world of abundant opportunities you become exposed to while doing it. CASSI Survey on AAFRP issues CASSI has been engaging with Chartered Accountants Ireland since the AAFRP issues of 24 April. Shortly after the exam, we surveyed FAE students on their experiences, and received some 400 responses. We have discussed the findings with the Institute, and have asked them to respond to the challenges set out by students. CASSI is the representative body for all students, and while we cannot be involved in individual cases, we aim to be the voice of students across a range of educational, careers and social topics. A Q&A document relating to AAFRP issues is now available online.

Ronan O’Loughlin talks about the issues surrounding the 2021 FAE interim assessments and the measures being taken by the Institute for future online exams.  As many of you know, on Saturday, 24 April, FAE students experienced significant technical issues with our online exam platform Cirrus during their AAFRP interim assessment. I want to share with you what happened and what this means for you, our students.  First, on behalf of the whole Institute team, I am truly sorry for the concern and uncertainty that these issues have caused. My team and I share your frustration, and I apologise for this unforeseen event, which is, of course, at odds with our ambition to serve students’ needs.  What happened on the day?  1,450 FAE students were admitted onto the exam platform in small groups. Towards the end of the onboarding window, students started to see an error message on their exam page in Cirrus. Cirrus has confirmed that the problem was related to server capacity, which performed in a way that was outside the many scenarios we had tested. This resulted in students losing connection to the assessment and experiencing difficulties and delays in reconnecting. Unfortunately, these issues prevented many people from completing the exam. In addition, we cannot be certain that the technical issues did not impact the scripts that were submitted. We began an investigation that same day under our risk management processes. At the time of writing, we are still completing the full ‘root cause analysis’ to understand why the issue occurred and prevent any future recurrence.   As soon as we became aware of Saturday’s issues, we contacted all FAE students and advised them that the exam had been stopped. However, we know that some students were unable to access our usual one-to-one assistance on the day due to the numbers impacted by the issue. We very much regret the additional frustration that this caused for students. Students have asked if the problems that arose during the recent AAFRP interim assessment have occurred before, and I can confirm that this was the first time this has arisen for Cirrus, a company that hosts online exams worldwide. Naturally, they share our urgency in investigating and resolving this issue.  As you may be aware, Cirrus hosts our exams while ProctorU ‘onboards’ students and invigilates the exams. During the early days of our online examinations last year, I know that some students encountered individual connectivity and technical difficulties relating to online invigilation, which we resolved. Since COVID-19 emerged, the Institute’s priority has been to ensure that students can continue their studies and their path to qualification, despite the pandemic. These types of transformation projects are by nature challenging, and we have greatly appreciated the collaboration of students, firms and employers in making this happen.  Where to from here?  The AAFRP should have accounted for 15% of the FAE Core grade, with the remaining 85% represented by August’s main Core exam. When we realised that we had to stop the AAFRP exams, we knew we needed to give students clarity quickly and provide a solution that treated all impacted FAE students equally. As you know, it was decided that we would put aside the AAFRP assessment on this occasion so that this year, the main FAE Core sitting in August will represent 100% of the marks available. The weighting of financial reporting in the Core paper will remain at 25%, in line with the competency statement. While the format of the Core exam is different from the AAFRP, I want to assure you that studies up to now will still be relevant to the main exam. I have been asked why it is not possible to simply re-sit the assessment. There are several reasons for this. Your welfare and successful progression are the priority. We did not wish to insert another significant exam milestone in the run-up to the main FAE exams, which, as always, include the AAFRP material in their scope. In addition, we need to ensure a robust exam platform for all students ahead of the upcoming main exams beginning with CAP1 on 24 May.  Since 24 April, we have been consulting and listening to our stakeholders. We have heard from students, both directly and with the assistance of CASSI, who undertook a valuable survey. We have also spoken to firms, employers, the UK and Irish regulators (who oversee us), and our governance structures such as Education Board and Oversight Board and exam committees. We know that trust in our online exams has been impacted, I want to share with you some of the things we are doing.  First, we are working closely with Cirrus to diagnose and fix the issues we encountered. We will test these extensively over the coming weeks. To allow us to focus on this fully, we have rescheduled CAP1 practice onboarding.  Second, we are reflecting on how we communicate with students and employers, and we are committed to providing you with timely, accessible updates. Third, our examining team will consider if the average student performance in financial reporting at the end of the main exam in August is in line with recent years, and a detailed analysis of recent student performance will inform this. In this way, we will seek assurance that students have not been disadvantaged due to recent issues. Since we first introduced e-assessments in 2019, over 20,000 individual online exams have successfully taken place, making the Institute one of only a handful of chartered bodies around the world to be able to continue exams throughout the pandemic. While this does not in any way diminish the significant upheaval of the last few days, it will hopefully give you cause for confidence in our continued commitment to a successful exam season over the coming months.  My team is here for you at any time, on FAEExam@charteredaccountants.ie. The CA Support team is also available to offer confidential one-to-one listening support, and you can find their dedicated site and contact details on our website. Ronan O’Loughlin is Director of Education and Training at Chartered Accountants Ireland.

