Three Chartered Accountants tell us how they use performance metrics to enhance organisational efficiency beyond traditional benchmarks Niamh McCarthy Finance Business Partner Primark Relying solely on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) can mean ignoring the human elements that impact performance. Focusing only on a project’s outcomes might meet KPIs, but it can also make people feel that their wellbeing or personal development is not a priority. In my experience, the best way to ensure a balance between quantitative metrics and qualitative assessments is to set clear expectations when setting annual goals, provide feedback and coaching more regularly than in one-off annual reviews so that everyone is aligned, and add weighting to both quantitative and qualitative metrics based on their importance to the company.  Subjective factors such as employee behaviour, teamwork and communication skills are crucial in performance evaluations.  These measures can influence a company’s culture as employees feel heard and that they can collaborate with their peers. These positive behaviours drive a positive culture. The more positive employees feel, the more productive they tend to be.  Careful consideration is required before implementing alternative performance measures to ensure clear definitions of the metrics. Transparency is a must to ensure everyone understands the metrics that are being used.  A standardised approach is also needed for all employees. To achieve this, the managers setting these performance measures need adequate and uniform training to ensure consistency for everyone.  Employees should be involved in their goal-setting every year, of these goals must align with the company’s values and objectives. There should be a sense of ownership over these so that they are not just ‘given’ to the employee but they instead feel that they have created them, can drive them and ultimately achieve them.  These goals should be reviewed regularly – not just annually – to ensure that they are still relevant. Otherwise, you risk employees feeling disconnected from their own objectives or those of the business.  Unlike traditional performance metrics focused solely on quantitative outputs, alternative performance measurement methods often take a more holistic approach.  Various factors are considered, such as skills, behaviours, contribution to the team and alignment with company values. This comprehensive assessment provides employees with a more nuanced understanding of their strengths and potential areas for improvement, facilitating targeted development efforts.  Employees who feel they can grow and develop within a company are more likely to actively contribute to the business. The more you give back to employees in terms of recognising their development and wellbeing, the more they will give back in turn. Mark Riseley Strategic and Financial Consultant/Fractional CFO My lens is formed from a career working for high-growth scale-ups where change is constant, requiring systems, data, processes and (most importantly) people to flex as the company grows.  Traditional KPIs are often unsuited to measuring capacity to scale efficiently, for both people and companies, and do not capture a company’s true enterprise value along that path. Some alternate measures of performance include: Time management – In high-growth environments, time may be a team’s most valuable commodity. Does the company measure time, quantity and output generated by meetings?  Data – What is high-quality data, and what is just noise? Instead of just measuring data output, measure the speed and efficiency of decisions to determine which data is worth keeping. Adaptability to a culture of change – Identify, hire and measure based on key personality traits, such as decision-making capacity, adaptability/flexibility, resilience, trust, diligence and communication skills, rather than just the known skills of the profession. Effectiveness of organisational design – Is the organisation’s design scalable, or does it need to pivot to enable growth? Does it allow executives to delegate/empower decision-making? Check employee turnover to determine the effectiveness of your organisation’s outlay. Common goal – Is the common goal clear? Do companies measure the clarity of messaging, such as doing spot checks on the elevator pitch, for example? Do performance measures flow from the corporate to departmental and individual level? Make sure all messaging is aligned. Enterprise value – Is enterprise value (EV) clear, measured and reported? Is there a consequence to hitting forecasts? The ability to do this can mean the difference between a rear-view EV and a front-view EV. Are margins increasing, thereby demonstrating the effectiveness of scaling systems, processes and people? To ensure that alternative performance measures align with organisational goals and contribute to overall success, companies must clearly define their goals, objectives and values so that employees fully understand and can align them with their own goals, objectives and values.  Alignment and collaboration between different departments and teams within the organisation will ensure alternative performance measures are consistent and mutually reinforcing. Success is more likely if all employees feel they are working towards a common goal aligned with the company’s goals.  Yier Hu Senior Associate in Management Consulting KPMG   There are certain limitations to relying solely on KPIs for performance measurement. Although KPIs provide quantitative metrics to measure performance, they tend to overlook crucial perspectives essential for a comprehensive evaluation.  At KPMG, we recognise the importance of looking beyond KPIs to ensure a thorough approach to performance measurement. The quantitative matrix can fail to account for a series of subjective factors, such as employee behaviour and communication skills. These intangible elements offer valuable insights into employee performance and should be considered alongside quantitative measures. KPMG employs its own separate benchmark for performance measurement, analysing performance from six distinct perspectives: client, people, innovation, financial strength, public trust, quality and development. We advocate for measuring performance from multiple perspectives, recognising the importance of a holistic approach. These alternative measurements assess the benefits an employee brings to clients while also evaluating their contributions to the working environment.  From the people perspective, we focus on how the team studies and improves, how to be a strong mentor to the team, how to build internal communication and culture and how to make everyone feel like a part of the team.  From an innovation perspective, we prioritise building trust with the team and client, supporting the team to identify opportunities, and leading by example. This is crucial and creates long-term value while also enhancing overall satisfaction within the company.  By embracing a multi-dimensional approach to performance measurement, organisations can gain a more nuanced understanding of their employees’ contributions and foster a culture of continuous improvement and growth.

