Chartered Accountants Leinster Society is thrilled to announce its next business lunch on Thursday 18 April. We are delighted to announce our guest speaker as Doug Beattie MC MLA, Ulster Unionist Party leader. Doug will share his thoughts on the future of the NI economy, now that power sharing has returned to Stormont and how the relationship between Dublin and Belfast can benefit from this. When: Thursday 18 April Time: 12.00pm – 4.00pm  Venue: The Fitzwilliam Hotel, Dublin Price: €60pp / €600 per table of 10 Places will be limited, email us at LeinsterSociety@charteredaccountants.ie to book your spot. After retiring from the army, he joined the Ulster Unionist Party. As of May 2016, Doug is an Ulster Unionist MLA for Upper Bann, and in May 2021 he was elected leader of the party. He is also the party’s justice spokesman, sits on the Assembly’s Justice Committee and is Deputy Chairperson of the Committee for the Executive Office. Doug Beattie was born into a military family and is a career soldier of over 30 years, advancing through the Royal Irish Regiment (later the Royal Irish Rangers) to the rank of Captain. He earned the Military cross on foot of his exploits in Afghanistan, and following his return, he published two best-selling books which propelled him into the public eye on his experiences there.

Following the success of our 2023 CPD day, we are delighted to announce it's back for 2024! Join members from across the region in taking a day out, away from the distractions of the office to prioritise your own learning. Again this year we have a full agenda, with topics including: • Business insurance – Closing the insurance gaps with Siobhan McSharry, McSharry Foley Insurance • Doing Good Business: Sustainability with Shelia Killian • Financial Reporting update with Kevin McSharry of Circle Advisory • Branding for SMEs with Gerard Tannam of Islandbridge • Cross Border Tax with Rose Tierney, Tierney Tax • Cyber security & Artificial Intelligence with Ciaran O'Connor of Trojan IT • Pension Auto Enrolment with Stephen Lowry, Chartered Accountants Ireland This is an event not to be missed, but don't take our word for it! Here are just some of the comments last year's attendees had about the day: "Best event I attended since I qualified in 1990" "All in person is wonderful to really create some rapport with people and to really understand the content, especially as a graduate" "Would like this to be an annual event" Book Now  

Accounting for the Future |  Regional outreach 22 February 2024     The North West Society's regional outreach day on the 22 February was a huge successes. We would like to thank the Atlantic Technological University team and our colleagues in Chartered Accountants Ireland for making this day such a great day!  200 second level students came to participate in the Chartered Accountants Ireland Mini Be The Boss Challenge. Congratulations to Amy Fleming from the Mercy College Sligo for winning the challenge! 30 third level students met with President Sinead Donovan and North West Chair Marion Prendergast 46 members joined us for the Presidents dinner that evening at the ATU 150 members and guests attended the "Accounting for the Future" panel discussion with Joe Gannon, Sinead Donovan and Shane Devins. If you missed this session, a recording is available to view, click this link

The Institute draws the attention of members and firms to proposed changes to the Institute’s PII requirements. PII arrangements are developed jointly by the Institute, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, and the three chartered bodies have participated in a review of these joint PII arrangements, led by ICAEW. Institute members and firms will be aware of this review, which included a public consultation that members and firms were invited to participate in. The main proposed changes to the PII requirements which are being considered by the Institute’s Professional Standards Board following that review, are: The minimum limit of indemnity will increase from £1.5m to £2m. For firms with a gross fee income which is below £800,000, the minimum limit will be two and a half times the firm’s gross fee income, subject to a minimum of £250,000 (this is an increase from £100,000). Larger firms with gross fee income over £50m will not be required to put in place ‘qualifying insurance’ but must have in place appropriate arrangements which will be monitored. (Currently this approach is available to firms with 50+ principals.) For firms that will be required to put qualifying insurance in place, the maximum aggregate excess should not exceed the higher of £3,000 or 3% of a firm’s gross fee income. (And euro equivalents). The Institute’s current PII requirements are set out in Chapter 7 of the Public Practice Regulations.  Any decided changes to the Institute’s PII requirements will be reflected in updated versions of same, which will be made available to members and firms through the usual channels in due course. However, as the principles have the support of the Professional Standards Board, in the interest of giving Institute members and firms timely notice of these proposed changes we are providing you with this information at this stage. If approved, the changes are likely to be effective from 1 September 2024, and apply to policies taken out or renewed from that date. Institute members and firms may wish to check with your PII provider whether any of the proposed changes will impact your policy, and ensure you leave sufficient time to prepare for your renewal this year. Members or firms who have any queries in relation to these proposed changes can contact the Institute at professionalstandards@charteredaccountants.ie. Further information on the review of the PII arrangements is available on the ICAEW website here.

