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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has dampened the global economic outlook, prompting predictions of spiralling price hikes not seen since the 1980s and looming recession. But, is it too soon to predict with any accuracy what really lies ahead? Professor Anthony Foley investigates. After two years of economic uncertainty because of the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and its associated sanctions, have unsettled our markets once again, lowering projected GDP growth rates and increasing global inflation rates in 2022 and, to a lesser extent, in 2023.  However, the exact scale of the impact is as yet uncertain. It will depend on several factors, including the duration of the conflict, developments in economic sanctions — both in terms of impositions on Russia and its own retaliative measures — and the nature of any possible peace deal.  Together, Russia and Ukraine comprise a relatively small part of the global economy, making up about two percent of GDP internationally. They are important players in the markets for certain products, accounting for about 30 percent of global exports of wheat, 20 percent of corn, roughly 20 percent of fertilisers, 20 percent of natural gas and 11 percent of oil.  Both countries also have substantial uranium reserves and are significant suppliers of the inert gases used to make semiconductors and the titanium sponge used in aircraft manufacturing.  On top of that, Russia is a major supplier of the palladium used in the catalytic converters for cars and the nickel used in batteries and steel, while Ukraine is among the world’s foremost producers of sunflower oil and sugar beet. Mechanisms of the economic impact of war There are several mechanisms through which war has an economic impact. Trade flows are suppressed, hitting integrated global supply chains. The rising cost of commodities like gas, fertiliser and oil upends business cost models and lowers real consumer income.  Even had there been no response from the rest of the world to the Russian invasion, Ukraine would still be unable to maintain existing supplies of products, such as wheat and minerals, to the global market. This alone would result in supply chain disruption and price hikes for certain products.  Uncertainty, in general, suppresses economic growth, muting confidence and lowering consumer spending and enterprise investment — and this is especially true of the current situation in Ukraine. The intervention of the West thus far, through economic sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus, has increased the economic impact of the war by limiting trade engagement with Russia.  Russia may retaliate against these sanctions by restricting gas supplies or defaulting on sovereign debt, which would further deepen the economic impact.  Energy prices were rising even before the Ukraine invasion, but the war has now accelerated the rate of inflation. Even if a country has no direct trade link with Russia, it will be affected by ongoing global price hikes.  Countries with trade links to Russia will have lower growth rates, curtailing their capacity to trade with other countries – even those with no direct trade links to Russia — triggering further global economic impact. Hundreds of western companies have opted to cut business ties with Russia, even if not required by official sanctions, including big brand names like Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Nike. In addition, there are implications for the public finances of those countries taking refugees from and sending aid to Ukraine. If a peace settlement is reached, there will then be the cost of rebuilding Ukraine.  Irish trade with Ukraine & Russia Ireland exported goods worth €627 million to Russia in 2021 (just 0.4% of its total exports) and imported goods worth €598.1 million from Russia. In the same period, goods exported to Ukraine totalled €91.7 million, while imports came to €70.2 million.   The imports of goods are dominated by petroleum and petroleum products (€231 million), coal and coke (€140 million) and fertilisers (€134 million). These three imports are 84 percent of total Irish imports from Russia.  The value of services traded with Russia is much higher, however. Ireland’s service exports to Russia were valued at €3,242 million in 2020 (i.e. 1.3% of total service exports). The value of services imported to Ireland from Russia in the same year was €360 million. The main services exported to Russia were computer services (€1,840 million), operational leasing (€926 million), financial services (€81 million) and insurance (€27 million). The main service imports from Russia were business services. Service exports to Ukraine were €647 million in 2020, and imports were €49 million. Impact on economic growth and inflation There is significant uncertainty about the magnitude and duration of the economic impact of the war. However, the OECD, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research in the UK and the European Central Bank (ECB) have all recently attempted to quantify the economic impact.  The OECD estimates that in 2022, the war will reduce global growth by about one percent, from 4.5 percent to 3.5 percent. Global 2022 inflation will increase by 2.5 percent from 4.2 percent to 6.7 percent.   The Euro area economic growth will drop by about 1.4 percent from 4.3 percent to about 2.9 percent. Euro area inflation will increase from 2.7 percent to about five percent in 2022. The estimated impact on the US is almost one percent off the growth rate and 1.5 percent on the inflation rate. The assessment by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research in the UK is a little more optimistic but broadly similar to that of the OECD. Global growth this year may fall by 0.5 percent, while inflation could rise by about three percent.  Next year’s impact will not be as drastic, but it is something to watch out for. In 2023, we will see about one percent less in growth and an added two percent on the inflation rate. Euro area growth this year will fall by 0.9 percent, and inflation will rise from 3.1 percent to 5.5 percent. Euro area growth would be about 1.5 percent lower in 2023, and inflation would be about 0.8 percent higher.  Three economic scenarios The ECB recently undertook a detailed analysis of the economic impact and presented three scenarios (Table 1). In December 2021, the ECB forecast a GDP growth rate of 4.2 percent and 3.2 percent for the Euro area in 2022. These figures were revised in March, following the Russian invasion, to GDP growth of 3.7 percent and inflation of 5.1 percent.  This “baseline projection” assumes that current disruptions to energy supplies and suppressed confidence are temporary and that global supply chains are not significantly affected.  The ECB also produced forecasts based on two more negative but possible scenarios.  The adverse scenario assumes a worsening in all three impact mechanisms of trade, prices and economic confidence. The severe scenario assumes a more significant and prolonged increase in commodity prices, leading to second-round inflation and financial system impacts.  The differences between the severe scenario and the pre-war forecasts here are substantial. The growth rate drops by almost half from 4.2 percent to 2.3 percent, and the inflation rate more than doubles from 3.2 percent to 7.1 percent.  Of course, we do not yet know what the eventual impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine will be. We can be sure there will be lower growth, and inflation will rise. On the most extreme assumptions, growth could almost halve, and inflation could more than double compared with the forecasts for the Euro area before the invasion. The ECB has also considered the potential longer-term impact of the Ukraine invasion on growth and inflation in the Euro area into 2023 (Table 2).  The news here is relatively positive, in that growth is closer to the ECB’s pre-war forecast of 2.3 percent on the severe assumptions, compared to 2.9 percent in December 2021. The same is true for inflation — 2.7 percent on the severe assumption compared to 1.8 percent in December 2021. Possible economic impact on Ireland Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the economy was expected to perform well in 2022. The Stability Programme Update, published by the Department of Finance in April 2021, forecast GDP growth of five percent this year, followed by 3.5 percent in 2023.  Modified domestic demand was expected to grow by 7.4 percent this year and 3.8 percent next. Inflation was expected to be 1.9 percent in 2022 and 1.5 percent in 2023. Up until the invasion of Ukraine, this forecast was expected to be exceeded.  The forecasts underestimated the rise in inflation, however – the October 2021 budget forecast Irish inflation rates of 2.2 percent in 2022 and 1.9 percent in 2023.  Using the relativities of the severe ECB scenario, Ireland might face a growth rate of about 3.5 percent instead of around six percent in 2022 and inflation of eight percent instead of four percent.  The good news is that growth is still likely in Ireland and the Euro area because of the relatively high growth rates before the effects of the war.  Of course, particular sectors face a more daunting situation. Ireland’s aircraft leasing sector has high exposure to Russia, and it is uncertain how this will play out in terms of aircraft recovery.  International tourism was expected to rebound after COVID-19 in 2022, but the war may have a dampening effect, particularly in the case of US tourists. Many enterprises in Ireland have had to pause or end their business activities in, and trade contacts with, Russia. Ireland must now cope with the financial requirements of taking in possibly 100,000 Ukrainian war refugees. However hard this may be, consider the position of Poland with millions of refugees to support. The major immediate economic problem is the very high inflation rate to which the war has contributed but is not entirely responsible. How will consumers and producers cope with the price increases? To what extent can the Government shield households from the effects of rising energy prices?  It is already clear that the economic impact of the war is substantial, and the scale and duration of the impact are still unclear, but, as of now, we should be able to avoid recession. Over the longer term, the economic impact will depend on whether there is a return to the pre-war normal (which is unlikely) and what the new normal will be in terms of trading blocs, continuing sanctions, higher defence spending, cyberwar, political tensions and bank payment systems. Anthony Foley is Emeritus Associate Professor of Economics at Dublin City University Business School.

Dee France, Member & Student Support and Well-being Lead, explores why students use the hub and what they can do to support their own mental health.  Being an accounting student is challenging. You have to contend with work, lectures, study, the pressure of exams and new ways of learning in a remote or hybrid working world. At the same time, you may be experiencing personal obstacles. Over time, these duties and responsibilities combined can give rise to sustained pressure, to the detriment of your well-being.  Why do people need help? Our lives and past experiences shape us, affecting our mental health, and the factors that can cause a decline in our well-being differ for everyone. Students come to us for help for various reasons, but the primary motivators tend to centre on exam pressure and stress, workplace grievances, poor work-life balance, and other personal circumstances, such as illness, grief or family and relationship matters. In 2021, we witnessed a significant increase in the number of students contacting Thrive for help.  Most seek support during study leave or exam periods. It is encouraging to see so many take the brave and difficult step to seek help, but earlier intervention in the student journey is important. We want to help prevent students from becoming too overwhelmed and offer support before they falter under the pressure and demands.  Numerous factors can negatively impact our mental well-being. Some we can control. Here are five steps you can take yourself to help your mental health: 1. Nourish your mind and body  Good nutrition and regular physical activity can offset and relieve stress and feelings of anxiety. Simple things like staying hydrated, reducing caffeine intake, and walking in nature can help. 2. Rest The power of sleep in helping to regulate our stress levels should not be understated. Stress and anxiety can lead to sleeping problems, and a lack of sleep can affect your general well-being.  3. Practise mindfulness and meditation  Practising mindfulness allows you to become more aware of your emotions and help manage them. Mindfulness can become a valuable tool for easing stress and anxious thoughts with regular practice.  4. Engage in self-compassion and self-care  Be kind and encourage yourself. Being hard on ourselves is an all-too-common pattern. Self-compassion is the ability to treat yourself with the same care and kindness as you would a good friend who is going through a difficult or stressful time. Developing compassion within ourselves can help us cope with adversity and make difficult situations more manageable.  5. Seek out professional services, like Thrive  How we feel can become all-consuming. If you are struggling, the best thing you can do for your mental health and well-being is to reach out and talk to a professional. Seeking professional support can help you manage stress and poor mental health.  The Thrive well-being hub provides a comprehensive mental health and well-being programme that offers a wide range of services tailored to our students’ well-being. All services are delivered in complete confidence and are available at any stage of your journey with the Institute.  For more advice or information, check out Thrive’s dedicated well-being hub. Alternatively, you can contact the well-being team by email at: thrive@charteredaccountants.ie or phone: (+353) 86 0243294.