Growing support for extremist and smaller parties across Europe could change the fundamental composition of the new European Parliament, writes Judy Dempsey Elections to the European Parliament (EP) take place every five years. Until recently, the outcomes were predictable. The conservative European People’s Party has dominated with the Progressive Alliance of Socialists, albeit with declining numbers, and Democrats (S&D) coming in second.  Their decline reflects waning support for mainstream parties and an increasing fragmentation of European party systems at national and European levels.  This time round, the EP election is about how the growing support for extremist and smaller parties across Europe could change the composition of the parliament and the EU. Integration is taking a back seat. The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) reckons the major winner in the EP elections will be the radical right Identity and Democracy (ID) group.  “We expect it to gain 40 seats and, with almost 100 MEPs, to emerge as the third largest group in the new parliament,” states ECFR.  The political elites across Europe are nervous as far-right parties in France, Germany, Austria, Portugal, Hungary, Italy and other countries are campaigning hard to strengthen their presence in the EP. And, despite backroom deals and trade-offs taking place inside the EP regarding which countries will become EU commissioners, a different political constellation could upset the way things have been done in the past. The political status quo across Europe is changing. The 2009 global financial crisis dented the belief that the EU was on a permanent trajectory towards prosperity. The wars in Syria that led to well over a million people seeking refuge in Europe in 2015 created divisions inside the EU regarding identity and values. COVID-19 and Russia’s war in Ukraine dented the unity and self-confidence of the EU even further.  More importantly, as EU leaders grapple with these global issues, they must respond to their electorates back home.  Citizens want security, affordable housing, better access to good schools, healthcare and other public services. These services are under pressure as governments, struggling with inflation, weigh up the cost of spending or saving more.  The far-right, nationalist and far-left parties, from the comfort of not being in office, exploit these crises. They want their governments to stop sending weapons to Ukraine; to stop the inflows of asylum seeks or refugees fleeing wars, famine and the effects of climate change. They question the costs of protecting the environment.  In short, the sense of security that characterised most of (Western) Europe after 1945, and even after the reunification of Germany after 1991, is being replaced with an uncertainty that populist and far-right and far-left parties are tapping into.  They challenge the status quo that oversaw the establishment of today’s EU.    If they gain many seats in the EP, they will not want to leave the EU. The financial benefits are too big and support for the EU is still high across the bloc. Instead, they want to change the EU from within.  The issue for these parties is sovereignty. Like Brexit, they want to ‘regain’ their national sovereignty but remain in the EU.  Yet EU membership requires ceding some sovereignty in return for certain benefits. With few exceptions, EU leaders shy from selling those benefits to their citizens. Their reluctance plays into the hands of the far right and the far left.   Judy Dempsey is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at Carnegie Europe and Editor-in-Chief of Strategic Europe

Patrick Gorry delves into the findings of the European Commission’s Market Monitoring Report and revisits the broader context and impact of EU audit reform On 5 March 2024, the European Commission published its triennial Market Monitoring Report, analysing Public Interest Entity (PIE) audit data from 2019 to 2021 across 27 Member States as well as Norway.  A decade after the enactment of European Union (EU) audit reform legislation, the report underscores the persistent market dominance of the main firms in PIE audits, resulting in limited choices for auditors. Background and objectives of EU audit reform The introduction of EU audit reform stemmed from several key drivers and broader contextual factors.  Amidst the global financial crisis of 2008, weaknesses in financial reporting and corporate governance practices were exposed, prompting the EU to prioritise enhancing the integrity and transparency of audit processes.  In 2014, the EU adopted two legislative instruments: Directive 2014/56/EU, which amended Directive 2006/43/EC on the statutory audits of annual accounts and consolidated accounts (the Audit Directive), and Regulation No. 537/2014 on specific requirements regarding the statutory audit of PIEs (the Audit Regulation).  The legislation was led by several key EU institutions, including the EU Commission, EU Parliament, EU Council, European Securities and Marketing Authority (ESMA) and national regulatory authorities in EU Member States.  While the overarching goal was to increase the quality of statutory audits, the four primary objectives set out for the reform were to: Reinforce auditor independence; Promote market competition; Enhance transparency for investors; and Strengthen pan-European supervision. Measurement of success  To evaluate the legislation’s effectiveness, we must examine each objective. Reinforcing auditor independence The legislation mandates the rotation of audit firms for PIEs after a specified period to help address familiarity and independence issues, promote fresh perspectives and improve audit objectivity.  It also restricts audit firms from providing certain non-audit services to their audit clients and imposed limits on fees for such services.  These measures aim to promote independence, prevent conflicts of interest and uphold audit integrity. The legislation has strengthened auditor independence by enforcing mandatory rotation for auditors of PIEs. This has reduced conflicts of interest and enhanced audit objectivity.  Stricter rules regarding non-audit service provision have further bolstered auditor independence, ensuring a focus on high-quality audit services. Mandatory rotation has, however, faced criticism for potential unintended consequences, such as increased costs for companies and concerns about the disruption of longstanding audit relationships.  The Market Monitoring Report revealed limited choice in tenders within the EU audit sector: 16 percent of the tenders had just one bid and 59 percent left PIEs with a limited choice of two to three bids.   In the same report, 51 percent of surveyed audit committees that had undergone auditor changes indicated that it was too early to evaluate the impact of auditor rotation or that no assessment had been made at the time the Commission issued the questionnaire.  Furthermore, 22 percent of audit committees rated the impact of auditor rotation as ‘neutral’, while 12 percent rated it ‘positive’. Promoting market competition The legislation aims to promote market competition and diversity in the audit sector by encouraging smaller audit firms to participate in PIE audits. It is meant to drive innovation, enhance audit quality and offer clients a broader selection of service providers. To achieve this, the legislation mandates regular rotation or tendering of audit engagements to stimulate competition.  It also promotes joint audits to facilitate smaller firms’ involvement and enhance market competition.  Additionally, the legislation aims to increase transparency in the audit market by publishing data on audit firm market share and concentration. Despite these efforts, market concentration remains a challenge. Larger firms continue to dominate, limiting the entry of smaller firms and hindering diversity among service providers.  While the largest firms’ dominance in the number of PIE audits has fallen slightly, they still control a significant portion of the market from a fee perspective.  Interestingly, a growing demand for joint audits indicates a potential shift in the market landscape toward increased diversity. The Market Monitoring Report highlighted the continuing imbalance: In terms of total turnover among audit firms, the largest four firms collectively accounted for approximately 80 percent of the market, consistent with previous reports from the European Commission. Despite a decline in their share of PIE audits, these firms still hold a dominant position, capturing 86 percent of revenue from this source.   Joint audits now account for 16 percent of the PIE market, up from nine percent in 2018. This trend is evident across an increasing number of Member States, with five additional countries adopting joint audits since 2018, bringing the total to 13. Among the six Member States with the most diversified PIE audit markets, joint audits are prevalent in five: France, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland and Greece. The findings relating to European market concentration are replicated in the Irish market. The Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority’s most recently published Annual Audit Programme and Activity Report put the market share of the four largest firms at 87 percent.  Enhancing transparency for investors The legislation mandates increased audit reporting transparency, requiring additional information disclosure.  This increased transparency aims to improve communication between auditors, clients and stakeholders, providing a more comprehensive view of the audit process. The new rules have significantly improved the informational value of audit reports, which is a key success of the legislation.  The mandates have improved communication between auditors, clients and stakeholders, ensuring investors can access relevant information to make informed decisions.  However, challenges remain in effectively communicating audit findings to investors. Discussions are ongoing concerning further enhancements to meet the investors’ evolving needs.  Strengthening pan-European supervision The reform introduced measures to enhance governance and oversight of audit firms, including establishing regulatory bodies and oversight mechanisms to monitor compliance with audit standards. The objective was to improve the consistency and effectiveness of audit supervision across Europe. The legislation has undoubtedly increased cross-border cooperation and information sharing among national competent authorities.  Harmonising audit standards and practices across Member States has aligned regulatory requirements, fostering a unified framework for audit supervision while improving quality and consistency at the European level. However, one of the main challenges of strengthening pan-European supervision is the divergence in implementation of the audit regulation and oversight practices across Member States. Future audit reform EU audit reform represents progress, but there’s still work ahead. While successes are evident, challenges persist, notably the dominance of major audit firms. The 2022 EU Commission study on the impact of the audit reform highlights improvements in harmonising national frameworks. However, it underscores lingering disparities in the transposition, implementation and enforcement of EU audit legislation across countries. The legislation has profoundly impacted audit firms and the profession by reshaping regulatory requirements and enhancing independence, quality standards and transparency within the EU.  Yet, ongoing evaluation is necessary to ensure continued progress in the improvement audit quality, transparency and governance. Recent high-profile accounting scandals, such as the Wirecard bankruptcy in Germany, underscore the need for further reform, especially amid increasing demand for sustainability reporting and digital audits.  With a new EU Commission and Parliament taking office imminently, however, further legislative developments are unlikely in the near term.  On the other hand, the Market Monitoring Report identifies potential challenges, including inflationary pressures, rising interest rates, geopolitical instability and the growing use of data analysis tools and artificial intelligence, which will require attention sooner or later.  One thing appears certain – what audit will look like in another 10 years will dramatically differ from what it looks like today. Whether an EU Audit Reform 2.0 is one of key change drivers remains to be seen. Patrick Gorry is a Partner in the Audit and Assurance Financial Services Group of Mazars Ireland