In Irish news, Revenue has written to taxpayers in relation to arranging repayment of warehoused debt and the Minister for Justice has published a review of the office of the Sheriff. In UK news, hear more about HMRC’s decision to halt its plans to make permanent restrictions to its helplines and we want to hear from you about HMRC’s Raising Standards in Tax Advice consultation for regulation of the UK tax agent market. In International news, the OECD Inclusive Framework continues to make steady progress on the implementation of the rules to tackle international tax avoidance.  Ireland Revenue has written to taxpayers in relation to arranging repayment of warehoused debt. The Minister for Justice has published a review of the office of the Sheriff. UK Hear more about HMRC’s decision to halt its plans to make permanent restrictions to its helplines. We want to hear from you about HMRC’s Raising Standards in Tax Advice consultation for regulation of the UK tax agent market. International The OECD Inclusive Framework makes steady progress on efforts to combat treaty abuse. Keep up to date with all the latest Irish, UK, and international tax developments through Chartered Accountants Ireland’s Tax Newsletter. Subscribe to the Tax News by updating your preferences in MyAccount. You can also read this week’s EU exit corner here.

Alan T. Ennis FCA is a board director, advisor and former CEO and president of Revlon Inc. His experience has taught him the power of pride in his achievements and advocating for himself. What do you value most about your membership of the profession? In everything I’ve done here in the US, my qualification as a Chartered Accountant has been the most valuable jewel in my chest of knowledge. Even today, my finance background continues to be invaluable in terms of buying and selling businesses, understanding capital structures and capital markets.  It has been the same throughout my career. I put a lot of my progression at Revlon down to my training. I could understand financial statements, I understood the importance of profitability and cash and how investments work. I could talk to the Board of Directors in those terms and it was invaluable. What advice would you have for other Chartered Accountants thinking of moving to the US? My advice is to make sure you start to connect with other Chartered Accountants over here straight away – and there are lots of us in New York, Boston, San Francisco and other places. That’s a valuable network. The other piece of advice I would have is that it’s okay to put yourself out there – in fact, it’s a good idea. Americans tend to be confident in how they present themselves professionally. They are proud of what they have done and they're confident in their success and in their abilities.  They're not afraid to talk about it. Irish people, myself included at times, tend to downplay our achievements and abilities. In the US, people won’t necessarily understand that so it’s not a bad idea to learn to advocate for yourself, your skills and talents. What made you choose to become a Chartered Accountant? I studied commerce at University College Dublin, graduating in 1991. Going through the BComm in those days, you had two options: you could follow the management track or the accounting track. The management track covered topics like organisational design, leadership, strategy and marketing. I said to my dad, “I think I'm going to choose that,” and he replied, “oh no, you should do accounting.” At that time, I didn’t think I wanted to be an accountant, but my dad said to me said, “you do, you just don’t know it yet.”So, I followed the accounting track, joined Arthur Andersen in 1991 and raced through my Chartered Accountancy exams. Can you tell us a little about how you got to where you are today – both your relocation and career path? When I was training with Arthur Andersen, I understood how beneficial training in accounting could be in business. I was fairly certain that I wouldn’t stay in the auditing field and become a partner in an accounting firm.  That wasn’t what I wanted to do. I wanted to become a Chartered Accountant and then move out into industry, but I did stay with Arthur Andersen for a while, becoming a manager before leaving Ireland in my mid-twenties.  I moved to the UK to join Ingersoll Rand in Manchester and then negotiated a transfer to the company’s New Jersey office in 1999. I moved through various financial roles from internal audit to financial planning and investor relations. In 2004, I was offered a new position as CFO of Ingersoll Rand’s Bobcat division in North Dakota. At the same time, I was offered the position of Head of Internal Audit at Revlon.  I was in my early thirties and my choice was between Bobcat in Fargo, North Dakota, and this other role with a very different and much smaller company that would put me right in the heart of New York. I chose Revlon. Can you talk us through your experience at Revlon? Being a Chartered Accountant put me in a very good place to understand the financial operations of any corporation and that really stood me in good stead at Revlon. It had a lot of debt at the time. Joining the company was a high-risk move, but I thought, “you know what, I’m going to go for it.”  Within two-and-half years, I had gone from Head of Internal Audit to Corporate Controller to President of International and then Chief Financial Officer. Eventually, I was appointed Chief Executive, a position I held for five years reporting to the company’s Chair, Ron Perelman. What about your work now? I had a great run at Revlon and a superb team of people behind me. When I left that role in 2014, I got a great package and I wasn’t really under pressure anymore to prove myself. I had choices. I’ve since dabbled in private equity and joined a couple of boards, both profit and not-for-profit. The board that occupies most of my time right now is Nutrabolt, a sports nutrition company whose leading product is C4, a pre-workout energy drink. I am the company’s Vice-chair, Chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Nominating Governance Committee. I’m also Nutrabolt’s lead Independent Director.  Alan T. Ennis is on numerous boards across a variety of industries, including at present the IDA and Nutrabolt. 