John McNamara explains the purpose of the Institute’s new LGBTQ+ allies network group, why it’s essential and what it hopes to accomplish for the profession. Being involved in BALANCE, the Institute’s new LGBTQ+ allies network group, feels a little like pushing an open door. My time on the Institute’s Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) committee has already shown me two things: the progress we are making and all the potential we have yet to realise.  Where it began – the diversity journey The Institute’s first Diversity committee was formed in 2016 and has since become the Diversity and Inclusion committee, an increasingly active group whose remit is to promote a culture of diversity and inclusion, both within the Institute and among our stakeholders.  The committee actively seeks input from both members and students. We want to ensure that we continue to accurately represent their voices across all touchpoints in the profession. We engage with the Institute’s members, students and staff on dedicated events around Pride and International Women’s Day, for example, but we also work to create resources like webinars, podcasts and articles so we can help to inform and educate.  What we do is aimed as much at you, our students, as it is members, staff, and the firms we engage with — and we encourage you to get involved!  Your involvement matters. We believe this passionately, and we are working continually to increase your awareness of the committee and determine how best we can engage with you. You are at the gateway to your future profession, and your perspectives and actions have the power to enact change and shape our future. Don’t forget this. In all our social and professional interactions, we will inevitably fall into one of two categories – the majority or the minority. Which category we find ourselves in will change from one day to the next and from meeting to meeting.  In one scenario, we might be the only person in the group of a particular profile. In another, we might be viewed as part of the majority. Whether we are in the majority or the minority, we need to be visible to the other to achieve our aims so that we might understand one other.  BALANCE Network Group Every aspect of society is multifaceted: schools, homes, businesses, governments… everything. This creates diversity, richness, and, yes, sometimes complications and challenges. Because of these complications and challenges, we need committees and other groups like BALANCE. I joined BALANCE last year when the committee was formed. I firmly believe diversity and inclusion is something we all need to be aware of and engage with, whether as an active participant or as an ally and colleague. We can raise our own voices and support others to raise theirs by getting involved. BALANCE: our purpose Simply put, BALANCE exists to promote awareness of LGBTQ+ inclusion. We want to encourage visibility and ensure students and members can be their authentic selves during their studies and in their workplace. We want to build and strengthen relationships with our LGBTQ+ allies who work to ensure that the LGBTQ+ perspective is represented at all tiers.  We know the value of inclusion in personal and professional development, and we want to achieve the same sense of inclusion on behalf of everyone. We are more aware of this now than ever as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.  BALANCE wants to make Chartered Accountancy a career choice for the LGBTQ+ community by saying, “there is a place for you here”. And, of course, we want to make sure that, as a career path, it is thoroughly enjoyable for all.  We all know that networking is a professional ‘must’ these days, and it can be a lot of fun. We hope our events will be engaging for all who participate, whether as attendees, speakers, or organisers. Why we need BALANCE Recent research from Chartered Accountants Ireland found that 62 percent of its students feel accountancy is open to all, and 59 percent see it as an inclusive profession. This suggests the profession is in a positive place. However, there is still a lot to do to push that dial closer to greater accessibility and openness.  Having a network like BALANCE can help members and students become more empowered in themselves, foster inclusivity within their workplaces and personal lives. Visibility is key. Having the confidence to speak as an LGBTQ+ staff member or advocate for your LGBTQ+ colleague means that we can all go into our next interaction with confidence that we will be accepted and respected, and trust that our colleagues will have the same experience.  However, the data from the Chartered Accountants Ireland survey found just 16 percent of students were aware of the D&I committee, and further responses showed reasonably low awareness of specific initiatives, like Pride and International Women’s Day events.  We want students to be involved in both the Institute’s Diversity and Inclusion committee and BALANCE itself by planning activities and creating resources that are effective, appropriate and capture attention. Having been an LGBTQ+ student myself, I know how daunting it can feel to put yourself out there. The committee aims to make you feel comfortable doing that, whatever your role in this community. And, there are lots of ways to get involved. What you can do You should participate in whatever way you feel comfortable. Personally, I got involved because I strongly believe that we need to support the ethos of equality and that the Institute is ideally placed to promote and perpetuate this. I am proud to be the committee’s first chair, and I am excited to work with committee members towards our aims to encourage a sense of belonging, mobility and diversity among our current LGBTQ+ members and students — and, indeed, our students of the future. If you would like to join the committee, we would love to hear from you. Equally, if you want to suggest an area of focus, an activity or resources you feel our audience should have access to, please get in touch. When we came into being as a committee, we immediately started receiving enquiries from people wanting to know how they could get involved, or reached out to wish us good luck and share supportive comments. It is very heartening to know that we have been noticed even at this early stage.  Our launch event on 25 February was a great success, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our panel who participated in a lively discussion on the day: Tiernan Brady, Sinéad Donovan, Aisling Gannon and Michael J. Walls. We were so pleased to welcome RTÉ’s Audrey Carville as moderator.  The future of BALANCE We are all encouraged by the success of our recent launch event, and we are looking forward to working with the Institute to drive our agenda forward. We are engaging with the broader Diversity and Inclusion committee, CA Support, Thrive wellbeing hub, Education and Careers teams, and others — and we will continue to engage with you.  I encourage you to look at our web page to find out more about BALANCE, access links to resources you may find helpful and see what events we have coming up. Most importantly, you will find our contact information. Please do get in touch if you have any questions or suggestions.  You can contact BALANCE by email at diversity@charteredaccountants.ie. We’d love to hear from you. John McNamara is the Managing Director of Canada Life International Assurance. 

Richard Howard and Ryan Mathers share their insights on the cloudy topic of accounting for software-as-a-service costs. Accounting for software costs has traditionally lagged behind technological developments, so it is little wonder that there is some uncertainty around accounting for cloud computing costs. A recent International Financial Reporting Standards Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) agenda decision on cloud computing costs, while employing a sound decision-making framework, gave an answer at odds with the perception of many financial statement preparers. Before IFRS, we had FRSs, and FRS 10 set out that software that made a computer productive was classed as a fixed asset. Software was viewed as an integral part of the hardware. This standard was introduced in 1997, when software was only beginning to become a differentiated product from the computer or server it sat on. Even at this early stage, accounting standards lagged what was happening in practice. We have recently seen the move to cloud computing and software-as-a-service (SaaS). To illustrate the importance of cloud-based expenditure to the global economy, a Gartner survey from October 2021 estimated global IT expenditure of $4.47 trillion. Hardware constituted 18% of this spend, with the remainder spent on software, communications and data centres. Most of that will be spent on implementation and ongoing services for cloud-based software, cloud-hosted data, infrastructure as a service, and platforms. We have seen two recent IFRIC decisions on the topic of SaaS. The first agenda decision, published in March 2019, concludes that SaaS arrangements are likely to be service arrangements rather than intangible or leased assets. This is because the customer typically only has a right to receive future access to the supplier’s software running on the supplier’s cloud infrastructure. Therefore, the supplier controls the intellectual property (IP) of the underlying software code. On its own, many would see this as a logical conclusion. The second agenda decision, published in April 2021, deals with specific circumstances concerning configuration and customisation costs incurred in implementing SaaS. In limited circumstances, certain configuration and customisation activities undertaken in implementing SaaS arrangements may give rise to a separate asset where the customer controls the IP of the underlying software code. For example, the development of bridging modules to existing on-premises systems or bespoke additional software capability. In all other instances, the IFRIC agenda decision is that configuration and customisation costs will be an operating expense. Accordingly, they are generally recognised in profit or loss as the customisation and configuration services are performed or, in certain circumstances, over the SaaS contract term when access to the cloud application software is provided. The March 2019 decision largely endorsed what was general practice. Companies were receiving a service over a period, and companies agreed with the substance of that. The April 2021 decision, however, has been heavily debated. In discussions with many preparers of financial statements, few have agreed with the decision. While CEOs are talking about their digital transformation, this IFRIC decision tells the CFO how to account for the up-front configuration and customisation of that digital transformation, which in most cases is to expense it as incurred. This is at odds with a simple view expressed by many that the benefit of these costs accrue over a period, so why would they not be capitalised? The April 2021 decision, however, is based on various principles that, in aggregate, gives a decision at odds with the view of many CFOs. To understand their decision, it is helpful to summarise the difference between on-premise software and software as a service (see Table 1). In March 2019, IFRIC observed that a right to receive future access to the supplier’s software running on the supplier’s cloud infrastructure does not, in itself, give the customer any decision-making rights about how and for what purpose the software is used. Nor does it, at the contract commencement date, give the customer power to obtain the future economic benefits from the software itself and restrict others’ access to those benefits. Consequently, IFRIC concluded that a contract that conveys to the customer only the right to receive access to the supplier’s application software in the future is neither a software lease nor an intangible software asset, but rather a service the customer receives over the contract term. Some scenarios were set out where the SaaS expenditure may meet the criteria for being an intangible asset, including where the customer is allowed to take ownership of the asset during the contract or where the customer is allowed to run the software on their own hardware (consistent with FRS 10 in 1997!) The April 2021 decision led on from this train of thought, which can be summarised as: “If you incur expenditure connecting your business to a cloud-based solution, you do not own that asset. As it is not your asset, you cannot capitalise costs you incurred in customising or configuring that software.” So, the question arises: are there any scenarios where an entity may capitalise configuration and customisation services? The simple answer is yes, and this occurs when the entity can control the software. For example, this may arise where the customer has the right to keep the software on-premise on their own servers or behind their own firewall. For on-premise software, the activities likely represent the transfer of an asset that the entity controls because it enhances, improves, or customises an existing on-premise software asset of the entity. While IFRIC only discussed configuration and customisation activities of implementing a SaaS arrangement, the full SaaS implementation includes various activities. Table 2 illustrates some examples (not all-inclusive) of typical costs incurred in SaaS arrangements and the likely accounting treatment of each. Practical implications Beyond complying with IFRIC’s meeting agenda decision, there are some considerations for the many companies who have undertaken, or are undertaking, SaaS implementation projects: IAS 8 requires an entity to retrospectively apply an accounting policy change as if the entity had always applied the new policy. Companies may need to determine if they have capitalised costs that IFRIC may suggest should not have been capitalised and if this impacts comparative periods. Budgetary decisions may have been made based on digital transformation projects being largely capital in nature. However, with such costs now being expenses, it may impact performance when reviewed against budget or external forecasts. Some banking covenants contain EBITA or capital expenditure requirements, so the impact on covenant compliance may need to be assessed. Conclusion Interestingly, while the IFRIC Committee agreed with the interpretation from April 2021, out of the 19 comment letters received, only five respondents agreed with the analysis and conclusion. This would suggest that many see an issue with practicality in the decision. Many companies we have spoken to point to the long-term benefit of such costs as the reason they view capitalisation as the appropriate route for configuring and customising software. Others have cited that it is an upgrade on the previously on-premise capitalised costs, hence appropriate to capitalise. As we continue to use assets such as SaaS or other cloud-based solutions, it will be interesting to see how GAAP develops to recognise that software and hardware are no longer interdependent. Other topics such as accounting for open-source software development, open network cooperation, and platform arrangements will be interesting when they become material in the business world. Richard Howard is a Partner in Deloitte’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications industry group. Ryan Mathers is a Manager in Deloitte’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications industry group.