John Hansen talks us through his career as a Chartered Accountant and new role as Chair of the Institute of Directors in Northern Ireland John Hansen is the newly appointed Non-Executive Chair of the Institute of Directors in Northern Ireland. Formerly Partner in Charge at KPMG in Belfast and KPMG’s international representative to KPMG Greece for two years, Hansen is also currently Non-Executive Chair of Titanic Quarter Limited. He sits on the business funding committee of Invest NI and holds directorships in several other companies. Tell us a bit about yourself and why you became a Chartered Accountant?  I grew up in Belfast. My father worked at the Ulster Museum and my mother at the Royal Victoria Hospital. I am married to Linda and have two daughters and four grandchildren. I studied economics with accountancy at Queen’s University but wasn’t really sure at that time what I wanted to do after graduating. I drifted towards accountancy because people told me it was a versatile qualification that could provide a solid grounding for lots of different business-related careers and would give me options. They were right!  I took part in the graduate recruitment process in my final year at university and opted to join Coopers and Lybrand, which would eventually morph into PwC.  I started out working in insolvency for a year or so, which I really enjoyed. Then I requested a move so I could gain more accounts experience and was sent to Omagh for a year – another great experience. After that, I returned to insolvency and stuck with it for the rest of my career, eventually moving into forensic work, which became my greatest interest. I went on to head up Coopers and Lybrand’s Insolvency Division before joining the Industrial Development Board for Northern Ireland (now Invest NI) on secondment. The secondment opportunity gave me fantastic consultancy and commercial experience and became a real turning point for me professionally.  I was able to expand my skill set significantly, learning so much about business and what makes companies ‘tick’. I also met some wonderful people during that time, some I still count as friends today.  Did you have a career plan starting out? Has your career unfolded as you anticipated? I wouldn’t say I had a career plan as such. I wanted to pass my exams – and I did, apart from one small hiccup, which I put down to too much partying! – and then see where opportunities might take me. Work life led me down the insolvency and forensics path, and my career sort of developed from there. I recall when I was approached with an offer to join McClure Watters by the firm’s two partners. The idea of moving from a safe environment to a start-up division was daunting, but I decided to accept and believe it was from there I developed a reputation as a leading insolvency practitioner. Due to the firm’s relatively small size (compared with the Big Four), the really big jobs didn’t tend to come my way. So, when I was approached to join KPMG in Belfast to head up its restructuring and forensics division, I again opted to make the move.  It wasn’t an easy decision from a personal perspective. I had a wonderful time working with McClure Watters, but my time with KPMG turned out to be equally fulfilling, and I ultimately became Partner in Charge of KPMG in Northern Ireland. On retirement from that position, I was approached to take on the role of KPMG International’s representative to KPMG Greece for two-and-a-half years during the Covid pandemic. Some of the biggest challenges for me in my career have been the difficult decisions to leave existing roles and move to new organisations. It wasn’t easy. Every move involved serious soul-searching, but with hindsight, each move propelled my career forward.  What is your proudest achievement during your tenure as Partner in Charge of KPMG in Northern Ireland? I was Partner in Charge at KPMG in Northern Ireland from 2015 to 2019 and, during that time, we moved the business to fantastic new premises in the Soloist Building at Lanyon Place while also delivering business growth of over 30 percent.  Relocating to the new office really reinvigorated our people and allowed me, in part, to leave a legacy for those who continue to work with KPMG in Northern Ireland now and in the future. Among the people you have worked with, who has been your biggest inspiration?  I remember my first meeting with John Ross, my boss at Coopers and Lybrand. He asked me a technical question, I answered it and he then enquired as to whether I had checked all relevant legislation, guidance notes and checklists before arriving at my response. There was just one technical note I had overlooked. John told me to go away and research the subject matter “properly”.  My answer to the issue remained unchanged, but this time around, John accepted it because I had done the research “properly”! Never again in my time with him did I make the same mistake. Since then, my approach has always been to leave no stone unturned in arriving at any decision. Is there any career advice you would offer your younger self if you could? Do whatever you can to surround yourself with good people, whether you are starting out (which can be challenging, as you tend to inherit people at this point in your career) or when building a team.  I have been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with fantastic people and that has only ever benefited me.  It is important to be transparent and open in your work and to operate with integrity at all times. Your reputation is everything.  I have always worked hard to build lasting relationships and have always picked up the phone to answer calls – you just never know who might be calling!  What I’ve learned is that the smallest leads can develop into the biggest assignments. I have also tended to deal with what I can see in front of me – viewing each ask as a number of small, manageable tasks, even when others may have viewed it as a major challenge. As a result, throughout the years, I hope I have developed a reputation as someone who can solve difficult problems and who is honest, trustworthy and direct. I consider myself commercially minded and have always had a reasonable amount of common sense (I hope!).   The experience I gained in my career, together with the esteem in which the Chartered Accountant brand is held, are the reasons I believe I’ve been approached to take on non-executive roles in the years since leaving KPMG.  In your experience, how has the role of the accountant evolved since you first joined the profession? The accountancy profession has become more regulated over the years and accountants today tend to work in silos more than might have been the case when I started my career, driven by considerably more lines of business. With the emergence of new service lines and increasing public and professional accountability, the role of the accountant – in Northern Ireland, in particular – has become more challenging. I would view the whole area of risk management for accountants in a very different light today than I did when I started out. What prompted you to become involved in non-executive directorships? My first directorship was with Wilsanco Plastics in Dungannon, Co. Tyrone. I had worked with the owner previously and he got in touch.  I remember the conversation well. I said, “You want me to help you and you will pay me for something I have never done before?” and he said, ‘I trust you,’ – end of conversation!” I have been Non-Executive Chair of Titanic Quarter Limited for close to three years, working with two great executive directors pioneering sustainable development at Belfast’s Maritime Mile. We have an ambition to increase investment to over £2 billion. I am now also taking on the role of Chair of the Institute of Directors (IoD) in Northern Ireland. I have been on the committee of the IoD in Northern Ireland for four years and I am looking forward to my new role. I find non-executive work very enjoyable. I don’t need to be ‘full time’, and I enjoy the interaction with executive teams.  I can focus on strategy, relationships and the bigger picture – knowing the detail, but without having to get into the execution of that detail.  Being able to advise and challenge based on the experiences I have gained over the years really allows me to add value.  Tell us about the work of the Institute of Directors in Northern Ireland? The Institute of Directors in Northern Ireland has a small team of great people delivering big things, led by Kirsty McManus and Heather White who are fantastic.  We represent our members’ views on policy, economic and business activity in Northern Ireland.  We offer great networking opportunities covering topics like governance, legislative and governmental developments, which are essential to ensuring that those who hold directorships do the best job possible.  We take ‘the pulse’ of our membership and represent their views, needs and priorities in the political arena.  We also offer professional development opportunities and a pathway to achieving Chartered Director status.  Gordon Milligan, the outgoing Chair of the Institute of Directors in Northern Ireland, carried out fantastic work in developing the organisation during his tenure.  I want to continue to grow our membership and continue to develop the fantastic training and certification opportunities we offer our members. Ultimately, we are all about connecting, influencing and developing. 

