Emma Noonan, Chair at CASSI, shares her time management tips and the key to her early career success. What do you love about your job? There are many aspects of my job that I enjoy, particularly the learning opportunities, challenges, and variety in the tasks I am assigned. However, what I truly love about my job, and what I really value is the people. This is the real differentiator between each firm, and I have been fortunate to work with strong and supportive teams during my time in KPMG. When you are faced with a problem at work, it’s great to be able to turn to a colleague and reach a solution together rather than struggle alone. The teams I have worked with have supported me, challenged me, and taught me everything I have learned so far in my career. So really, I have them to thank for the love I have for my job. What’s the best career decision you’ve ever made? Deciding to study with Chartered Accountants Ireland to become a qualified Chartered Accountant was the best career decision I have ever made. When I was in college, I was on the fence as to what I wanted to do and I found the idea of studying for another three and a half years very daunting. However, my decision was final when I did an internship with Risk Consulting at KPMG, where I saw the direct benefit becoming a Chartered Accountant had on working life in terms of both career development and career potential. I am now in the midst of my contract and I am delighted with the choice I made. How do you organise your time? That is a great question, and I welcome all suggestions! Scheduling everything I must do for the week ahead (both professionally and personally) in my diary works best for me. It has become a habit at this stage, and I always have my diary with me – it’s a great way to get an overview of my weekly plans at a glance. Every week, I write down what I need to achieve so that by 5.30pm on Friday, I will feel as though I have had a productive week. This is something I learned from Pat Divilly and it is a really useful exercise when I feel like I’m not getting enough done. Every day, I align my daily to-do list to my weekly objectives and prioritise each item. To achieve this, I write down realistic and specific to-dos. The more specific I am with my to-dos, the easier I find it to meet my weekly objectives and, as a result, feel more productive. For me, it’s essential to distinguish between my short-term and long-term goals. I can’t achieve everything I want in one day, so I try to bear this in mind as I set my daily tasks to meet my weekly objectives. What has been the key to your career success to date? I have had some small wins in my career so far including passing my CAP1 exams, being elected as CASSI Education Officer, and being elected as the Chair of CASSI this year. My goal at the moment is to build a varied skillset, which will benefit my career in the future. To me, this means taking every learning opportunity I can get my hands on and pushing myself out of my comfort zone. What is the best career advice you ever received? That’s a tough one! I’ve received advice from several mentors and my team in KPMG. However, the one that stands out is: seek to learn. Throughout my career, and with thanks to my firm, I have been exposed to a number of learning opportunities. These range from working with high-profile clients to learning key technical skills such as SQL, POWERBI and Excel. Educational opportunities are extremely important to me and in terms of my career, I endeavour to continuously upskill – sure, that’s exactly what the training contract is for! If you were to change one thing about your professional life, what would it be? Ironically, it would be to have more time. As I settle into my new role as CASSI Chair while working and studying full-time, I find myself struggling to have some downtime. This boils down to time management and what I am currently prioritising. So for now, I’d change how long it takes me to re-order my priorities! What lessons did you learn about yourself, and your work, during the pandemic? I have learned several lessons from both a personal and professional standpoint during COVID-19. However, my two key learning points are: communication and work-life balance. The fundamental role of face-to-face interaction in my daily job became very clear to me as we shifted to working from home, full-time. I learned the importance of open and continued communications, be it client-related or simply a discussion with a team member. In such uncertain times, an email or weekly catch-up really makes a difference when it comes to clarifying the company’s direction of travel for the months ahead. It was interesting to see how smoothly we shifted to online platforms and this has been key to increasing the frequency of communication in recent weeks. That said, I look forward to getting back to the office to see my colleagues, as it’s hard to beat a face-to-face interaction. But for the time being, the likes of Microsoft Teams is an excellent substitute. As a result of COVID-19, I also found myself out of the routine to which I was very much accustomed. It came as a bit of a shock when I realised that working from home wasn’t going to be a short-term thing and I struggled with the uncertainty I was facing. From this, I learned the importance of building and maintaining a work routine as well as factoring in down-time to catch-up virtually with friends and family. It took some time to get used to my kitchen/office hybrid, but I’ve settled in nicely to my new routine.