Professor Anne Marie Ward and Professor Niamh Brennan, both Chartered Accountants, make the case for diversified accounting faculties with a healthy proportion of accounting academics who are professionally and doctoral qualified. The accounting profession comprises three pillars: research, policy, and practice. Rigorous research should inform policy, which leads to best practice. Accounting faculties in higher education institutions can foster links between the three pillars. They prepare students for entry to the accountancy profession; hence, they have the potential to influence future practice. They also undertake research that can inform policy, including regulation of the profession, standard-setting, accounting education, and ethical approaches. What is the problem? Some argue that accounting education is too focused on techniques, rules, processes, and procedures, with insufficient focus on the ethical implications of accounting and its role in the economy and society. Some also argue that accounting research is too academic, unrelated to accounting practice and hence has little impact on policy formulation. In academic circles, this is referred to as the ‘theory-practice gap’. We believe that having a healthy proportion of accounting academics with both a professional qualification and an academic qualification (i.e. PhD) within accounting faculties can help resolve these problems. As these individuals have experience in practice, they can better inform student learning. In addition, they are best placed to identify research areas that would benefit the profession. Unfortunately, however, the proportion of professionally trained and research-trained academics within accounting faculties across the globe is dwindling due to retirements and a dearth of accounting doctoral graduates. University ranking metrics have not helped. For example, recruitment policies in the UK since the 1980s have largely ignored the professional accountant pool due to pressures from higher-education performance metrics. Research scoring systems, such as the UK Research Excellence Framework, feed into university rankings and influence university funding. Consequently, university managers focus on recruiting individuals with PhDs who are more likely to achieve the research outputs required to enable the university to move up the rankings and optimise funding. Therefore, there has been a shift to recruiting PhD graduates from other disciplines, for example economics and engineering, to accounting posts because of a lack of accounting doctoral graduates. However, these individuals are not equipped to service technical accounting subjects. Thus, university managers employ non-research trained professional accountants as teaching associates/part-time lecturers to service professionally accredited modules. As a result, accounting faculties in some universities comprise two cohorts: those academically trained (i.e. PhDs) and those professionally trained and qualified (e.g. Chartered Accountants). This dichotomy is concerning for the future of accounting as an academic discipline, as it serves to widen the gap between theory and practice. Indeed, academics argue that the future of accounting as a separate academic discipline is at a crisis point, with accounting departments increasingly seen as service providers (‘cash cows’) that help to finance other academic subject areas, as opposed to being a premium academic subject in its own right. International interventions Accounting profession representative bodies and policymakers in the US, England and Wales consider it strategically important to retain accounting as a quality academic subject area that actively produces research to inform accounting policy and practice. To this end, they have implemented strategies to reduce the shortfall of academically trained professional accountants. For example, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ (AICPA) Accounting Doctoral Scholars (ADS) programme manages the largest investment ever made by the accounting profession to address the shortage of accounting faculty members (www.adsphd.org). This started in 2008 when accounting firms, state CPA societies, the AICPA Foundation and others invested over $17 million in the programme. By 2020, this funding had helped more than 100 CPAs transition into academic careers. In the UK, the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales, (ICAEW) Livery Charity provides four grants every year to successful ICAEW members who decide to pursue a career in academia and undertake doctoral studies. The total grant is £15,000 per successful applicant and is paid on a pro-rata basis throughout the doctoral programme. The situation in Ireland In Ireland, the links between the accounting profession and higher education institutions are strong and recruitment policies to accounting faculty posts have historically favoured professionally qualified candidates. Thus, most Irish higher education institutions have a diverse mix of accounting academics, including those who are: Both professionally and research trained; Research trained only; and Professionally trained only. This diverse range of backgrounds should foster communion between research, policy, and practice. However, increasing pressure on higher education institutions to meet the performance targets required under university quality ranking systems means that recruitment strategies now favour doctoral qualified candidates. Care is needed to ensure that the dichotomy observed in other countries does not become a feature of Ireland’s accounting faculties. A balance between the three pillars is necessary to ensure that accounting remains an important academic subject in its own right within higher education institutions and not a cash cow that generates income to fund other academic subject areas. Lecturers with both professional and academic skills can serve as a bridge between academia and practitioners and between non-professionally qualified, research-focused academics and teaching associates. Combining the skills of a professionally orientated faculty alongside relevant and high-impact academic research not only prepares students for the future of work as professionally trained accountants, it also contributes favourably to the development of accounting, business, society, and the broader economy. The UK Research Excellence Framework places a premium on research that has impact, where research can be proven to have informed society or business. This is more achievable if accounting faculties include professionally qualified individuals with links to the profession who are also research trained. Research has shown that university managers identify an ideal academic as someone who can produce “rigorous and high-quality research, to teach to a high standard, to fuse academic and professional knowledge and experience, and foster relationships with the wider accounting community”.1 This suggests a market for accounting lecturers that are both professionally and academically trained. Why do professional accountants enrol for doctoral education? Research has not examined what drives professionally qualified accountants, who have an established career, to start again at the bottom rung of the ladder in academia. In response to this gap in knowledge, we addressed two questions in our research: What motivates students to enrol in accounting doctoral programmes? Is there a difference in the motivation of professionally qualified and non-professionally qualified accounting doctoral students to enrol?2 To investigate these issues, we surveyed and interviewed 36 accounting doctoral students enrolled at higher education institutions on the island of Ireland. Of these, 13 were professionally qualified. In total, 14 reasons for enrolling for doctoral education were uncovered. Interviewees reported that their main motivations for enrolling for doctoral education were expectations of a career in academia, enjoyment of research or interest in their doctoral topic, the status of the PhD qualification and work-life balance. In terms of differences, non-professionally qualified doctoral students were predominately motivated to enrol by the pursuit of knowledge and financial rewards. In contrast, most professionally qualified doctoral researchers were initially motivated to enrol because of dissatisfaction with their professional careers. In the main, they felt they lacked autonomy over their work and work-life balance. Autonomy is a key psychological need. When individuals consider that they do not have autonomy over their life, it can affect their well-being and happiness. In addition, about half of the 13 professionally qualified interviewees felt that they did not have a sense of belonging in the profession. Those dissatisfied with their professional career anticipated that an academic career would enable them to have more autonomy over their work and work-life balance. In addition, they were attracted by the status of the PhD qualification, and most interviewees identified that they were interested in researching a topic in depth. A career in academia? We end this article with a call to Chartered Accountants wishing to change careers. If you enjoy learning new things, working independently, and being challenged, you will enjoy research. If you enjoy developing other people, you will enjoy teaching. Finally, if you are ambitious, you will be given plenty of leadership opportunities. Most lecturers are course directors or have other leadership positions from early in their careers. Therefore, if you are considering a career change, why not consider a career in academia? 1 Paisey, C., and Paisey, N.J. (2017). The decline of the professionally-qualified accounting academic: Recruitment into the accounting academic community, Accounting Forum, 14(2), 57–76. 2 Ward, A.M., Brennan, N., and Wylie, J. (2021) Enrolment motivation of accounting doctoral students: Professionally qualified and non-professionally qualified accountants, Accounting Forum, 1–24.  This research was funded by the Chartered Accountants Irish Educational Accountancy Trust, CAIET Grant number 201/15. Full details of our research study are available at the following link: https://doi.org/10.1080/01559982.2021.2001127 Anne Marie Ward FCA is Professor of Accounting at Ulster University. Niamh Brennan FCA is Michael MacCormac Professor of Management at University College Dublin.

In the nearly six years since the UK public voted to leave the EU, negotiators have yet to come up with a plan that meets the needs of both sides with regards to Northern Ireland. Tony Connelly outlines the negotiation issues, the problem with the NI Protocol and what could change in the future. As 2022 gets underway, it is striking to realise that it is nearly six years since the Brexit referendum and a full year since Britain’s formal departure from the European Union (EU). Despite the desires among fervent Brexiteers for a clean break, the past year has taught us that Britain and the EU will remain entangled in each other’s affairs for some time to come. The problem of the NI Protocol The Northern Ireland Protocol remains at the heart of that entanglement. While European capitals are growing weary of the perpetual antagonism over Britain’s departure – including the Irish question – the incoming French Presidency of the EU has made it clear the first step in normalising a post-Brexit relationship is a resolution to the Protocol standoff. The EU’s support for Ireland’s position remains striking. Irish diplomats have always feared that the Irish border question would end up as the “stone in the shoe” – a minor, regional irritation that should not stand in the way of a broader EU–UK relationship. So far, that has not come to pass despite some reliably-sourced occasions where the UK has appealed bilaterally to capitals for a more pro-British understanding of the Protocol. Dublin, indeed, remains alert to the UK’s efforts to place the problems of the Protocol in a broader geopolitical context. In her first detailed remarks on the subject, the UK’s new Brexit negotiator, Liz Truss, specifically linked the Protocol negotiations to conflicts elsewhere. “I believe that the United Kingdom and the EU, as believers in freedom and democracy, are capable of working out a solution which delivers for the people of Northern Ireland,” the Foreign Secretary wrote in the Sunday Telegraph on 8 January. “This will enable us to focus our energies on major external threats – such as Russia’s aggressive activity towards Ukraine – and building our economies following this pandemic.” The EU would undoubtedly like to deepen its strategic relationship with the UK. The UK resisted any attempt to include a treaty-based relationship on foreign and security policy in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). However, Brussels would still like one to develop. “There is a common-sense willingness and political will [among member states] to engage with the UK…and having the UK as a partner,” says one EU diplomat. “It’s simply been blocked by the noise of the TCA, the Protocol, and the fact that the Brits say they don’t want to have a formal agreement. I’m not hearing people saying, ‘over our dead bodies’, ‘the Brits have nothing to offer’, ‘Brexit means Brexit’. We were never hearing that.” For now, no such relationship is maturing. The EU invests a lot of energy in its economic and security relationship with the United States, but there is no outline of what a long-term partnership could look like with the UK. London has refused to articulate what it wants, and the EU lacks the tools (the “scaffolding”, as one diplomat puts it) to construct one.  What is the economic damage of Brexit? The COVID-19 pandemic has obscured the true economic impact of Brexit, and that means it is hard to predict.  1 January 2022 saw the full introduction of customs checks and controls on EU goods entering the UK, meaning a more realistic picture of trade friction will emerge, but it is not fully apparent yet. “As the UK starts phasing out all of its derogations and starts actually implementing checks, we will see how things bite and the impact that will have on trade flows,” says one EU official. “As the pandemic starts to lift and people start to travel again, that will be the moment that the penny really drops: just what is the damage here?” The UK has exempted goods from the Republic of Ireland from its new checking regime. This is good news and bad news: while it keeps trade – especially the agri-food trade – flowing, it has caused frustration for many companies that have invested heavily in preparing systems and training staff. Many Irish companies have been looking beyond the UK, not least because of the uncertainty about London’s intentions. Irish food, drink and horticultural exports to other markets have increased. Although exports to the UK are still significant (Bord Bia recently reported sales worth €4.4 billion or 33% of total export value), there was a 9% decline in volume between January to October 2021 compared to the previous period in 2020. This was partly due to stockpiling in late 2020; however, it also suggests that food exports to the UK will suffer. The big concern is the requirement for UK export health certificates on Irish beef, cheese, lamb and other valuable commodities, due from 1 July.  Irish companies importing goods from the UK have adapted after a challenging first quarter in 2021. “As companies got used to the new controls, particularly food companies, where they’re having to get their heads around [EU] health cert requirements, month-on-month it’s probably just got better and better,” says Carol Lynch, a partner in BDO Customs and International Trade Services department. The major development of 2021 was undoubtedly the decline of the UK landbridge as the preferred route into Europe (and vice versa) as direct, two-way sea crossings to Europe increased from a pre-Brexit level of 12 to 44 crossings last year. This growth reflects the real-world adaptation by companies. What is harder to predict is Brexit’s overall impact on the island of Ireland economy. The deadlock of the Northern Ireland Protocol means that exporters and importers, and foreign direct investment remain in a holding pattern while the politics remain unresolved. As is so often the case, Ireland is hostage to the internal dynamics of the Conservative Party – the same dynamics which gave rise to the referendum in the first place.  May UK elections and the Protocol Liz Truss has introduced a more cordial style to the relationship with the European Commission, in contrast to the antagonistic approach favoured by her predecessor Lord Frost. The EU delegation warmly appreciated her welcoming of the EU’s chief negotiator Maros Sefcovic to Chevening House in Kent for their first face-to-face meeting. Still, once the pleasantries were out of the way, both sides retreated to well-worn positions on the Protocol. The fact that Truss is a front-runner in any contest to succeed Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader will undoubtedly restrict her room for manoeuvre. Suppose there is to be a leadership challenge after the May local elections. In that case, Truss will need the support of the hard Brexit European Research Group (ERG) to get into the second round, so she is unlikely to sign up to a deal on the Protocol which does not meet its sovereignty yardstick. For his part, Boris Johnson is launching a raft of right-wing initiatives, from reducing the number of migrant boats crossing the English Channel to freezing the BBC licence fee, to expressly appeal to the kind of Tory backbenchers who have been the most unyielding on the Protocol. This does not bode well for an agreement by the end of February, which the Irish government had recommended to avoid the issue colliding with the Northern Ireland Assembly elections scheduled for May. The UK government, leadership contest or not, will also be determined to ensure that the DUP maximises its vote. Will London play hardball and refuse to compromise on its maximalist Protocol position in order to give the DUP a rallying point? Or, will Truss decide that a quick deal on the Protocol can be dressed up as a win for Jeffrey Donaldson (the Foreign Secretary has not shied away from championing post-Brexit agreements even where the detail does not quite match the hyperbole)? Moving negotiations forward So far, the Protocol negotiations have remained stuck. The UK believes the EU October proposals to ease the burden of the Protocol don’t go nearly far enough, and the EU says they can’t go any further, and certainly not as far as the UK Command Paper.   The EU has dealt with the issue of how to ensure the free flow of medicines (both generic and innovative) to Northern Ireland by reforming its own legislation, so the focus now is on reducing customs and agri-food controls. London believes there should be no checks or controls on British goods clearly destined only for Northern Ireland end-users. In other words, it should be as easy to move goods from Birmingham to Belfast as it is from Cardiff to Glasgow. The UK does accept there should be checks on goods heading for the South via Northern Irish ports (in that sense, London has acknowledged the need for an Irish Sea border). Differentiating the two goods streams should be up to commercial British operators through a trusted trader scheme based on enhanced product line surveillance. The EU more or less accepts this approach in principle, to the extent that Brussels would permit green lanes at Northern Ireland’s ports for such consignments. However, working out the safeguards and reassurances is proving very difficult. Brussels insists a discretionary level of checks on British goods must still happen (even if traders say the goods are staying in Northern Ireland) because a risk-based approach requires it. There must also be strict labelling of individual items to indicate that they can only be consumed in Northern Ireland. In some instances, goods would have to be manufactured according to EU standards. While each consignment would have a smaller number of data lines under the Commission’s proposals, they would be backed up by detailed information – pre-notified electronically – to ensure traceability. Checks would, therefore, be reduced but not eliminated; the UK wants checks eliminated (at least for NI-only trade flows).  The retail industry in Northern Ireland insists that for smaller and medium-sized operators involved in Irish Sea trade, complying with all three requirements – labelling, conformity, pre-notification – would be too expensive or would not be worth the hassle. Frost’s insistence that the European Court of Justice no longer has a role on the Protocol did not lend itself to an atmosphere in which a deal looked doable. The question is whether or not Liz Truss can break the deadlock.   The Irish Government believes an improved atmosphere cannot but help and that a deal based on the Commission’s October proposals and packaged as a victory by Truss might be possible. But the margins will be tight. “The Commission isn’t an independent actor in this,” says one EU diplomat. “The package that’s on the table was agreed with the 27 member states, and it was agreed with considerable difficulty inside the European Commission. The member states somewhat reluctantly signed off on it, and it was made clear that we were at the limit of legal and political acceptability. “The Commission has come a tremendously long way. And yet, the British are right in saying that last year the Commission was ruling out a lot of this stuff. So, with the right packaging and the right presentation, Truss could present it as a big victory.” That suggests a lot of careful diplomacy and expectation management. Yet, the process, already under time pressure, is playing out amid the helter-skelter turmoil of Westminster. London has not abandoned the threat of triggering Article 16, although with each new survey showing Northern Ireland businesses and manufacturers acclimatising to the Protocol (or even thriving), it is a weapon that looks riskier and riskier. By January 2022, the Central Statistics Office confirmed what many had predicted: exports from Northern Ireland into the South had surged by 64% in the first 11 months of 2021, while exports in the other direction rose by 48%. The EU’s instinct at previous upheavals in the Brexit process has been to hold firm and let the Westminster histrionics play themselves out. But politics in Northern Ireland do not enjoy the same luxury. Tony Connelly is the Europe Editor at RTÉ.