New technologies are transforming the way accountants work and the profession must adapt to and embrace this sea change to foster future success, writes Conor Flanagan How people interact with technology is changing as it becomes increasingly powerful, and our expectations of what it can and should deliver continue to rise.  In our profession, the risk does not come down to a lack of technological literacy or the complexity of new accounting technologies; the risk is that we might ignore the wave of change sweeping through the profession.  If you ride the wave, however small, you will grow and develop with the changing industry. But ignore the wave, and you risk being left behind in the shallow waters of a pre-digital world. Investing in the future Digital transformation should not be viewed as a cost, but rather an investment in the future of your business – an investment that can improve processes and ensure your business is at the cutting edge of technology and the benefits that come with it.  A successful digital transformation can unleash the potential of your business and your team by freeing your time to focus on strategic and value-added tasks, ultimately driving growth. We are all aware of digital transformations that have gone wrong, however, costing some organisations dearly, so what measures can companies take to ensure success? The key to success starts long before the implementation itself begins and relies on: Successful system selection;  A clear understanding of existing business processes;  Key user/management buy-in;  Selecting the correct partner;  A willingness to embrace change; and Understanding your data. Taking time before implementation to focus on the above will help ensure you enter the transformation prepared for an optimal outcome.  This will not only result in a smooth implementation, but by understanding your data and your business requirements, you will also be able to see the true potential of your new solution and help drive your business forward. At the recent Chartered Accountants Technology Conference, held in January 2024, we had the pleasure of hearing from two Irish organisations that recently underwent significant digital transformations.  We heard their stories, alongside the lessons they learned from their own implementation projects and the benefits each delivered. Glanbia’s HANA solution First, we heard from Eoin Butler, Finance Systems Centre of Excellence Lead with Glanbia plc, who shared the global nutrition group’s experience implementing the SAP S/4HANA solution.  S/4HANA is a ready-to-run cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. With operations in 32 countries and annual group revenue exceeding $5.4 billion, Glanbia needed a scalable solution with proven capacity to handle the needs of a complex global business.  The vision at the outset, Butler explained, was to “digitise the Glanbia business to drive value”.  It was agreed early on that a brownfield approach would be used for the engagement. This is usually the case if the existing system has been in use for some time and may require significant modifications or integrations during the migration.  In Glanbia’s case, Butler noted that the brownfield approach was one of the key reasons for the project’s success. Although a complex global business, Glanbia opted to work with just one single global instance of SAP ERP Central Component (ECC).  Because the project involved significant customisations and integrations with Glanbia’s existing system, these requirements were considered as a key aspect of the solution selection process.  Already a SAP customer for over 20 years, Glanbia opted to stay within the SAP ecosystem and migrate to a newer version of its existing solution. A significant challenge that emerged at an early stage in the project was the data already held on the existing system. An engagement was required to cleanse and fully understand this data before migration could take place.  Understanding your master data, and multiple data sources, is key to ensuring a successful migration or implementation. Taking time to understand and cleanse this data put Glanbia in a much better position to be able to improve reporting and efficiency.  Finally, Butler pointed out that any implementation on this scale cannot be done alone. A strong internal team, hardware and software partners, as well as helpful buy-in from SAP resulted in a successful implementation for Glanbia. Although there were benefits in finance, such as upgrades to the credit function, the new general ledger module within the SAP solution and profitability analysis, most of the benefits were technological and under the hood, laying the foundation to make Glanbia tech-ready for years to come. Cullen Cleaning Services Cullen Cleaning Services (CCS) is a commercial contract cleaning company operating across Europe. Headquartered in Dublin, its clients include household names such as Primark, River Island and H&M.  At this year’s Chartered Accountants Ireland Technology Conference, Brian Flannery, Chief Financial Officer with CCS, outlined the company’s experience implementing a Dynamics 365 Business Central solution with a business intelligence (BI) warehouse reporting solution on top. Flannery covered the evolving role of today’s finance leader in such a project, which involves leading people through digital change.  In the case of CCS, Flannery noted that the implementation had “accelerated the digital transformation in [the] business”.  Pivotal role of finance leaders The top priorities for CFOs set out in a 2024 Executive Priorities Survey by management consultancy Gartner included: transformation; improving finance metrics; leading change management; and  improving the finance function.  As accountants and finance leaders, we have the skillset to deliver on these priorities. More than that, there is an expectation that we play a central role in leading digital transformation and driving high standards in systems and reporting. Before its migration, CCS had a mainly paper-based solution, requiring team members to enter the same data multiple times while also relying heavily on Microsoft Excel for data manipulation and reporting. It was identified that the move to the cloud would help reduce manual labour by integrating with other solutions. Ultimately, integration improved the accuracy of the company’s data, thereby facilitating greater collaboration between departments. Integrating previously isolated data sources and reducing data entry time provided deeper insight to company management, improving the speed and quality of decision-making. Flannery emphasised the importance of treating system selection and partner selection as two distinct processes.  Although the first partner you speak with may have the solution that meets your needs, it is still worth talking to additional partners.  The partner you choose will become a key player in your implementation journey and, as Flannery put it during his presentation, “becomes an additional employee”.   Like a disruptive employee, a disruptive implementation partner can cause damage that no amount of planning or preparation can help you recover from. Finally, after ‘go live’, Brian stressed the importance of taking time to conduct a review: has the project been a success, and have your goals been met? It is quite often the case that system implementations go live even though parts of the team using it still have unmet requirements.  Review and improve It is important to track additional requirement gaps that arise during the implementation and address them after the new system has gone live as ‘phase two’ of the project.  Scope creep is a looming risk for every digital project; focusing on the key deliverables and timelines is paramount.  The additional scope should be noted and readdressed after the go-live date, if not business critical, because you are never truly finished with digital transformation. So, where is CCS? The company has a fully integrated solution using modern Application Programming Interface (API) integrations. It relies heavily on Optical Character Recognition to automate the accounts payable and data entry processes.  In addition to a Business Central solution, CCS has implemented a full BI reporting solution, sitting on top of the ERP solution and assisting with the preparation of management accounts.  This has taken one day off the month-end close process – an additional day for finance staff to focus on other value-added tasks. Focus on people After reviewing the project, Flannery noted some key takeaways he would keep in mind for any future transformation projects.  The key point to note here is that all these takeaways are people-focused – not technical-focused. For a transformation to be successful, it will be entirely dependent on people.  These systems work. There are thousands of references and case studies worldwide attesting to this, but whether your solution works for you depends entirely on how you approach soft skills and the implementation process itself. The four key points to remember are: Do not under-resource; Communicate clearly and thoroughly; Remember, change does not equal transformation; and Celebrate the wins. To finish, Flannery shared a quote from Albert Einstein: “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence.” Reluctance to embrace technology and change will be the number one occupational hazard facing accountants over the next decade, but it will be people and relationships that drive the successful implementation of new technology.  Future leaders may not intimately understand this technology, but they do understand the importance of embracing a change mindset and working with their colleagues and partners to achieve it.    Conor Flanagan is ERP Lead with Storm Technology and a member of the Technology Committee of Chartered Accountants Ireland