On 21 March the Ulster Society in partnership with Grant Thornton hosted a Public Sector Blitz in Belfast designed for accountants, as well as other business professionals, working in, or advising, the public sector. Speakers included former Head of NICS David Sterling; Rodney Allen, NI Audit Office; Gina McIntyre, SEUPB; Claire Thomson, Grant Thornton; and Roisin Loughran, Grant Thornton. This event was oversubscribed and so we recorded this event for those who were unable to attend. A recording of this event is available to view, for free and on demand, HERE A pdf copy of the slides used n the presentation are available to view HERE

IAASA has issued a revised version of ISA (Ireland) 505 – External Confirmations. The main changes to the standard relate to: Clarification on what constitutes an electronic external confirmation. Prohibition on the use of negative external confirmations. Strengthened link with ISA (Ireland) 330 The Auditor’s Responses to Assessed Risks. Enhanced requirements concerning the investigation of exceptions. The revised standard is effective for audits of financial statements for periods beginning on or after 15 December 2024, with early adoption permitted. The revised ISA (Ireland) 505 is available here.

Last Tuesday 19 March 2024, HMRC announced a range of permanent changes to helpline services. However, the next day HMRC announced that the changes were being halted while HMRC “considers how best to help taxpayers harness online services”. Whilst the decision to further consider this issue is welcome, it is disappointing that feedback provided by the Institute and other Professional Bodies which raised various concerns about the proposed changes appears to not have been fully considered before the formal announcement was made last week and subsequently reversed. The Institute will engage with HMRC as it considers the way forward. Members are encouraged to provide feedback on HMRC services on a regular basis.

Revenue’s Tax and Duty Manual ‘C&E TAN Reports available on Revenue’s Online Service (ROS) for C&E Traders’ has been updated to include Combined Taxes Report for Importer & Payers Excise Duty Entries (EDE's) declarations.  See eBrief 091/24 for more details. 

Revenue has updated the Tax and duty manual (TDM) for Import Payment Methods to include -   postponed VAT contact details for related queries VRT payment methods to include a link to the VRT payments in ROS guide and, a link to C&E reports available in ROS along with some other minor text changes.

Earlier this month we highlighted in our Spring Budget 2024 coverage that HMRC had finally launched its long planned consultation on “Raising standards in the tax advice market” which examines three options to strengthen the tax agent regulatory framework in the UK and would also require tax advisers to register with HMRC if they wish to interact with HMRC on a client’s behalf. This consultation will close on 29 May 2024. This week we take a look at the first option set out in the consultation for potential regulation of paid tax agents, mandatory membership of a recognised professional body, and encourage you to share your views by Tuesday 7 May 2024 to enable members views to be reflected in the Institute’s  response. Next week will set out more information on option two.  Mandatory membership of a recognised professional body   This option is clearly the option which HMRC are leaning towards, but they recognise that this will depend on “the capacity and willingness” of the Professional Bodies to do so, including this Institute.   Chapter 7 (including questions 11-18) of the consultation examines this option in detail. This would involve mandatory membership of a recognised professional body with professional bodies monitoring and enforcing standards of their members and raising those standards where necessary.   Taking forward this approach would mean tax practitioners must hold membership of a professional body that is recognised as having an adequate minimum standard for its members and an adequate supervisory framework to monitor and enforce that standard.   The government considers this approach to be proportionate to the problems observed and opportunities afforded. In its view it “minimises extra costs and burdens to tax practitioners who currently meet expected standards and most professional bodies currently deliver the 3 components of a regulatory framework: subjecting their tax practitioner members to minimum standards, monitoring and enforcement action; and offering routes for customer support.”   “The government recognises there may be costs for the professional bodies in extending their supervisory frameworks to new members, with the potential for these to be passed on to clients via increased membership fees. The government will explore how best to mitigate this.  The government considers that enhancing and extending the supervisory framework operated by the professional bodies to this population of tax practitioners could achieve its aim of raising standards. However, it is dependent on the willingness and capacity of professional bodies to both strengthen the regulatory framework to raise standards of their current members who do not meet expected standards and extend membership to new members.”  The consultation also presents evidence in Annex C which according to HMRC shows that there are levels of non-compliance amongst taxpayers represented by affiliated tax practitioners. “This is why the government is looking to explore whether the regulatory frameworks currently in place across professional bodies are strong enough to raise standards in the tax advice market if the government chooses to proceed with this approach.  The government therefore wishes to work with professional bodies to understand their capacity and capability to raise standards across the market and seeks views on key questions to inform how mandatory professional body membership could be implemented in a way that best meets the objectives.  Findings from this consultation will inform whether the government pursues the introduction of mandatory professional body membership or whether another approach, such as regulation by a government body (option 3) should be pursued.”