Brian Keegan, Director of Advocacy and Voice at Chartered Accountants Ireland, talks to Gabriel Makhlouf, Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, about the changing regulatory landscape, the challenges facing businesses after a tumultuous two years, and the need for greater financial literacy. We think of the Central Bank as a regulatory body, but it is a very large entity. Can you talk to us about your management style and your personal approach to managing a large, highly-qualified staff? The Central Bank plays a very important role across the financial system, particularly when dealing with people who work in risk and control functions. This is essential in ensuring that the financial system ultimately works in the best interests of consumers and the wider economy. We have strong, established relationships with auditors based on solid foundations with open communications and this is a crucial relationship for us. I joined the Inland Revenue in New Zealand when I finished studying and I am a public servant, essentially, by profession. I trained as a tax inspector and I had a lot of dealings with accountants in the UK before I moved on to different things. As a leader, there are a number of things that are really important to me. It is really important that the organisation is clear about its mission and vision, and that senior management makes that happen. People in leadership roles need to help the organisation to be clear on its mission and vision. This helps to promote focus and priority-setting. I would like to think that the mission and vision of the Central Bank are clear. We are responsible for monetary and financial stability; making sure that the financial system works in the interests of consumers and the wider economy. We want to be trusted by the public. This is the dominant theme that I have been engaging with staff about since I took up my role. When the Central Bank was established in 1942, the legislation establishing the bank stated that the predominant aim of the Central Bank was the welfare of the people. This is an important statement which I still use.  Are you satisfied that you are achieving this? Yes, I am. I certainly think we can do better. For the people who come to work at the Central Bank every day, I think that sense of public service is really important. I think what we probably do not do well enough is to explain to people how our various policies ultimately promote the welfare of the people as a whole. As an example, our mortgage measures have a very specific purpose which has to do with financial stability, with indebtedness and with over leveraging, among other things. Underpinning all of that, from our perspective, is promoting the welfare of the whole country. That is very important to me. As I have said previously, we need to be accountable to the public in an engaging and transparent way with key performance indicators. I put a big premium on diversity of thought and an organisation like the Central Bank must reflect this. I also think it is important for leaders to be ambitious for their organisations and I am ambitious for the Central Bank. Leaders need to focus on the stewardship of their organisations. We need to spend as much time thinking about how to ensure the organisation will be fit for purpose for our successors, as well as for us. That puts a premium on leaders to look ahead, to understand their context and also to understand what their context will be in the medium-term, not just over the next year. We need to be able to accept that change is constant and happening in our external environment faster than it has ever before. Organisations like the Central Bank are all about people and the recruitment, development of staff is crucial for any organisation. Following on from that point, can you talk about the challenges managing an organisation in a pandemic? One of the legacies of the pandemic is how we are going to manage hybrid working. I think this is an underappreciated challenge and I think, personally, that remote working is unsustainable over the medium-term.  At the Central Bank, most of us have worked from home for almost two years. A small number of us have been coming in every day because we had no option. For the first three months of the pandemic, this worked extremely smoothly.  As time has gone on, people have changed jobs. People have left the Central Bank and new people have joined us. These new recruits have not physically been in the bank or met their colleagues. They have not had the experience of learning by observing. You learn a lot by observing what other people are doing and by asking impromptu questions. Over the medium-term, organisations such as ours require a strong culture and the ability to bring fresh people in. Our strength is in our collective effectiveness. We are going to have to work out how we can get away from remote working, but we are not going to go back to where we were. We are going to move to hybrid working. This will lead to new challenges and we are going to have to try to discover how to deal with these challenges. There will be people who will prefer to stay at home, but I know there are many other people who want to come into the office. Diversity and inclusion tend to be about gender and colour, disability and sexuality, but I can see a new diversity challenge in dealing with people who don’t want to come into the office and dealing with people who do.  What is your perception of the global economy after Brexit and the expectation that a lot of business will move to places like Dublin from the UK? Has this proven to be the case and has Dublin benefited from the so-called ‘Brexit bounce’? Brexit has led to a lot of financial services coming to Ireland in terms of the arrival of new entities and the expansion of entities that are already here. It has to be pointed out that Brexit is not over and the process of financial services adjusting to whatever constitutes the ‘new normal’, is ongoing.  Brexit has had an effect on increasing financial services in Dublin and it might have a continuing effect in the future but this also applies to Paris and Amsterdam. I expect that financial services in the EU will grow more than we would have expected before the Brexit referendum in the UK. This does not mean that London and the UK will not continue to be important financial centres, but I think you will see growth elsewhere in the EU. From a financial services standpoint, the UK’s exit from the EU has been relatively smooth and well-managed from all sides but there are still issues that will have to be debated at political level.  What is the Central Bank’s view of the departure of some banks, including KBC Bank and Ulster Bank, from the Irish market? Is there a need to fill that gap in the market and have you a strategy to address this issue? That is a very interesting question. After the global financial crisis, credit availability for Irish SMEs during the recovery phase post-2013 improved dramatically. There were a lot of policy initiatives that were very helpful and, compared to a lot of the rest of the world, the Irish government’s focus in this area was pretty strong.  We had the establishment of the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI), the introduction of the Future Growth Loan Scheme, the setting up of the Credit Review Office, and the Loan Guarantee Scheme. All of these things were very important for Irish business.  One of the interesting things our research has shown is that in the years preceding the pandemic and during the pandemic itself, the drag on credit flows to SMEs seemed to be driven predominantly by a weak demand for financing from SMEs rather than by a weak credit supply on behalf of lenders. In a European context, Irish SMEs had among the lowest application rates for credit. From the point of view of the Irish economy, the most important thing is that there is credit available for businesses to use when they need it and that is why it is interesting that Irish SMEs are slight outliers in terms of their demand. The departure from the market of KBC Bank and Ulster Bank poses risks for borrowers. Ulster Bank itself was the third largest player in terms of lending to SMEs. Fewer players in the market means higher prices, lower volumes and less service choice. No doubt, the Competition And Consumer Protection Commission will be paying close attention to these developments. What we are seeing is that digital operators in fintech and non-bank intermediaries are expanding their lending to business. Our own statistics team has found that the share of lending to Irish SMEs from the non-bank sector is already above one third in some sectors.  Access to alternative sources of finance will become easier, cheaper and faster. Core financing from Irish banks will continue to be absolutely key to Irish business, but it will be interesting to see what impact the competition that is now emerging will have on the wider market. The challenges for the big corporate legacy banks are not dissimilar to what large institutions in other economic sectors are facing. They become big, they become cumbersome and they are suddenly faced by competition from entities that are more agile. I suspect that the Government’s Retail Banking Review will look at some of these issues. Will these developments pose new challenges for the Central Bank? We published our new strategy in December 2021. A lot of our focus in the past has been about fixing the problems of the financial crisis. With the new strategy, we are  going to pivot and increasingly focus on the challenges we will face in the future. One of these challenges is regulating and supervising the rapidly changing financial services landscape. That is going to be a very significant focus for us. We are already seeing issues that give me cause for concern. Crypto is an unregulated market and there are real risks to businesses and consumers in this area. The regulatory world is gearing up to take action, but it is something that we in the Central Bank are going to keep a very close eye on. Technology is accelerating the need to address the issue of financial literacy. I have always been a proponent of the education system having a component that helps young people to understand how finance works. What I have seen in crypto is the ease of putting your money into some of these ventures. There is an increasing risk, in my opinion, that young people using their mobile phones to access crypto are going to get into trouble. Would it be fair to say that there is a greater awareness in New Zealand of the role of the government institutions than there is in Ireland? That may be true, but it would depend on what part of New Zealand you visit. If you go to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, the working life of the city is dominated by government. When you meet people in the streets of Wellington, you will find that they are working in government or their partners are working in government. This is not necessarily the case in Auckland or in other parts of the country. Certainly, the Treasury, which I led in New Zealand, had a very strong brand. This stemmed from the fact the Treasury in the mid-1980s and early 1990s played a very large part in the overall reforms that New Zealand went through. I think there is a much bigger commercial sector in Dublin than in Wellington, whereas in Wellington the public sector dominates.  Can we talk about the challenges of money laundering? Are we doing enough to counter this problem and what can we do to counteract the problem? It is an issue that we need to address, and the EU has decided to set up a new agency to tackle money laundering. I think we also have to ask questions about how seriously the community views white collar crime. We need regulators, financial professionals and politicians to align themselves to dealing with money laundering. In my view, the whole issue of the conduct of financial services, particularly in banking, has to be addressed. As a community, we need to say that money laundering is unacceptable and we need to do something about it. Thank you for taking the time to speak to us today, Governor. Thank you.

Following public consultation, IAASA has today (21 December) issued: International Standard on Quality Management (‘ISQM’) (Ireland) 1, Quality Management for Firms that Perform Audits or Reviews of Financial Statements, or Other Assurance or Related Services Engagements; International Standard on Quality Management (Ireland) 2, Engagement Quality Reviews; and International Standard on Auditing (‘ISA’) (Ireland) 220 (Revised December 2021), Quality Management for an Audit of Financial Statements. They will replace International Standard on Quality Control (Ireland) 1 (Revised November 2020) and ISA (Ireland) 220 (Revised November 2020). These standards introduce a new quality management approach that is focused on proactively identifying and responding to risks to quality. The new approach requires a firm to customise the design, implementation and operation of its system of quality management based on the nature and circumstances of the firm and the engagements it performs. It also requires firms to transition to an integrated approach that reflects upon the system of quality management as a whole, rather than individual elements. The benefits of this new approach include: A system that is tailored to the nature and circumstances of the firm and the engagements it performs; A proactive response by the firm to changing circumstances and proactively managing or mitigating risks, and promoting continual improvement and responsiveness; Increased emphasis on monitoring the system as a whole and timely and effective remediation; and Improved integration of the components of the system of quality management. The new standards are effective as of 15 December 2022 and apply as follows: ISQM (Ireland)1 must be designed and implemented by 15 December 2022. The evaluation of the system of quality management required by paragraphs 53-54 must be performed within one year following 15 December 2022 ISQM (Ireland) 2 Effective for audits of financial statements for periods beginning on or after 15 December 2022 and other assurance or related services engagements beginning on or after 15 December 2022 ISA (Ireland) 220 Effective for audits of financial statements for periods beginning on or after 15 December 2022 The standards are on IAASA's website. 