Cormac Lucey outlines his suggestions for an election manifesto that, he believes, would protect and sustain the Irish economy into the future  This June, voters in the Republic will go to the polls to vote in local and European elections. What would represent a sensible pro-business agenda to promote in these elections? Here are my ideas: 1. Tackling skewed public debate While media debate understandably focuses on public questions that often revolve around public spending, the simple fact of the matter is that far more people work in the private sector than in the public sector.  CSO data indicates that, at the end of 2023, just 20 percent of employees worked in the public sector. Given that the private sector generates our income and our wealth, why are its concerns so overlooked in public debate?  2. Cutting down on public spending High public spending, even through the exchequer, is heavily dependent on tax revenues from the multinational sector. My estimates suggest that in 2022, just over half of Ireland’s total tax take came directly (corporation tax) and indirectly (PAYE, VAT, etc.) from the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector.  Even though some of these FDI tax revenue streams may prove temporary, the Irish State has entered ongoing spending commitments based on the assumption that they will continue indefinitely.  3. Promoting indigenous business Economic and commercial policy should be primarily directed at promoting the indigenous sector. Our current national prosperity depends on revenue streams from FDI that are ultimately controlled by people outside the State. We should use those streams to invest in our future and build up our economic capacity.  4. Holding public officials to account The primary job of elected political officials is to hold unelected public officials to account. The recent RTÉ saga has, at its heart, been a story about the failure of those who were supposedly directing the organisation to adequately hold executive management to account. Was the lack of managerial accountability at RTÉ an exception or the rule? I fear it was the rule. 5. Improving State performance Why is State performance so lamentably weak across so many important areas? When we examine the public management of key national issues – such as housing, health, crime and immigration – our leaders demonstrate powerlessness and ineffectiveness.  Confronted by a complex web of constraints – managerial, legal, administrative and economic – public service leaders have repeatedly displayed a worrying incapacity. 6. Reducing public sector pay Why are Irish public servants paid so much? In the fourth quarter of 2023, public sector workers were paid, on average, €35.08 per hour. This was 32.6 percent more per hour than the €26.45 their private sector counterparts received.  These figures are before we take into account the gold-plated pensions public sector workers get. 7. Curbing inflated costs Ireland was named the most expensive country in the EU for goods and services by Eurostat in June 2023, with prices a staggering 46 percent higher than the average across the bloc. How can the State address the high costs of the Irish economy if it is the direct cause of high costs? The focus of Irish politics needs to change. It seems to me that our political class is looking in the wrong direction. Rather than investing in the future, it is focused on short-term results. A new approach is needed. *Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column published in the April/May 2024 issue of Accountancy Ireland are the author’s own. The views of contributors to Accountancy Ireland may differ from official Institute policies and do not reflect the views of Chartered Accountants Ireland, its Council, its committees, or the editor.  Cormac Lucey is an economic commentator and lecturer at Chartered Accountants Ireland

The Gender Balance Working Group, a sub group of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee, focuses on issues related to gender equality, advocates for and supports the female members of Chartered Accountants Ireland The need for advocates for women in the Irish workforce stretches right back to the marriage bar in the Republic of Ireland.  The marriage bar required women to leave the labour force once they were married and the consequences of this legislation have lived long in the Irish psyche, affecting all women.  As Ireland strives to achieve greater equality for women, the Gender Balance Working Group is ideally placed to advocate for female Chartered Accountants in the profession. As a voluntary member-led working group, our personal and professional experience plays a central role in shaping our ongoing dialogue.  Raising awareness of the need for equitable opportunities for women – including equitable access to employment, compensation and development opportunities – comes at a pivotal moment, following the Government’s introduction of gender pay reporting metrics designed to close the gender pay gap in Ireland.  The Gender Balance Working Group supports Chartered Accountants Ireland’s recognition of International Women’s Day (IWD), celebrated annually on 8 March both nationally and internationally.  This year’s IWD celebrations marked the launch of the Women’s Mentoring Circle, an exciting new career support service, providing a space for women in the Chartered Accountancy profession to connect and collaborate. The first Mentoring Circle will take place at Chartered Accountants House, 47–49 Pearse Street, Dublin 2, at 5pm on Thursday, 18 April. The Gender Balance Working Group also seeks to address issues ranging from the need to break down biases impeding women’s ability to climb the career ladder, to the challenges women face when trying to balance professional and personal responsibilities and ambitions. Ultimately, we want to do all we can to improve the representation of female diversity in the Irish workforce.  Our working group has run a series of events, both in-person and virtual, inviting female Chartered Accountants to share their experiences: why they have chosen the profession; the career challenges they have faced; and their advice for the next generation coming behind them.  A recurring series in Accountancy Ireland called ‘My Story So Far’ continues to feature the stories and insights of a range of established and successful female Chartered Accountants. Its aim is to demonstrate to others that they should never feel as if they are taking on challenges in isolation.  The Gender Balance Working Group will continue to listen, and respond to, the needs, views and priorities of the female members of Chartered Accountants Ireland.  Equality is a journey, not a destination. It is important that the work this group is doing today sets a precedent for the next group of advocates to take on and advance further.  To find out more about the Gender Balance Working Group and other D&I resources, visit: charteredaccountants.ie/diversity-and-inclusion  

Maria O’Connell talks to Accountancy Ireland about how, through resilience, adaptability and the support of a strong female network, she has achieved career success I decided to become a Chartered Accountant when I was 16 after reading an accountancy career brochure. I didn’t know any Chartered Accountants at that stage and my school didn’t teach business subjects.  When I was growing up in Cork in the 1980s, career opportunities were scarce and often viewed through the lens of emigration. Qualifying as a Chartered Accountant seemed to offer an exciting career path with many opportunities, travel options and income security.  I qualified with PwC in 1989. The foundational skills underpinning my career – business management, communication, problem solving and technical knowledge – were laid during these years.  The Chartered Accountants Ireland training programme nurtured a highly transferable and versatile skillset, which has been integral to my career success.  Drawing on my bank of achievements  Keen to travel, I moved to PwC in Milan, Italy, in 1989. I learned to speak and work in Italian, integrated into a new working environment and experienced a beautiful country, people and culture. Then, in 1992, I interviewed for a junior finance role with JP Morgan in Milan but was offered the role of Bond Settlements Manager. I had no experience working in the Italian government bond market – a prerequisite for such a role.  However, the Director of Operations at JP Morgan in Milan was a Chartered Accountant and understood the value of my training and related skills. He could see an alternative approach to filling the position.  I took a chance and moved into this entirely unknown world. The job was exciting, challenging, fascinating and demanding. I loved every minute of it. My role at JP Morgan was the start of an exciting career journey, leading me to other incredibly fulfilling financial services roles in Italy and Ireland – roles that rarely followed the traditional accountancy career pathway. When I returned to Dublin in 1994, I focused my job search on companies in the developing International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) and that took me into the asset management industry. Always curious and genuinely interested in people, I continually seek new challenges and opportunities to add value and learn. These traits have propelled me to leadership positions covering strategic, business-critical, transformational and governance initiatives in global-facing organisations, such as Bank of Ireland Securities Services, Bank of Ireland Asset Management, Irish Funds and State Street Global Advisors. I have also been extremely privileged to work with highly talented people with vision and foresight who have always focused on my abilities, experience and potential. These role models provided me with precious opportunities for further development. Of course, I also encountered hurdles as I navigated my way, but every hard-earned success added to my internal bank of achievements, which I draw on to this day when my confidence falters or a challenge seems insurmountable. I remind myself routinely that I can do anything I put my mind to. As women, I think we often tend to focus on what we can’t do rather than what we can. Drawing strength from our bank of achievements will always direct us to our ‘can-dos’. Aligning my career with my life priorities  By 2004, I had three children aged six, eight and 10, and a fourth on the way. I decided to take a career break to focus on my family.  