Project led by Prince Charles urges accountants to act on climate emergency Chartered Accountants Ireland today announced that it is one of 14 accounting bodies worldwide to become signatories to a call to action on climate change issued by “Accounting for Sustainability” (A4S). A4S is Prince Charles’ Accounting for Sustainability Project and was established in 2004 with the aim of promoting sustainable decision-making in business.  The memorandum of understanding signed by Chartered Accountants Ireland today states that signatories will commit to providing the training and infrastructure that accountants need, as well as supporting initiatives and providing the evidence needed to take action on climate change. In signing the memorandum, Chartered Accountants Ireland recognises that climate change is an economic, social and business risk that accountants must take action on collectively as a profession and individually as professionals working in the public interest.  The 14 accounting bodies signed up to the agreement represent a total of 2.5 million accountants and students worldwide, and now includes the 28,500 members represented by Chartered Accountants Ireland, the largest accountancy body on the island of Ireland. Barry Dempsey, Chief Executive of Chartered Accountants Ireland, said: “I am delighted to sign the Accounting for Sustainability memorandum, which commits Chartered Accountants Ireland to taking a leadership position on the need for greater action on sustainability, and to facilitating that change through our membership. We know that the role of Chartered Accountants is changing as the need to do business sustainably becomes more central to how companies and consumers operate.  We are focused on a future where members and the businesses they advise are better equipped to strive towards a net-zero economy sooner rather than later. We believe the accountancy profession can play a role in achieving climate change mitigation and adaptation. It will take commitment and it will take action, and we are pledging both today.” The signing of the memorandum is one part of a programme of sustainable initiatives already underway at Chartered Accountants Ireland. The Institute’s programme includes an Expert Working Group consisting of members drawn from practice and industry who are working to address the development of research and voice for the profession in the area of sustainability.  The Institute’s programme also includes an ongoing calendar of events, with networking, CPD training and professional development opportunities for members on sustainability, including most recently a Sustainable Finance event held at the Irish embassy in London, where members heard from a panel of experts on the challenges and opportunities for accountants and finance leaders working in this area. As a profession, Chartered Accountants are increasingly relied upon to advise companies on the policies and procedures that underpin doing business more sustainably and reporting on this fact for the benefit of stakeholders, customers and consumers.  About the Memorandum  As a signatory to the memorandum, Chartered Accountants Ireland is committing to the following actions: • To provide members with the training, support and infrastructure needed; • To support relevant market-based policy initiatives and incentives; • To provide sound advice to help governments to create the policy and regulatory infrastructure necessary for a just transition to a net-zero carbon economy.  The memorandum also includes pledges for professional accountants individually:  • To provide sound advice and services as organisations and governments develop and implement plans for climate change mitigation and adaptation; • To contribute to the efforts of their organisations to integrate climate change risk into organisational strategy, finance, operations and communications; • To use and implement existing and developing reporting frameworks such as those from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures and the International Integrated Reporting Council. • To support sustainable decision-making within their organisations. The memorandum can be viewed in full here: http://www.accountingforsustainability.org/abn-climate-action ENDS Reference Fiachradh McDermott | Gibney Communications | 087 655 7070 | 01 661 0402 About Chartered Accountants Ireland Chartered Accountants Ireland is Ireland’s largest and longest established professional body of accountants founded in 1888. The Institute, which is an all-island body, currently represents over 28,500 members around the world. Chartered Accountants Ireland is a founding member of Chartered Accountants Worldwide, the global alliance that brings together over 1.8 million Chartered accountants and students in more than 185 countries. About Accounting for Sustainability The Accounting for Sustainability Project (A4S) was established by HRH the Prince of Wales in 2004 with the aim of promoting sustainable decision making in business. A4S works with Chief Financial Officers and finance teams, the accounting community, governments, regulators, policy makers and the wider finance community across the globe. A4S established the Accounting Bodies Network in 2008 to work with professional accounting bodies as they recognise and incorporate principles of sustainability in their organisations.  

Chartered Accountants Ireland today announces a three year partnership with specialist accountancy recruitment practice Barden. The collaboration will see Barden support the Chartered Accountants Student Society of Ireland (CASSI) with a six-figure sum investment over three years, alongside a commitment to 1,000 career coaching hours for students and recently qualified Chartered Accountants. Elaine Brady, Managing Partner, Barden Dublin says of the partnership: "This partnership, with the future of the accounting profession in Ireland, is a culmination of years of hard work by our team here in Barden. It was a privilege to be asked to participate and we are proud to be a part of helping the Chartered Accountants of tomorrow make the best decisions for their professional and personal development. It's about more than just jobs; it's about life." Emma Noonan, newly elected Chair of CASSI (Chartered Accountants Student Society Ireland ), says of the partnership: "The contribution Barden will make to support the Chartered Accountants Student Society of Ireland (CASSI) will make a huge impact to the positive services we offer to our members, and we will be in a stronger position to ease the path of future Chartered Accountants as they launch their careers." It is intended that Barden's contribution will be used to support student communications, such as a website and e-newsletters, dedicated sporting events, social activities, and coaching and advisory sessions for future Chartered Accountants. ENDS Notes to editors For reference: Claire Percy, Chartered Accountants Ireland, 086 216 4393 claire.percy@charteredaccountants.ie Ed Heffernan, Barden, 086 209 8701, edheffernan@barden.ie  About Chartered Accountants Ireland: Chartered Accountants Ireland is Ireland's largest and longest established professional body of accountants founded in 1888.  The Institute, which is an all-island body, currently represents over 27,000 members around the world. About Barden: Founded by Ed Heffernan, Elaine Brady and Jonathan Olden in 2014, Barden has grown organically into a thriving team of accountancy, finance and tax recruitment experts in Dublin and Cork, who strive every day to redefine what finance professionals should expect from recruitment. For further information about Barden visit www.barden.ie.