Adam Leahy explains four ways in which young Chartered Accountants can future-proof their careers. Firms have been able to outsource and even automate an increasing number of accounting-related activities over the past decade. When I completed my training contract in 2010, the workload for the newly qualified accountant consisted mainly of these activities. Today, if a candidate wants to enter and prosper in the larger industry firms, they must bring more to the table. So, what does it take for a young Chartered Accountant to stand out today? 1. Technical knowledge Technical knowledge has been, and will always be, the cornerstone for an accountant. Understanding the standards, how to apply them, and how changes will affect how a company reports will always be needed. 2. Problem-solving, critical, and strategic thinking When an accountant can use reason and logic to solve complex problems that positively impact the future of the organisation, they show the ability to think long-term and outside the vacuum of their immediate role. The common requirement of the future-proofed accountant is sustainable value creation for the business. The larger firms are moving at such a fast pace that if an accountant performs no more today than the same tasks they performed 12 months ago, that accountant is going backwards. A future-proofed accountant needs to move forward consistently. To do that, they need to create value. 3. Systems thinking As we rely on increasingly advanced tools for processing and reporting information, it is not sufficient for an accountant to simply understand which buttons to press. Instead, accountants must understand how these systems work. What are the benefits now, and what are the current limitations? How can these systems be used or enhanced to drive greater efficiency, higher standards of compliance or more useful business insights? 4. Influencing and communication skills It’s refreshing to see more leadership teams ditch the notion of “that’s the way we’ve always done it” to justify their course of action. Instead, successful leadership teams seek ideas from all levels. Suppose a good idea is brought forward by a junior accountant who hasn’t been there long enough to get swept up in ‘group-think’. In that case, the ability of that accountant to confidently voice the idea and influence upwards could be the reason the idea is adopted. And happily, the junior accountant may also be rewarded or promoted in time. Adam Leahy is  Co-Founder of The Finance Tech Forum and Senior Finance Manager  at Microsoft Ireland. You can read this article and others in Career Guide 2021/2022. 

Author and executive advisor Niamh O’Keeffe shares her top seven tips to help you make a solid first impression in a new role or company. The ‘first 100 days’ is a very helpful device for defining the beginning phase of your new role. It carves out three to four months as a period of transition, which is useful for giving yourself a chance to land in, listen and learn. It is also the time to set out your strategy and make a positive first impression with your new team, boss, and key stakeholders. Whether you are new to the role or new to the company, your first 100 days is a new leadership beginning and an opportunity to establish yourself and set the tone for how you plan to lead during the rest of your role tenure. So don’t just arrive and get busy with the day-to-day detail. Instead, think more strategically about what you want to achieve and, with that in mind, set out your key priorities for the first 100 days and stick to them. 1. Think big and start with the end in mind Set an ambitious role vision for what you want to achieve within three to five years. How will this role matter to your career? What will success look like? What kind of leadership legacy do you want to leave behind? Think about what truly matters to you as a business leader and what you could do in this role to make a difference to your team, organisation, industry, and the world. Your vision is about long-term thinking; it provides context and helps you prioritise what you need to achieve in the next 12 months and, subsequently, the actions to focus on in your first 100 days. 2. Stay focused on your strategic priorities A new role in a new company can feel overwhelming, but don’t just get busy doing the doing. Jumping on the day-to-day treadmill of firefighting is too short-term in approach. With your long-term leadership vision in mind, set out your key strategic priorities for the first 12 months and then align a plan of key desired outcomes to be achieved by the end of your first 100 days. Setting out your key priorities early on and regularly monitoring progress makes you less likely to get derailed by less important day-to-day activities and less important tasks. 3. Don’t invite the in-laws to stay! Your first 100 days of transition to a new role or new company is not business as usual. No matter how experienced you are, stepping up into a new role is still a heightened stress event. You need to be fit-for-purpose, and you will need to manage your energy levels accordingly for the challenges and intensity of the new learning curve. Adrenalin will compensate for any lack of reserves but don’t exacerbate the pressure on you by having the house redecorated or the in-laws over for a visit. Instead, keep a cool, clear head and maintain a calm personal life to support your work efforts. 4. Don’t be a hero, it’s not all about you! On arrival, remember that you are a new leader, or member, of a team. You are not an individual operator, nor superman, nor a lone expert genius. Building or contributing to a high-performing team will be critical to your overall success. Take time in your first 100 days to bond with your colleagues and figure out how to work well together. Be straightforward, friendly, optimistic. Ask for help when you need it. And if you are new to this company, don’t annoy people by constantly talking about how great your last company was! 5. Pay attention to culture, power, and politics In any new culture, always try to figure out who and what matters. Consider how decision-making works. Don’t make assumptions or be naïve enough to simply take things at face value. Get advice from seasoned colleagues at the company to better understand how the company’s culture works, both above and below the surface. For example, what people say versus what they really mean. Learn to read and decode the organisation’s clues to understand the politics of the new organisation so that you can participate more productively. 6. Be your own best PR agent Don’t expect your work to speak for you. You need to bring people with you on the journey of your first 100 days and communicate your successes to stakeholders along the way. When the first 100 days is complete, share a record of your main achievements. You could make a formal ‘End of First 100 Days’ presentation to your boss or other key stakeholders. Think of it like showcasing the return on investment on the cost of hiring you and brief people on what is yet to come. 7. Ask for feedback, not reassurance After a month or so, seek formal feedback on your performance. If your boss, peers, and key stakeholders say, “You’re doing great, just keep going”, it may feel encouraging – but please realise that this is not actually feedback. Push for a more constructive response. You will need to know if you are making any unwitting cultural gaffes. You need feedback sooner rather than later on anything that may prevent you from making the right impact or building more productive relationships. Final words As this is a new experience, you inevitably won’t get everything right. That’s okay too. Do your best, learn lessons, and move forward. I wish you every success on your leadership journey. Niamh O’Keeffe is the author of Your First 100 Days: How to Make Maximum Impact in your New Role. Niamh also advises corporate CEOs and senior leaders in London and New York. You can read this article and others in Career Guide 2021/2022. 

The onboarding process is more than just an office tour and an overview of the employee handbook, writes Dr Mary Collins. The first interactions beyond the interview and selection process can have a lasting impact on how a new hire perceives the organisation. A positive onboarding experience can really set one up for a successful career in their new office. What is onboarding? Onboarding is the process through which new employees are oriented to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and behaviours in order to become effective members of the organisation and in a manner that aids overall retention. The goal of onboarding programmes is to help employees quickly become acclimatised to their new workplace and bring them ‘on board’ with regard to company culture, understanding of job function and overall comfort level. It is more than providing basic information for new hires to do their jobs – it is about engaging new hires with the culture of the organisation and supporting them in finding their purpose in their new roles.  Making connections In an increasingly hybrid world of work, we need to work harder to communicate clearly and make strong connections. Wherever possible, arrange to meet people face-to-face or, if this is not possible, vary the communication channels. A regular phone call can often work as an easy way for people to share and connect rather than just relying on zoom or other visual platforms. For new employees, onboarding is the ideal time to reach out to key stakeholders in a new organisation, arrange short coffee catch-ups with relevant people to build your understanding of the culture, strategic priorities and importantly to start building a strong network for your future career.  Relational vs transactional onboarding A recent trend is ‘relational’ onboarding, which complements the more traditional ‘transactional’ onboarding. Transactional onboarding is more focused on policies and procedures and getting people skilled-up in relevant regulatory requirements, for example. Relational onboarding is more about connecting people in the organisation, building their network internally and externally.  Part of this ‘relational’ focus is gathering feedback from new employees for continuous improvement of the onboarding experience. There tends to be a one-flow system of communication in most organisations. An employee onboarding process should be an iterative learning process that improves over time with experience and feedback. Soliciting feedback at important transition points means you can gauge if you are meeting or exceeding expectations and helps build a meaningful, engaging onboarding process.  Common Pitfalls to Avoid in Onboarding While a good onboarding process can create an engaged and connected workforce, there are some pitfalls organisations should be aware of: Treating it as a one-day event. Onboarding starts when you are contacted to communicate success at interview and continues for at least three months after the new employee joins the organisation. Assuming that onboarding is ‘training’. Effective onboarding is about successfully assimilating the new employee into the culture of the organisation and connecting them with others who can help them adjust to their new role. Believing that new hires cannot add value from the first day. If the pre-onboarding period is managed well, new hires can contribute value from their very first day. This is important, especially for professionals who are used to being high performers in their previous roles. Clear communication around performance expectations from the outset will ensure that the new hires know this. First 100 days The first three months are critical when you start a new role. By the end of this period, employees should have a good sense of the expectations of the role, the company culture and how they are ‘fitting in’ and performing. It may be a time when questions emerge related to the role and performance objectives. It may also be a time when new hires have suggestions to improve the overall performance of the business based on what has been observed.  Training and development needs may emerge around this time, as it is usually the half-way point in a six-month probation period. It is worth having a conversation about what support is required and how it will be provided.  First 100 days checklist Important questions will be asked during the first 100 days of employment. How are you finding your new job? What are you enjoying most about working here? How does the role compare with what you were expecting? Has the learning and development/training you have received to date been helpful? What, if anything, would you add or change? How are you finding the experience of working with your colleagues? Do you have any suggestions for improving the onboarding process? Is anything not working for you? Is anything about your role, the team or company still unclear? How can management help your transition at this point? How do you find the work-life balance? Dr Mary Collins is Senior Executive Development Specialist at the RCSI Institute of Leadership. You can read this article and others in Career Guide 2021/2022. 

Anne Phillipson explains how you can work your notice period like the pro that you are. How you exit your company when you have decided to move on to pastures new says an awful lot about who you are. The final weeks (and, in some cases, months) you have in an organisation is the lasting legacy you will leave behind, and so it’s important to make a graceful exit. Your notice period The period between handing in your notice and your final day is a chance to ensure that you have done everything you can to tie up loose ends and complete any outstanding projects, so your colleagues left behind don’t have to wonder where things stand, and clients aren’t wondering why you haven’t returned their calls. Your notice period is also the final opportunity to create the lasting impression your employer has of you, which they will use as the basis for any future references. It could also decide whether the door remains open for your return should you decide that the new opportunity isn’t the right move after all.  So, if you want to do everything you can to work your notice period and leave on the best possible terms, here are a few pointers on how to do that well. Don’t take your foot off the gas. Continue to be as productive as you always have. Work hard and be diligent for the entire notice period. Let people know you are leaving (agree timing with your line manager) and don’t bad mouth the company, colleagues, or boss. Focus on the positive reasons for leaving rather than anything you were dissatisfied with in your current role. (You can save that for your exit interview!) Agree with your line manager how to handle any outstanding leave – will you take your time off as part of your notice period, or will you get paid for your days as part of your final paycheque? Agreeing this early will help you plan your final weeks. Don’t feel responsible for other people’s reactions to your leaving. Your colleagues may be upset, disappointed, or even try to discourage you. That’s more about them than you. Take the fact that they really don’t want to lose you as a valued member of the team as a sign of affection, but don’t allow them to cast doubt on your decision. Make a list of the projects you have been working on, with notes on its current status, who to call with questions, and any other insights you have which may not appear in a typical file. Make it easy for others to carry on when you are no longer on the team.  Agree with your line manager who will pick up your work, and then schedule time with those colleagues to have a proper hand-over. Don’t leave those meetings until the last week. Ideally, your replacement(s) will have some time to get stuck in while you are still around to answer questions. Sometimes they don’t know what they don’t know until they actually get started, so allow time for that process. If your replacement is in place before you leave, do your best to train them well.  Express gratitude to all the people who have helped you in the organisation. Say thanks by taking them out for a coffee or lunch to let them know how much you appreciate everything they did for you. Even a thoughtful note can mean a lot. Every organisation has those kind people who look out for others, so don’t miss this opportunity to let them know their efforts were appreciated. My following these suggestions, you should be in a strong position to leave with your head held high and knowing that you have done everything within your power to leave on the best possible terms.  The exit interview Most organisations will also request an exit interview with Human Resources as one of the final meetings before you go. This is an opportunity to express your reasons for leaving. The information gathered in exit interviews provides valuable information for the organisation. Trends from exit interviews may inform retention strategies, so use this as an opportunity to be honest but respectful in explaining why you decided to look outside the organisation for your next opportunity. Quite often, when people leave, it’s more than just pay and benefits that tempted them away. Whatever the reasons are, it’s HR’s responsibility to report back on the trends they are seeing across a range of exit interviews so that senior management can act on the information.  Keep in touch Finally, you may wish to send a goodbye note to the team or even the entire company on your last day. This is an opportunity to update colleagues on your new contact details. The relationships we build at work are an important part of who we are – we often spend more time with colleagues than we do with our friends and families – so it’s not surprising that many of those relationships transcend the work connection and colleagues become lasting friends. Anne Phillipson is Director of People & Change Consulting at Grant Thornton. You can read this article and others in Career Guide 2021/2022. 