This decision was tough as I had invested so much in my career. Despite having a husband who shared the family workload and a flexible employer, I felt I was always letting someone down – my children, colleagues or clients.  Every family is different and we make our choices based on our unique set of circumstances. My decision to take a career break at that time was the choice that worked best for my family and me. Throughout my career, I have always tried to align my career with my life priorities. This choice was one of many steps on that alignment pathway.  Rebooting my career When I decided to return to work in 2013, my first port of call was Karin Lanigan, Head of Members Experience at Chartered Accountants Ireland, who gave me practical advice and guidance. I was lucky to secure a place on the first Reboot Your Career Programme, run by the Institute to support those returning to the workplace.  The course was invaluable in providing me with the confidence, toolkit and ready-made network to kick off my job search and set me on the next stage of my career journey.  It was not easy to return to the workplace after a nine-year break. Colleagues had passed me out on the promotion ladder, and the world of financial services had changed significantly following the financial crisis of 2008. I faced a very steep learning curve.  I was determined to learn as much as possible, however, concentrating on what I could achieve rather than on others who had moved ahead of me.  All the traits that had propelled my career forward in the past, resurfaced and I was able to move forward again in a senior leadership role at the EU headquarters of one of the largest asset managers in the world.  My advice to anyone rebooting their career would be to leverage the supports available from Chartered Accountants Ireland, your own network and to tap into your existing bank of achievements.  Don’t compare your career with others; focus on your own motivations, what you want to achieve and then go for it. The power of the female network As a trainee Chartered Accountant, many of my new female friendships evolved quickly into a highly supportive and powerful network in which experiences, challenges and solutions were openly shared.  This precious network of women, built up over many years, now extends to diverse roles and disciplines beyond the accountancy profession as well as different generations and geographies.  Building positive relationships as we move throughout our lives ensures that we stay connected with each other – and that we are not merely connections on a list.  None of us signed up to this network ‘overtly’, but we all understand the unwritten rule that anytime we reach out for advice, we will find support. Our natural empathy as women, innate ability to connect with and learn from each other and openness to share experiences are powerful tools in driving and embedding change. More women are holding senior decision-making roles, yet we are still navigating structures designed to cater to a single gender order.  Our networks are critical in harnessing our collective strengths as we and our male colleagues reimagine more equitable, diverse and inclusive structures.  I am grateful to be part of a network of diverse, insightful, talented and kind women. Our networks are intrinsic drivers of positive change and sustain us through tough times. Key lessons as a Chartered Accountant My career as a Chartered Accountant has far surpassed anything my 16-year-old self could have dreamed of. A kaleidoscope of experiences has gifted me these key lessons: Seek out those exciting, diverse, non-traditional roles. Don’t let others discourage you.  Stay curious, always looking for new challenges and new things to learn. Draw strength from your bank of achievements. You can do anything you want to.  Periodically assess how your career aligns with your life priorities. Don’t be afraid to make changes when they fall out of sync. Focus on what you want to achieve and what motivates you. Don’t compare your career with those of others. Value, nurture and leverage your female network. It is a precious resource.  Enjoy the journey. It will take you to amazing places. Maria O’Connell  B.Comm., DPA, FCA, is a consultant specialising in board governance and business strategy. She was formerly Vice President of Business Strategy and Governance at State Street Global Advisors Europe Limited

Sustainability credentials are big business in 2024, but not all are genuine. Dee Moran looks at ongoing EU efforts to curb greenwashing through regulation Over the last number of years, investors, consumers and regulators have put companies under increasing pressure to be ‘green’.  Being green is big business. Consumers will pay a premium for sustainable products and investors are increasingly looking to invest in companies that are perceived as sustainable. Banks also want to lend to businesses showing green credentials.   This desire to be ‘green’ has, unfortunately, led to some entities not being wholly truthful about, or exaggerating, their green credentials. So-called ‘greenwashing’ has become so widespread that many stakeholders – including investors, regulators, consumers and company directors – are calling for action to curb it.  The latest PwC Investor Survey, published in January 2024, included responses from 345 investors and analysts in 30 countries – including 38 who invested in, or covered, companies in Ireland.   Ninety-seven percent of this 38-strong cohort believe that corporate reporting on sustainability performance contains unsupported claims. Globally, the corresponding figure stands at 94 percent.  The characteristics of greenwashing So, what is greenwashing? There is no global definition of ‘greenwashing’ but, in essence, it involves misleading consumers by giving a false impression of a product’s environmental impact or benefits.  It can be unintentional. One example is the use of vague and unspecific language, such as describing a product as ‘eco-friendly’ due to its use of recycled packaging while not conducting any actual research into the sustainability, or otherwise, of the raw materials used in that product.  Or, it can be intentional greenwashing, such as the Volkswagen scandal, whereby the German car manufacturer was found to have intentionally rigged its emissions testing to deliver greener results.  When this came to light in 2015, Volkswagen’s share price fell by 20 percent, wiping more than €13 billion off its capitalisation.  Greenwashing has become so prevalent that Planet Tracker, the UK-based sustainable finance think tank, has identified six distinct types: greencrowding; greenhushing; greenlabelling; greenlighting; greenrinsing; and greenshifting. Greencrowding is where an entity adopts a group initiative, such as forming an alliance, and then progresses at the pace of the slowest participant. While collaboration with other entities in a similar industry to create goals for sustainability initiatives can be beneficial, joint statements need to be clear about what will be achieved. Otherwise, tracking progress can become challenging. Greenhushing is where entities deliberately underplay, under-report or hide their environmental, social and governance (ESG) or green credentials to evade scrutiny because, for example, their sustainability practice might not be as impressive as claimed. Greenlabelling is where entities call a product or service ‘green’ or ‘sustainable’ but there is no evidence to support the assertion. Greenlighting is where an entity focuses its marketing on a particularly green feature of its operations or products, diverting attention from other damaging environmental practices. Greenrinsing is where entities modify their ESG targets before they are achieved, thereby avoiding being held accountable for, or actually achieving, their goals. Greenshifting is when entities imply that the consumer is at fault and shift the blame on to them. The potential effects of greenwashing The effects of greenwashing vary from fairly harmless to potentially very serious.  The more consumers hear about greenwashing, the less likely they are to believe any green claims made by companies and organisations as is evidenced in the PwC Investor Survey, outlined above.  Consumers purchase sustainable goods and services to play their part in protecting the environment, but greenwashing disrupts this, and consumers become cynical.  Furthermore, entities engaging in greenwashing tactics potentially harm not just themselves, but all other entities engaging with sustainable practices and particularly those companies with genuine green products or operations. Once trust is lost, it is hard to regain.   EU actions to mitigate greenwashing Regulation to prevent greenwashing has, until recently, been limited. Much of the enforcement has been performed by advertising regulators who have moved to ban misleading greenwashing ads, for example.  In the UK, Unilever placed an advertisement claiming that Persil laundry detergent was ‘kinder to our planet’ but didn’t explain how and, consequently, it was banned by the Advertising Standards Authority on the basis that the claim was unsubstantiated.  The Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) received 28 complaints about a sponsored article in which a celebrity referred to the use of the Land Rover Defender as “planting the seeds of a more sustainable life”.  This was held to be in breach of the ASAI Code on the basis that “evidence demonstrating that the vehicle justified being associated with sustainability claims, albeit qualified, has not been submitted.”   Where the article asserted that “mild hybrid tech cuts down on the amount of fuel,” the ASAI found that this was likely to mislead consumers due to the omission of a comparison with any other mode of transport. The ASAI then concluded that the claim should not be used again in its current format. The European Union (EU) is very focused on reducing greenwashing and lending transparency to corporate behaviour. Some of the regulations that have been – or are in the process of being – approved are outlined below. Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation The EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), introduced in 2021, requires financial market participants and financial advisors to evaluate and disclose sustainability-related data and policies at entity, service and product level.   The aim is to provide standardisation of the language used and to categorise investment products by how sustainable they are. Disclosure requirements are applied to each category.    Under the SFDR, all funds are classified into one of three categories: Article 6 Funds need not incorporate any sustainability information into the investment process (for example, oil producers). Article 8 Funds should promote environmental characteristics and have good governance practices.   Article 9 Funds should make a positive impact on society or the environment through sustainable investment and have a non-financial objective at the core of their offering.  In its February 2024 Regulatory and Supervisory Outlook Report, the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) referred to “a new phenomenon of understating how green a product is, known as ‘green bleaching’”.  Green bleaching can occur where a fund management company does not want to risk non-compliance with the more onerous requirements of Article 9.  Therefore, it categorises a fund under a category with less onerous requirements, which results in inaccurate disclosures.   The CBI report also highlighted one of the priority initiatives in addressing climate change and net-zero transition as “scrutinising and mitigating the risk of greenwashing in the promotion and sale of financial products to investors”. The EU Taxonomy Regulation The EU Taxonomy Regulation is a classification system establishing a list of environmentally sustainable economic activities; essentially, a common language for everyone.  It establishes six environmental objectives: Climate change mitigation; Climate change adaptation; Sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources; Transition to a circular economy; Pollution prevention and control; and Protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems.  In order to be considered aligned with the taxonomy, an entity must adhere to at least one of the environmental objectives and the related technical criteria, do no significant harm to the other objectives and meet minimum safeguards regarding human and labour rights. Disclosure obligations will apply from 1 January 2024 with respect to the 2023 financial year. In theory, this should create security for investors and help companies become more climate friendly. It should also prevent market fragmentation – something that has caused issues in the past. Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive In terms of reporting, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) – which commenced on 1 January 2024 for certain companies – is focused on improving transparency, particularly with the disclosures required to be made under the directive.  While it has not been stated that the CSRD will specifically prevent greenwashing, it will make greenwashing more difficult, given the significant requirements of the directive. These include the following: The framework underpinning the CSRD is the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), which is a set of 12 standards covering ESG metrics. Entities will have to report on their ESG metrics, as will their competitors, making information more comparable and therefore more transparent and less prone to exaggeration, omission or suppression. The requirement to complete a double materiality assessment whereby a company must consider its impact, not only from a financial perspective, but also from the perspective of its impact on people and the environment. • There are a significant number of additional requirements over and above those required under the Non-Financial Reporting Directive or the voluntary frameworks, both quantitative and qualitative, which will leave less room for ambiguity and the individual interpretation of sustainability information. Mandatory independent assurance of company ESG information will be required under the CSRD. Initially, this will be limited assurance, but it is expected that reasonable assurance will be required by 2028. Therefore, companies will need to ensure that they have in place appropriate processes and controls – similar to financial reporting – so that they are in a position to comply with the new regulatory obligations. The requirement for external assurance should, above all, bring with it the trust investors have been looking for. As a single framework, the CSRD will bring increased comparability to ESG reporting, greatly assisted by the mandatory electronic XBRL tagging of the report. Investors will now be able to compare information provided by companies and make investment decisions based on this information, which will be more granular in nature, thereby offering a higher level of detail.  Draft Green Claims Directive The Green Claims Directive is the latest piece of regulation introduced by the EU to tackle greenwashing and is an important step in increasing transparency and trust in relation to environmental claims.  The European Commission first proposed this directive in March 2023 following the publication of a joint report by the European Parliament’s environment and internal market committees.  The report followed a European study in 2020, which found that more than 53 percent of environmental claims in the EU were misleading, vague or unfounded. The proposals for the Green Claims Directive include: Setting out detailed rules on substantiating and communicating explicit environmental claims; Ensuring that companies carry out an assessment to substantiate environmental claims on a host of requirements – if the claim concerns the whole product or a part of it, for example, reporting greenhouse gases offsets in a transparent way and looking at all significant environmental aspects and impacts; Potential penalties, such as a temporary exclusion from public procurement tenders or fines of at least four percent of annual turnover. The directive is due to come into force on a gradual basis, depending on company size, from 1 January 2026. Proactive approach All of these developments are very positive and demonstrate the EU’s proactive approach to regulating against greenwashing. The European Parliament’s rapporteur for the Environment Committee, Cyrus Engerer, has said, “it is time to put an end to greenwashing. Our agreement on this (Green Claims) text ends the proliferation of deceitful green claims which have tricked consumers for far too long.”   Regulation will work only if there is enforcement, however. Individual countries need to ensure that they have the processes in place to punish those who do not adhere to the regulations. Dee Moran is Professional Accountancy Lead with Chartered Accountants Ireland

Embracing a positive perspective is a key ingredient for personal wellbeing. Aaron O’Connell asks you to consider whether you’re a glass half full or glass half empty person, and he provides a useful exercise to help you view life with a different filter and to boost your well-being. Some questions for you to consider Do you have tendency to see things positively where you are focusing on the good things that happen around you, or do you focus on the negatives, those obstacles and problems you face?  If you have a to-do list and you manage to successfully complete 19 out of 20 things, are you happy about the long list of things you’ve accomplished, or are you upset about that one thing that you didn’t get to finish? It’s your choice A hundred good things (little highlights) and one bad thing (a little low-light) might happen during your day. You have the opportunity to appreciate and remember all the good things, or to focus only on the bad things. You can look at life through a different filter. Embracing a positive perspective One useful exercise I recommend to the athletes, students and business people I work with, and indeed practice myself every night at bedtime, is to recall seven positive things that happen during the day. It’s something I picked up from internationally acclaimed sport psychologist, Dr. Terry Orlick. Before you sleep, look back over your day chronologically and highlight those good things that happened. They don’t have to be major events. Little highlights will do. “I had a lovely breakfast.” “The sun was shining today.” “I got a call from a good friend.” “I went for a lovely walk today.” You could begin this exercise by recalling three positives and increase by one each time after a few days. Look for different ones each day. As Dr. Orlick would say, it’s like “using a yellow magic marker to highlight all the good things you do, see, hear, taste, feel, and learn in a day.” Even better, write them down in a journal or on your phone. You’ll get a buzz out of revisiting and re-reading these when you’ve had a tough day. Using a different filter and living with a positive perspective is like becoming your own best friend. It’ll change your outlook in life for the good. Challenge yourself to look for seven highlights a day. Once you start looking for them and finding them, your day and your life immediately become better. You’ll experience a boost in wellbeing along with an increase in gratitude. Aaron O’Connell is the owner of Mind Your Performance. He provides consultancy and training in mental skills, mental well-being, and performance enhancement for the education, business, and sports sector. Thrive is the Institute’s dedicated wellbeing hub which provides emotional and practical support to our members, students, and their family members for life. Should you find yourself in a difficult situation, the team at Thrive can help steer you through life’s ups and downs.  Talk to us today on mobile: (353) 86 024 3294 or email us.  