With talks 'officially' starting on 2 March, the EU and the UK need to attempt to reach an agreement on a deal before June. However, it looks like it could be a long road ahead. WORDS BY AKRITI GUPTA On 25 February 2020, the European Union’s (EU) General Affairs Council formally adopted the decision to authorise the opening of the future partnership negotiations between the EU and the UK. The forging of this partnership stems from the initial negotiations under Article 50 of the Treaty of the European Union, where an overall understanding on the framework for the envisaged partnership was identified by the EU and the United Kingdom (UK). With the talks ‘officially’ starting on 2 March 2020, the EU and UK will now attempt to replace more than forty years of closely aligned political and economic relations. The negotiations will be conducted in a way that ensures parallelism among the various sectoral tracks of the negotiation. In the interest of safeguarding rights for both blocs, the approved directives fully respect existing European Council guidelines and conclusions, as well as the previously agreed Political Declaration between the two entities. As they're key commercial elements, the directives will focus on areas of state aid, competition, state-owned enterprises, social and employment standards, environmental standards, climate change, relevant tax matters and other regulatory measures and practices.  Stating its own position, the UK has also published its counterpart of the negotiating directives, where the approach mainly lays out the suite of proposals with the EU. The central tenet of this approach is the widely discussed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) where the UK wishes to secure an arrangement which has the hope of ‘zero tariffs, zero quotas’ at the core of it. This proposal draws on previously forged EU agreements such as the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement, the EU/Japan Economic Partnership Agreement and the EU/South Korea Free Trade Agreement.  However, with the UK actively pursuing the right to rewrite its own rules, it is asserting the right to diverge from European rules governing a host of commercial concerns – from fishing access and financial regulations to health and safety, labour and environmental standards.  Addressing the House of Commons in February, Michael Gove, Minister for the Cabinet Office, stressed the UK’s decision to see the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020: "We want the best possible trading relationship with the EU, but in pursuit of a deal we will not trade away our sovereignty." Additionally, the UK has vocalised a demand for what it calls a "standard" free trade agreement – essentially, a “no-deal” Brexit if “good progress” hasn’t been made on trade talks by June 2020.  With the idea of a no-deal Brexit being a major source of worry among the general public, the statement above basically envisages the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal, and, in turn, inviting extensive disruption across all aspects of trade, both in goods and services, the avoidance of which has been at the core of three long years of negotiations all along.  As all eyes fall on the two blocs for further confirmation, the UK and EU have a long road ahead to forge an ambitious and fair partnership over four more months, it seems. 

CASSI CASSI recently held their AGM in Dublin. CASSI would like to congratulate their new Chair, Emma Noonan, and the rest of the newly appointed committee. They would also like to take this opportunity to thank the outgoing committee: Nuala McAdams, Ciara Cuggy, Ciara Flanagan and Conor Flanagan for their contribution to the society over the past number of years and wish them all the best in the future.  The committee is pleased to inform you that CASSI has entered a new three-year partnership with Barden Recruitment. Barden Recruitment have pledged 1,000 hours to mentoring and coaching Chartered Accountants Ireland students, and are excited to roll out their events with CASSI and the regional committees in the coming weeks.  The committee are also currently working on planning the annual weekend away in October. Keep an eye on their social media and emails for updates.  CASSD CASSD held their annual ball in the Ballsbridge Hotel, Dublin on Saturday 29 February. Photos to follow in the next month update.  CASSD will host its first event with Barden Recruitment on the 18 March. This event will bring speakers in from industry to provide an insight in what you can achieve as a Chartered Accountant. Look for updates on social media.  CASSU CASSU held pick-me-up-January drinks and pizza on 24 January in Marcus Ward, Belfast. The event will take place again at the end of March.   CASSU hosted their annual ball on Saturday 22 February at the Culloden Estate and Spa with a Hollywood glam theme. The night included a selfie mirror with red carpet, popcorn machine, themed cocktails, and a live band and DJ. Everyone had a brilliant night!  The committee is liaising with their charity for the year, The Simon Community, about CSR activities. They will post updates on social media as details are finalised.  They are also trying to set up a running or tennis club for all the sporty CASSU members, so keep your eyes peeled! CASSG CASSG held their AGM and are excited to get to work on the year ahead. They would like to congratulate and wish all the best to the new committee members.  CASSG will be holding their annual table quiz event in March. A finalised date will be announced shortly. Follow our Facebook page for more updates. CASSSE CASSSE are currently organizing an event for June to the Gowran races. More details will follow in the next update. CASSM CASSM's first social event of the year has already been organised – a weekend away to Sligo in March. There are a number of great activities planned to bring the region together. The trips are always eventful and well attended. We are all looking forward to the break!