Gina London shares her tips for negotiating a comprehensive and competitive benefits package. You did it. After how many rounds of interviews and follow-up meetings, you have finally been offered the job. Congratulations! Now all your research, role-play sessions and diligent preparation work is over, it’s time to settle into the role. Wait a minute. What about your salary and benefits package? Have you negotiated that? No? Then there is still much work to be done. If you’re one of those people who thinks you should just take whatever is offered, I have good news for you. In today’s hybrid, employee-centric marketplace, employers expect candidates to discuss their salaries and benefits. 1. Introduce negotiations when you’re offered the job If you feel uncomfortable reading this first tip, you’re not alone. While the research I refer to above states that 70% of employers expect to engage in negotiations with their would-be employees, the same research revealed that just over half (55%) of candidates brave the waters to negotiate their packages. But as someone who coaches and trains business professionals all over the world, let me give you some inspiration as to why you should join the few who decide to take that plunge. When you negotiate your salary, you are demonstrating to your manager that you are confident and comfortable discussing your value and worth. This kind of communication is likely what helped you land the job in the first place, so keep building on this foundation of strength. Your courage to initiate what many consider a difficult conversation is what will set you apart, establish you as a leader and position you for promotion. Consider, too, the other side of the coin. What happens if you simply accept, without any discussion, whatever salary or benefits package is set before you? You may be considered a follower rather than a leader. Even worse, depending on what you receive, you may be accepting a salary far below the market or your needs. Imagine, for instance, that you accept a wage 10% beneath your desired salary. If you’re later provided an average cost of living increase of 4% annually, it will take you more than two years to attain your original desired starting point. For those reasons and more, the positives of negotiating outweigh the negatives. So, let’s explore how to be as successful as possible during this process, even if you don’t move the monetary dial as high as you envision. 2. Understand your value The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly impacted the workforce. The International Labor Organisation (ILO) shows that unemployment remains at record-setting levels. This means you are valuable as an employer investment. You have more leverage than you may realise. Don’t forget to factor in your years of experience, level of education, leadership, and other related skills as part of that leverage. While the pandemic is still affecting the world’s economy, it doesn’t mean you need to steer clear of discussing your value in the ecosystem of your new company. The events that shaped our lives during the pandemic, and now beyond, have promoted both employers and employees to examine their career opportunities, culture, values, and lives. What is important to you? You likely want to be in a company that makes a difference. Employers, too, are looking for people who can positively influence their teams. That is a value in itself. Seek to define that. 3. Do your research While you’re putting a value on your own worth, conduct some research on the value of your potential new employer. Can you determine how badly they were affected during lockdown? Many companies lost revenue. If so, how are they doing today? Other companies continued to chart financial growth during the pandemic. They hired new team members, granted promotions, paid increases, and even provided year-end bonuses. Try to inform your research with as many sources as possible. Also, consider asking some of these questions as part of your interview. This will set you up nicely for your package negotiation. 4. Prepare and practice your negotiation conversation I work with my clients to understand that even their most seemingly informal, off-hand conversations become a part of their brand. Therefore, please understand that if you ultimately accept your new offer, your negotiation conversation will become a part of your employer’s perception of you. Your conversations are not neutral. They are positive or negative. Knowing this, seek to make this conversation a positive one. Start off with gratitude. Once you’ve been offered the job, thank your manager, HR professional and whoever else was part of the process. If you are asked what your anticipated salary would be, don’t limit yourself to a single number. State a range with a spread of about €10,000. Make sure your bottom range number is something you can realistically live with. Don’t low-ball yourself here. 5. Summarise your qualifications Remember how I suggested you understand your value? Well, here is where you need to not only understand this, but also be able to articulate it. Write out your points of distinction and rehearse these lines out loud. The more you can be clear and confident here, the stronger your case will be. 6. Make suggestions beyond money As companies move into the unchartered waters of hybrid working and other new workforce of the future models, here is your opportunity to suggest a range of benefits and ideas beyond the salary range you have already proposed. Consider discussing a possible signing bonus to compensate for accepting a lower salary than what you suggested. Can you nail down a work from home schedule? Annual leave days? Are there any other perks that your employer can come up with? Ask them for their own creative ideas. This is not a competition you have to win in one go. Rather, I encourage you to approach this conversation as a means of establishing yourself as an engaged and active employee who is a confident and courageous leader – not only for your teams, but also for yourself. If you keep your composure, you will plant positive conversation and leadership seeds that will grow over time – regardless of whether you land the salary and benefits package of your wildest dreams. Gina London is CEO of Language of Leadership, LLC. She guides global companies and executives to better connect and engage with their employees, their boards and themselves. Her Fortune 500 clients include Salesforce, Oracle, Google and more. Gina is an Emmy award-winning former CNN anchor and correspondent. You can read this article and others in Career Guide 2021/2022. 

After nearly two years, it can still be difficult to conduct meetings online, especially when they are as important as a job interview. There are a few key actions you can take to mitigate any disasters, writes Tina Kinirons. 1. Dress as for a face-to-face interview  The usual recommendation for interviews is to dress in formal or business attire. This still applies for online interviews. Yes, the interviewers can only see your head and upper body – but it’s still important that you dress for the job you aspire to. Make sure you are comfortable and confident in what you are wearing. 2. Keep your background uncluttered  Try to keep the background that is visible on the screen to your interviewers as neutral and uncluttered as possible ensuring there are no distractions for your interviewers. It’s worth checking what’s visible on your screen when you are sitting in the place you plan to do your interview. You should avoid a virtual background, as they can look a bit fake and can usually be detected by the human eye. Find a quiet place that has a neutral background instead. 3. Make sure you are well lit  Cameras need good lighting to show you properly on screen. That might mean turning on your lights, opening or closing blinds, or bringing an extra light into the room. You should be prepared for a sunny or dark day. Test your lighting beforehand to make sure you are clearly visible on-screen. 4. Make sure you can be heard Many of the microphones integrated into devices don’t have good enough sound quality for an interview. Test it out to check that you can be heard clearly. A set of headphones can make a big difference to how well the interviewers can hear you, so buy or borrow a set. 5. Be aware of your camera The equivalent to looking an interviewer in the eye is to look at the camera instead of the person on the screen. It’s important to keep looking at the camera and at the interviewers, as you can pick up on body language cues from them in the same way you would in a face-to-face interview. Adjust your camera by putting your laptop on a few books or adjust your seat to get the camera in line with your eyes and include your shoulders and a bit of your upper body in the frame. 6. Ensure there are no distractions Think about where you will conduct your interview and how you can make sure there are no distractions and no noise. Consider putting a sign on the door (of the room and house) stating you need quiet, and find a spot that doesn’t see any foot traffic while you’re at your interview. 7. Have a good internet connection Test Zoom, Teams, WebEx or whatever platform you will use for the interview in the morning before the scheduled time. Is your internet connection usually stable from where you will conduct the interview? If it’s not very reliable or fast enough, move. The interviewers need to be able to hear and see you clearly. 8. Practise talking online if inexperienced Try out the online environment you will use for your interview. Get comfortable talking online if you are not already using an online platform for meetings. You need to be focused on the interview questions and your answers, not worrying about the technology and your use of it.   9. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail Planning and practicing apply to all interviews, whether online or not. Plan out your interview examples and decide what best demonstrates which competency. Remind yourself of the details of your examples from your previous work and practice describing them out loud. Don’t let the first time you hear yourself speak your answers out loud be at your interview. 10. Be early  Same advice as for face-to-face interviews – get there early to avoid any last-minute panics. Logging in before the scheduled time will ensure you can connect to the meeting, there is no issue with your internet connection, and that you have the lighting right. Tina Kinirons is a business psychologist and interview coach.  You can read this article and others in Career Guide 2021/2022. 

Artificial intelligence is commonly used by organisations to find their interview shortlist. Miriam Magner Flynn explains how you can optimise your CV so it gets noticed by both the software and hiring manager. When applying online for a role, your CV will probably be passed through an applicant tracker system (ATS) powered by artificial intelligence (AI), which will screen suitability and help determine whether you make the interview shortlist. Even if you ‘cleverly’ manipulate your CV to ‘beat the tracker’ and make it to the shortlist, at the end of the day, you will be faced by a human. They will dig deeper into your competencies, achievements, and experience. Therefore, it’s important to optimise your CV to make the shortlist rather than attempt to ‘beat the tracker’, irritating the recruiter and setting you up for disappointment. The three key considerations when optimising your CV are format, word match and impact. Let’s look at each. Format When it comes to formatting, keep it simple. Tables and graphics confuse some trackers and cause sections of your CV to be overlooked. Have a crisp, professional layout that is easy to read, maximises space and is not cluttered. The optimum length of a CV (a common question asked of our coaches) is one or two pages. Many ATS use signal-to-noise ratio, which means that pertinent information (signal) is weighted against irrelevant information (noise). So, less text can increase your resume’s relevance.  Word match It sounds obvious, but take the time to match the exact language of the job description when you are listing your skills, education and experience in your CV. Be sure to include a combination of your technical, industry and people skills, as well. For example: Technical skills include competencies such as project management, data analysis and report writing. If essential to the role, include your proficiencies with specific systems and tools. Industry skills are specific to the function performed within the given industry. For example, in financial services, your function might include taxation. You should list your area of expertise, such as corporation tax, payroll, VAT etc. If yours is a specialised role, like derivatives, list the assets you deal with such as bonds, commodities, currencies, stocks, etc. People skills cover interpersonal and relationship skills. Be specific. Don’t rely on the generic ‘communication’ skills. Instead, break it down. Consider your true strengths. Match your strengths to those listed as important in the job specification. This also covers relationship building, stakeholder engagement and managing/leading people. If you manage people, do you cover the full gamut of recruiting, hiring, onboarding, developing, mentoring, coaching, reviewing performance, disciplining, downsizing?  Most ATS use frequency as a factor – the more often a skill or keyword appears, the more important it is deemed – and that is reflected in the match rate. However, don’t overdo it. Think of the human that will read it later. It can be helpful to create a ‘master’ CV which outlines your proudest achievements and includes all your key skills. When applying for a role, simply ‘tweak’ your master CV to match the language of the job specification. Finally, ATS will check for occurrences of the job title of which you are applying. If you haven’t held that job title previously (chances are you haven’t – this may well be why you’re applying!), don’t pretend you have. Similarly, don’t include skills on your CV that you are not sufficiently competent in purely to ‘beat the tracker’. Address any gaps in your cover letter or executive summary. These will be passed through the ATS, as well. This is where you can refer to the exact job title, repeat the key skills that make you a great fit for the role, mention skills you may lack, and explain how you intend to address the shortfall. In this way, the job title and your less competent skills are counted in the word match. You will not only be seen as honest, but you will have presented your willingness to develop. Impact AI, as the ‘I’ suggests, is a lot more intelligent than a simple word count. It tracks impact or ‘measured’ results. Listing your skills highlights what you can do. Listing your achievements, including the scale of your responsibility and quantifying your results, highlights the impact you’ve made. For example, if you lead a team, how many people? If you recommended a process improvement, what was the effect? If you influenced a change in strategy, what was the consequence? If there is a tangible result, be proud, own it and include it. To optimise your CV, focus on quantifying (using numbers) and qualifying (using keywords like ‘increased’, ‘reduced’, and ‘saved’) your achievements rather than listing your duties and responsibilities. Top tips Create a ‘master’ CV that outlines your proudest achievements and includes all of your key skills. When applying for a role, simply tweak your master CV to match the language of the job specification. Consider professional help from an expert who can help you shine. At Career Decisions, for example, all career transition coaching programmes include access to the PowerMyCareer career portal. This portal includes tools to analyse your CV, score alignment for specific job postings, and help you optimise your keywords for search engine visibility. Miriam Magner Flynn is Managing Director of Career Decisions, an award-winning coaching firm that specialises in career transition coaching, also known as outplacement. Miriam is a leadership, career and change strategy expert who has led some of Ireland’s largest career transition and executive coaching programmes. You can read this article and others in Career Guide 2021/2022. 