Niall May, the new Managing Partner of RSM Ireland, outlines his strategic plans for the firm at a pivotal point in its evolution Niall May, FCA, was appointed Managing Partner of RSM Ireland in January following the recent announcement of a strategic investment in the firm by RSM UK. A partner and Head of Audit at RSM Ireland for close to 10 years, May has more than 25 years’ experience in professional services. He succeeds John Glennon, one of RSM Ireland’s founding partners, who will remain with the firm as a board member and Head of Strategy. Here, May talks to Accountancy Ireland about RSM Ireland’s plans to accelerate investment in service offerings and increase its share of the middle market. Can you give us an overview of RSM Ireland as it stands currently? We have 200 employees and ambitions to grow our headcount significantly in the short term.  We are an independent member of RSM International, the world’s sixth largest network of assurance, tax and consulting firms, and our business is centred on three key service lines – audit, tax and consulting, with a particular focus on middle market businesses, both locally and globally.  We work with domestic and international clients across a range of sectors, particularly life sciences, financial services, public sector, technology and media and telecommunications.  More than 65 percent of our audit and tax clients are active globally. Key for us is delivering innovative services to help them achieve their business goals.  The strength of RSM globally means we can work with member firms in other countries to serve our global clients with a presence here in Ireland and our domestic clients active in overseas markets. Our consultancy business spans a wide range of solutions, which include transformation, HR and change, finance support solutions, forensic investigations, restructuring advisory, technology and corporate finance services.  It is my ambition as Managing Partner to position RSM Ireland as the advisor of choice to the middle market and drive competition in the professional services sector. Talk us through the firm’s evolution since it was established in 1987 as Ryan Glennon & Company. The firm was established nearly 40 years ago by John Glennon and Liam Ryan and continues to have deep roots in the Irish business community.  We made the strategic decision to join the RSM International network in 2016 and that has been a game-changer in the firm’s evolution.  The RSM International network spans 120 countries with over 64,000 people in more than 800 offices. It has a very wide reach, particularly in the key markets we serve globally. Since 2016, RSM Ireland has doubled in size in both turnover and headcount and we have significantly increased the strength and depth of our services.  Our view is that all business now is essentially global and Ireland, in particular, is a very open economy. RSM is also very integrated and collaborative across borders, so we benefit from sharing skills, insights and resources.  RSM International saw record year-on-year growth in revenue of 16 percent with global revenues of US$9.4 billion for the 12 months to December 2023, and a 13 percent increase in global headcount.  Over the same period, RSM Ireland achieved revenue and people growth of 19 percent and 21 percent respectively. Tell us about RSM UK’s recent investment in RSM Ireland. We announced the strategic investment from RSM UK in November 2023. It is very significant for us because it will drive greater access to talent, technology, support and the services we can offer the corporate market. It will accelerate our ability to create long-term growth and drive increased competition in the professional services sector in Ireland. It also underlines the wider confidence in Ireland’s economy and the opportunities that exist in this market.  As well as increasing our physical footprint, the investment gives us access to greater resources, while better positioning the firm to target investments, invest in talent and technology and offer new services.  It will also allow us to create more opportunities for our staff, both new and existing. We aim to increase our graduate intake this year to over 50 while also creating exciting opportunities for experienced hires. What are the biggest changes you have seen in your market since joining RSM Ireland?  While Ireland remains an attractive destination for global companies to locate, build and grow their businesses, we are facing challenges right now relating to our infrastructural capacity, housing and energy supply.  We need to accelerate our response to overcoming these challenges so that Ireland can remain competitive.  Within the accountancy market, we are seeing a definite trend towards consolidation. For RSM Ireland, we could see that the investment from RSM UK offered a natural route to supporting and accelerating our next phase of the growth of our business. What will your strategic priorities be in your new role?  Looking first at developments in the global economy, I see opportunities to further grow our international client base.  A key ambition is to expand our teams across all service lines and develop new services, particularly in response to rising demand for environmental, social and governance, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence services.   We will be looking to develop our sector expertise further across financial services, life sciences, technology and media and telecoms.  Building strength in our global network will also be key though the RSM International network and expanding our International Desk Programme in key markets including the US. For the accountants you employ, what emerging skills are you focusing on now to future-proof their roles?  Embracing technology and adapting to ongoing changes in the world of work is key for all professionals.  Accountants, in particular, are very good at understanding the latest changes and developments and, more importantly, understanding the wider developments in business operations and the related risks.  We invest quite significantly in supporting our people as they adopt new technologies, and we will continue to do so. This is key for our business, because we absolutely must be able to understand our clients’ needs, and support and bring value to their business through meaningful, in-depth knowledge. I anticipate greater sustained spend on technologies to support further process automation and data analytics. This will be key to enabling our people to deliver rich insights to help clients improve business performance and stay ahead of developments in their markets.  What are your expectations for the economy in Ireland and globally in the months ahead?  On a positive note, current trends and projections point to calming inflation. There is now an expectation in Europe and beyond that interest rates will start to come down as soon as June.  I think we can expect to see a loosening of Central Bank fiscal policy and improved GDP forecasts, which will be positive for business. Business resilience will be tested in other ways, however. The war for talent will continue to rage and global tax developments – for example, Pillar Two tax reform and other initiatives – will bring their own challenges. We will also potentially have a new US administration, which may see changes in certain US policies. Despite all of this, I genuinely do believe that business leaders have good reason to feel more optimistic as they look ahead following a particularly turbulent period.

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