Tana Storani explains how to build a pandemic-proof personal brand that will boost your career as the hybrid working model emerges. A brand is a figurative representation of a product or service. You are also a brand. Your personality, network, communication style, education, know-how, and experience is packaged in a title, such as Chartered Accountant, and sold to the market. Your personal brand is essentially a combination of your image and reputation. Branding is the management of a company’s image and reputation, aiming to make it more desirable and positive in the minds of its customers and the general public. The goal is to differentiate the brand. Similarly, personal branding is the act of developing the strategy and actions to guide and manage your brand to either advance your career or be chosen by potential clients. It is acting and positioning yourself in such a way that your audience clearly understands who you are and what you offer. To thrive in this new hybrid environment, where virtual is the ‘new frontier’, it is important to adapt to the new business models and ways of working. To do so successfully, you must strategically develop a hybrid personal branding strategy and project your image and reputation to your target audience to set yourself apart. In other words, you cannot simply go back to the old way of doing things — the post-pandemic world will be a combination of online and offline, whether you like it or not. I have helped individuals and companies unlock their full potential through personal branding and professional innovation since 2012. I do this through the ten golden rules of personal branding in a hybrid world, which are: 1. Create a strategy: Develop an online and offline personal brand strategy and stick to it. Use the Personal Branding Canvas to develop your personal brand strategy. 2. Complete your LinkedIn profile and create a personal website: A personal website and completed LinkedIn is the crux of your personal brand. Your target audience will research you on LinkedIn before deciding to work with, hire, or recommend you, so it’s crucial that you do more than the bare minimum. Don’t simply complete the core steps in creating your LinkedIn profile or build a basic, bland website. Be compelling. 3. Gather virtual recommendations: Saying you achieved phenomenal results in a unique way is one thing, but having the beneficiary publicly sing your praises is quite another. Word of mouth is always good, and having virtual recommendations on LinkedIn, websites, and internal groups is essential. 4. Determine your efficient time: This is the percentage of your time that could be used more productively for tasks other than meeting clients in person. Instead of travelling to visit clients, what if you used part of that time to network or seek new prospects? To determine your percentage of efficient time, identify the number of hours you wished you had available each week to be more productive through tasks other than face-to-face meetings. 5. Implement criteria to determine what meetings can go virtual: Look at your agenda for next week and decide what client meetings should go virtual to free up more efficient time for the goal you created. Create defined guidelines. For example, all first meetings with new potential clients are face-to-face, but if the decision-maker attends via video link, you should too. 6. Use CRM software: Humanising your service ensures that all strategies, whether digital or offline, are accurate and achieve the best possible result. Using a CRM system will help you optimise your daily schedule and prioritise tasks, ensuring customers are not ignored and key prospects are contacted on time. 7. Make contact easier using technology: In the hybrid world, virtual selling essentially becomes selling. With that in mind, it is important to ensure you have a clear call to action or an easy contact route for your network. For example, use the WhatsApp tab on your website to enable contacts to reach you without thinking twice. 8. Ask your target audience about their preferences: If you are an entrepreneur or a member in business, your network likely wants solutions that deliver measurable and valued outcomes online or offline. So first, understand their expectations, preferences, and current situation. Then, use technology to offer a broad range of virtual options to cater to their needs. That way, you will become known as a solutions-focused Chartered Accountant who is a pleasure to deal with. 9. Network: Participate and speak in online and offline events. By networking and building relationships regularly, you’re constantly engaging with new people that have the potential to shape your brand by offering new opportunities for personal and professional growth. You can either create your own event to participate in or join an industry event on Eventbrite. Also, develop partnerships that will allow you to host or manage online events where your name will be highly promoted. Whether you’re comfortable with it or not, public speaking is a tried and true way to extend your personal brand. 10. Social media is a MUST: According to Statista, over 3.6 billion people use social media worldwide. Social media creates excellent opportunities for personal branding efforts, both for personal and corporate purposes. Well-planned brand management on social media creates value for your brand – from creating posts to interacting with followers, it all contributes to a solid social media presence which, in turn, contributes to a solid personal brand. These ten rules will help you achieve recognition in your career and even greater results in your business, especially in this new hybrid world. Good luck as you prepare for 2022! Tana Storani is the Founder of Storani Careers and a former recruiter for LinkedIn and HP. Tana specialises in personal branding, career strategy, and leveraging LinkedIn for professional growth. You can read this article and others in Career Guide 2021/2022. 

Neil Curran explains how you can balance connectivity with flexibility as employers plan and refine their post-pandemic working models. The afternoon chit-chat over the coffee machine, office gossip over the water fountain, and the race for the last parking space in the morning… it’s exciting for many to be returning to the office. However, our return to the office will never be the same as hybrid working emerges as the new normal and we seek to balance flexibility with connectivity. Here are some tips to help you leverage the new working model to maximise your workplace engagement while achieving your career goals. Check in with your career plan With businesses adjusting to the changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, you may not have focused much on your career since March 2020. Or perhaps your manager wasn’t ‘in the zone’ for career conversations, especially if your business was going through change. Re-evaluate whether your goals align with your career aspirations, which may have changed since the onset of the pandemic, and consider whether the steps to success need to change. Now may be a good time to engage with a mentor or coach. Be an early adaptor This is a tip that people can and will struggle with, but early adaptors are likely to be the ones that set the scene for the hybrid workplace. So, create the new normal for yourself and reset expectations for your team and manager. We are in new territory, and the workplace is crying out for early adaptors to test what works. This means setting expectations with others as to what your hybrid work style looks like. Communication is critical. Let your manager, peers and stakeholders know when you will be available in person and the hours you are working where relevant. Don’t create a stigma between in-person working and the days you work at home. The pandemic has shown us that people are as productive, if not more productive, when working from home. So, create a perception that homeworking days are regular workdays. Perception is reality in the workplace. Relearn how to socialise It’s important to adjust your communication style to reflect the different demands of the hybrid working environment. Conscious communication, where we communicate with intention, will be a critical skill. Let’s break it down into its key components. Active listening We are all able to listen, but it doesn’t mean we listen all the time. Consider the conditions for effective listening when communicating – not just when you listen, but when you need others to listen too. Consider the appropriate communication method, the time of day, environment, and language to get your message across. If you wait until you are back in the office to communicate important things, you risk selling yourself short. Be aware of your language With the obstacles hybrid working brings, it’s essential to be mindful of how our intention doesn’t always align with interpretation by others. Most of us aren’t aware of our communication style, but we all have cultural and personality traits that influence the words we use. For example, auxiliary language (should, would, could, etc.), lack of assertion with saying no or yes, and making assumptions about those we are communicating with can distort intention and interpretation, thus undermining credibility. Out of sight doesn’t mean out of mind The need for strong relationships will continue in the hybrid model, and we need to balance how we adapt to it. This applies to both formal and informal interactions. In a hybrid workplace, there is a risk that we will keep office communication to a minimum on our homeworking days. This shouldn’t be the case. In fact, with expectations that Monday and Friday will become popular days for homeworking, these are prime days for informal and formal communication. Informal communication, such as asking colleagues about their weekend plans, serve relationship maintenance. (Pro tip: when asking a colleague what their weekend plans are, be specific when asking them on Monday how their weekend was. For example, ask, “How was the hike in Glendalough?”) With formal communication, don’t restrict scheduling important meetings to office working days only. Get the balance right. Similarly, when it comes to one-to-one meetings with your manager or other key stakeholders, don’t cancel meetings if you are homeworking – even if the agenda is light. Checking in with others keeps relationships in check while also presenting an opportunity to catch up on non-essential items. Audit your advocates and support framework As a result of the pandemic, many of us have had infrequent connections with people. Our social capital may have dwindled as a result. Advocates are people who speak highly of you and can be found in your organisation, your sector, and your network. As we move through our careers, we collect advocates who speak positively about us when we are not in the room. It is therefore essential that we audit our advocates to see where improvement is needed. Be the change you want to see It will take some time before the pendulum settles in the hybrid working environment, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be thinking about how our career plan will shape up in the future. Yes, we have extra plates to spin – on top of work/life balance, we have homeworking versus office-based considerations. However, now is the time to shape that engagement while keeping our finger on our career development pulse. Neil Curran is a corporate trainer and professional improviser specialising in effective teams and authentic communication. You can read this article and others in Career Guide 2021/2022. 

Ed Heffernan outlines the five main trends in the world of work, and explains why 2022 may be less disruptive than the recent past. It has never been a better time to be a qualified professional. Pent-up demand for talent shows no sign of weakening; employers are increasingly flexible in terms of the background they will consider; hybrid working models look set to stay; and as organisations are getting ambitious about tomorrow again, there is ample opportunity for internal promotion or development in large swathes of the market. The COVID-19 pandemic has catapulted the world of work ten or more years into the future, and it might be one of the few positives we can take from what has been a trying time for so many. As we look forward to 2022, we expect some trends to continue and others to emerge. 1. Hybrid working models will become embedded and will be a crucial trading variable in talent attraction and retention. While some organisations will exist in the extreme (100% work from home or 100% work in the office), most organisations are landing on a 3:2 working model with three days in the office and two days working remotely. New joiners will likely build up to this over time (as there are definite advantages to being in the office more while learning the role). Individuals who have earned the right will likely enjoy even more flexibility with tenure. Companies that vary significantly from this model will find themselves highly uncompetitive in terms of both talent attraction and retention in the future – fact. 2. Virtual interview processes are here to stay, but in-person interviews are not gone forever. In 2019, very few companies hired people without a face-to-face meeting. Today, very few companies hire people with a face-to-face meeting. In the coming year, virtual interviews will dominate the early stages of the recruitment process. In-person meetings will then return for the final stage of the process – for the comfort of both hiring managers and candidates alike. Entirely virtual hiring processes worked fine when people worked full-time from home, but hybrid working will result in a hybrid recruitment process. So don’t throw out the office attire just yet! 3. Salary inflation will become a reality. When demand exceeds supply, the price of goods inevitably goes in one direction. The same applies to services, and what is work but a service. We currently see some sporadic inflation in areas of high demand (such as newly qualified accountants’ base salaries shifting by up to €2,000 on the €55,000 base that held firm over the past five years). It is inevitable that, in 2022, we will see between 5-10% inflation in base salaries in high-demand professions. This is not necessarily good news from a macro perspective, as it will have knock-on consequences for the supply chain and may dampen demand into the second half of 2022. Higher base salaries, however, are inevitable. 4. The Great Resignation might have a very different meaning in Ireland. Unlike other countries, we have not witnessed The Great Resignation quite the same way. It could be said that, for many, The Great Resignation has meant a resignation to the fact that people will stick with their current employers rather than resign. People have working patterns now that could be hard to replicate in a new company. Those who have been looked after by their employers over the past 18 months have a heightened sense of loyalty. People often feel more secure staying in their current role in times of uncertainty, and job security has been identified time and time again as a critical factor for candidates over the past six months. This will not last forever, but it is likely here for the first half of 2022 at the very least. Sometimes, it’s better the devil you know… 5. Notice periods will be extended. Three years ago, a one-month notice period was the norm. Sure, there were exceptions where people had to give two or even three months’ notice, but they were outliers. These days, one month’s notice is the outlier. This is likely driven by several factors: difficulty in hiring, time to set people up remotely, longer induction lead times etc. A significant number of companies have changed their notice periods in reaction to a longer lead time to replace and on-board. Two months’ notice is the norm these days, and we expect this trend to become even more evident in 2022. It simply makes sense. Other things are likely, too. Temporary staff will become increasingly difficult to source and retain for the contract duration as there’s too much competition from permanent roles. Work from home allowances and set-up costs will become a material element of salary packages. Annual leave days will become an increasingly important consideration – the statutory 20 days will not cut it in 2022. Start times and finish times in the working day will become more fluid – we’ll see an increase in companies citing “core hours” and allowing flexibility, assuming a contractual number of hours are worked per week. Company and team days will become increasingly frequent as organisations strive to keep people connected, reinforce culture, and share information usually learned at the water cooler. I could go on, but I won’t. In 2022, we expect a little more consistency and less change in the world of work. Existing trends, as outlined, will continue and embed themselves in the system. Other trends will emerge, but they are less likely to be as significant or impactful as the change that has gone before. 2022 will be more about embedding the patterns that have evolved over the past two years and setting a firm foundation for what work will look like long into the future. Probably. Ed Heffernan is Managing Partner at Barden. You can read this article and others in Career Guide 2021/2022. 

Barry McCall speaks to Níall Fitzgerald, Head of Ethics and Governance at Chartered Accountants Ireland, about the findings of recent trust and ethics surveys commissioned by Chartered Accountants Worldwide and the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies. New research carried out by Chartered Accountants Worldwide and Edelman Data and Intelligence (DXI) has found that trust in the accountancy profession remains strong after the turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study found that business decision-makers around the world consider Chartered Accountants among the most trusted professionals, catching up to doctors, engineers, nurses and teachers, and ahead of other prominent groups in society such as legal professionals and politicians. Furthermore, Chartered Accountants are the most trusted finance professionals ahead of bankers, financial advisors, economists, and insurance brokers. Edelman DXI began working with Chartered Accountants Worldwide in 2018 to track the attitudes of senior decision-makers (e.g. CEOs, directors, heads of function, etc.), but this marks the first time the results have been made publicly available. The 2021 study surveyed 1,450 business leaders across the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. “There is a lot to be proud of in these findings for the Chartered Accountancy profession in Ireland,” says Níall Fitzgerald, Head of Ethics and Governance at Chartered Accountants Ireland. “The results point to an opportunity for Chartered Accountants to use their position of trust to tackle the challenges of the recovery after COVID-19 and build towards a sustainable future.” Among the key results of the research was the finding that performance on integrity has improved since 2019. However, scrutiny has also increased, with transparency more important in driving trust in Chartered Accountants. Chartered Accountants are also rated highly as business professionals. Most business decision-makers (84%) believe that Chartered Accountants have the skills and expertise to make businesses thrive today. Meanwhile, 81% are confident in Chartered Accountants’ ability to navigate a new operating environment in the future. At the same time, there is a growing expectation that they must also follow up with action. Overall, 85% of business decision-makers say it is important that Chartered Accountants demonstrate a track record of helping businesses thrive. Most respondents (70%) see Chartered Accountants as credible spokespeople on societal issues such as sustainability, diversity, equity and inclusion. But they also expect Chartered Accountants to follow through by driving sustainable environmental practices within businesses and doing more to foster diversity, equity and inclusion practices. Speaking at the global launch of the study in November, Chartered Accountants Worldwide chairman Michael Izza said: “Chartered Accountants are the first port of call for many businesses and saved many livelihoods during the pandemic. Over the next ten years, Chartered Accountants will play a leading role in tackling critical problems, including climate change, which is one of the biggest challenges humanity has faced. As problem solvers, Chartered Accountants can be counted on to find solutions to the world’s most complex economic and moral issues, including global warming and net-zero.” But the profession still has some work to do if it is to play that leading role on those critically important issues, according to Fitzgerald. “We can, of course, be proud of the results, but we have to be realistic as well,” he says. “When you drill down into the detail of the findings, you find that the most strongly positive results were about the ‘bread and butter’ activities, the things accountants are meant to be good at anyway.” He adds that being great at everyday things will not be enough in the new post-COVID decarbonising world. “Chartered Accountants are rated very highly for activities like accounts preparation, tax returns, data analysis, and general business advice, which we are trained for. Those are all things we are supposed to do, and while it is good to be held in high regard for them, we must ask ourselves why our core skills are not seen to be transversal into other important areas for business.” Those areas include adopting transformative new technologies like artificial intelligence and all aspects of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda. “We need to up our game when it comes to those areas,” Fitzgerald continues. “At the moment, Chartered Accountants are not seen as the go-to people for ESG issues, diversity and inclusion, or becoming purpose-led as an organisation. While 60% of respondents said accountants had some part to play, no one said we were integral to the process. We might think we are, but others don’t. We need to work on that.” He doesn’t believe that should be viewed entirely negatively, however. “There are some very real opportunities opening up with the advent of new sustainability reporting standards and other regulations,” he notes. “These things are all about data and measurement, and those are things accountants are very good at. They are also very good at technical standards and translating them into processes and so on.” Fitzgerald also believes that the profession needs to reposition itself to capitalise on those opportunities. “Finance professionals in future will have to be seen as solutions providers in a wide range of areas. Large organisations seeking advice on their sustainability journeys can get it externally, but SMEs don’t have the money for that. So they have to look internally, and who better than their head of finance or external accountant to guide them on where they need to go? Sustainability has a direct bearing on finance, after all. For example, in the future, companies will find it very difficult to get bank loans or access investment capital if they are not on a verifiable sustainability journey. Accountants have the skills to do that. We are very good at taking standards, putting them into practice, and giving investors and lenders the assurances they need in many areas. In future, that will apply to sustainability as well.” Fitzgerald also points to another recent report from the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB), which surveyed accounting professionals in Ireland and the UK. It found that 27% had been put under pressure, or felt under pressure, to act in an unethical way in the last three years. The most common instances related to over-optimism concerning budgets and business cases, unreasonably downplaying risks in budgets, and categorising personal expenses as business expenses. In most cases (78%), the accountants concerned spoke up to prevent pressure to break the ethical code. Just 10% of those under pressure carried out the unethical task, while 25% did so but only partially. Interestingly, those figures correlate strongly with the 35% who said they didn’t turn to anyone for support or guidance. Fitzgerald advises any Chartered Accountant who feels under pressure to act unethically to reach out for help. “Chartered Accountants in Ireland have a fantastic network of 30,000 fellow members to call upon for assistance in cases like this,” he says. “Many will have encountered similar situations themselves and will be able to offer very practical advice. We also have resources on the Institute’s website, which provide guidance on reaching an ethical decision. “Generally speaking, the advice is to look after the small things before they grow. For example, don’t overlook things like overstating mileage. A disciplined approach to such things will help create a culture where the pressure to act unethically doesn’t arise.” Níall Fitzgerald is Head of Ethics and Governance at Chartered Accountants Ireland.

A recent global compliance study of 890 senior compliance professionals in 25 countries highlights an increasing emphasis on compliance as a value creator. Mairéad Divilly analyses how compliance professionals are factoring in this shift, the benefits to business, and the challenges ahead. Following a year of economic uncertainty arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses worldwide are considering how to extract more value from their operations. The compliance function is no exception. In the past, companies tended to commoditise global compliance, seeing it purely as an overhead. More recently, there is growing evidence that businesses increasingly appreciate both the tangible and intangible values of good global compliance. Analysis of the global compliance survey results suggests that businesses are now much clearer on the benefits and opportunities of good compliance. According to the survey, 58% of compliance professionals now view global compliance as an opportunity to create value rather than an obligation that results in a net cost, as indicated by 37% of respondents. More specifically, 65% of respondents feel that good compliance increases investor confidence, while 64% say it increases client and customer trust and 61% say it helps build a good reputation. The benefits of good global compliance Recognition that good compliance brings returns in the form of a stronger reputation and greater revenue is increasingly evident, particularly when we consider that compliance failures carry significant repercussions. Compliance leaders know the considerable risks of falling short, with 77% saying their business has faced accounting and tax compliance-related issues somewhere in the world during the last five years. These consequences most commonly include reputational damage, internal disciplinary action, and fines. Pivoting from obligation to opportunity Squeezing extra mileage out of good compliance requires businesses to shift their approach from purely tactical to one that sees compliance as a strategic investment. It requires more engagement by top executives to drive real efficiencies, increase opportunities, and become more competitive. It’s an approach not lost on our survey respondents where compliance is seen as a core function of modern businesses, with C-suites devoting more time and attention to proactively managing it. According to the survey, the executive committees and boards engage with compliance at least once a quarter in 75% of businesses, and 39% engage monthly or more. Compliance as a commercial priority featuring more regularly on the calendars of senior leaders is validated by 44% of respondents who say the main reason decision-makers engage is to explore new insights or business opportunities. Only 28% say their senior people primarily focus on compliance to deal with an urgent issue or crisis. So again, we see compliance emerging as a business imperative that drives opportunities and not something seen as low priority or as a reaction to external developments. Reflecting this shift of top management focus is the continued growth of compliance funding, with three in five businesses having increased funding for global compliance over the last year and 68% planning to increase funding in the next five years. Regarding specific funding projects, 73% of respondents predict investment in developing new skills and capacities within teams, while 34% see monitoring external developments in accounting and tax as significant areas for investment. However, the biggest beneficiary of funding will be new technology to achieve compliance goals and drive future improvements, with over 78% of businesses looking to invest in new accounting and tax compliance technology in the next five years and 42% planning a major new investment, according to the survey. This focus on technology is not surprising as 39% of respondents say effective technology is the biggest factor in meeting their compliance goals today. In addition, 45% say new accounting and tax compliance technology will be the most significant factor in the compliance function’s improved performance in five years. Of those who plan to invest in technology, 49% of compliance leaders say artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are their biggest priorities for investment in the next five years. Robotic process automation (RPA) and blockchain are the top priority for 25% and 24%, respectively. Regarding specific compliance function technology-related investments, 38% state that tax compliance will be their priority, while 28% plan to explore the potential of risk management tools. Navigating the challenges ahead Despite this shift to global compliance being viewed as a strategic investment, companies face significant challenges in developing a strategy that takes them to the next level. While 82% of respondents express a high level of confidence in meeting compliance obligations now and in the near future, there is an acknowledgement that the increased complexity of tax rules, new compliance legislation, and the aftermath of COVID-19 will test abilities and compliance functions to the max. According to the survey, some 38% expect the ongoing impacts of the pandemic and increased complexity of compliance to be the two toughest challenges ahead. Meanwhile, 36% expect new legislation in the countries they already operate in to be one of their biggest challenges and 35% cite expansion into new countries. Political disruptions such as those connected to Brexit are also a factor, but are seen as a less likely disruptor with only 23% of respondents citing it as one of their most pressing challenges. Challenges compliance leaders expect to face In contrast, COVID-19 has raised new global challenges with over 75% of compliance leaders saying it has had an impact. The biggest challenge here is remote working, with 52% of respondents citing moving to home environments for work, particularly when in a different country to their employer’s location, has increased compliance needs, adding more pressure on the tax and accounting compliance functions. There is also an acceptance that new legislation and standards are leading to stricter compliance. Over the last few years, compliance reporting obligations not only doubled and sometimes tripled in size, but changes have been complex and fast-moving. As well as seeking the help of experts, the survey highlights that, as discussed above, businesses are investing in technology to leverage compliance functions and meet the need for real-time reporting obligations. While these are welcome improvements, the rise in cybercrime presents an additional risk that needs to be factored in when introducing any technology. Nor are automated and integrated compliance tools risk-free. Machines and algorithms are only as good as the information they are fed. Lack of knowledge remains a significant challenge in meeting compliance obligations, with 42% of respondents citing the need to develop the knowledge and skills of their compliance teams. The combination of skills shortages and the introduction of new technology can often add a new and unexpected layer of risk to the compliance function. Pockets of success lead the way forward The study does, however, highlight pockets of success in navigating the challenges of global compliance. COVID-19, for example, is seen as having a positive impact on individual employees by giving them more flexibility and forcing compliance leaders to become more vigilant. Additionally, while not a new phenomenon, more companies have begun to surpass legislative requirements on tax transparency. Over two-thirds of organisations (70%) voluntarily publish more than the law requires, 45% choose to publish some extra information, while a quarter publishes extensive, detailed information well above what is required by law. Tax transparency is now seen as a microcosm of the broader compliance story. Over one-third (36%) of compliance leaders cite building trust with tax authorities, politicians, and regulators as a key benefit of publishing extra information about the taxes their business pays. Plus, a third say improving their organisation’s public reputation is a crucial benefit of enhanced tax transparency. A further measure we see implemented by businesses that goes above and beyond is the inclusion of compliance strategies in annual reports. This sends a strong message to regulators and clients that can help improve company reputations. Looking ahead, we can expect tax transparency to evolve and measures like publicly available country-by-country reporting to become the norm. While large multinationals are likely to take the lead, tax transparency appears high on the agenda of all businesses irrespective of size and location, according to the survey. The global findings demonstrate that compliance professionals are also aware of the future direction of travel. Compliance-related demands on businesses will increase, leading to the dedication of more resources to meet compliance goals. At the same time, over half of businesses expect meeting compliance requirements to be more challenging in the future. Next steps In terms of the next steps, businesses should review and refresh their organisational setup and compliance functions to adapt to changing circumstances. This will include focusing on regulation as well as management processes to reduce risk and seize opportunities. Anticipating new laws and having the ability to react is vital. In particular, firms must understand their limitations to mitigate the risks linked to compliance. Nurturing agility will allow leaders to anticipate changes so their teams can keep up with global compliance rather than being hindered by it. The return on compliance investment may often be indirect and hard-won, but it should never be underestimated given its importance to growing businesses. Technology can also help companies with global compliance, but the development of skills and knowledge has to be addressed simultaneously. Using internal and external expertise to find the right balance between humans and technology is essential. With over a third of international respondents citing a more complex global compliance landscape as a significant challenge over the next five years, it’s clear that increased complexity will be a feature for years to come. As a result, businesses planning to expand globally will need to be secure in their ability to comply with employment, taxation, payroll, and company legislation in other jurisdictions. As the study demonstrates, when global compliance is done well, it builds investor confidence, increases client and customer trust, and shapes a positive reputation with the outside world. Shifting compliance from an obligation to an opportunity is something all businesses should now explore. Mairéad Divilly is Lead Partner, Outsourcing and Compliance Services, at Mazars Ireland.