CPA Ireland is committed to continuing to support our members who, as accountants, are once again at the forefront of meeting these challenges. The work that you do to ensure the survival of the SME sector in Ireland in particular is exemplary and inspiring. As a Financial and Strategic Business Advisor to SMEs, I am very proud to belong to the CPA Ireland community.

CPA Ireland is working towards becoming a fully sustainable organisation and we are committed to supporting our members on their own journeys to sustainability. In October 2022, CPA Ireland Skillnet launched a Sustainability Hub as we continue to expand our resources to take account of more of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. This is an interactive and practical Sustainability Hub to help guide our members and students to develop sustainability strategies for business.

With financial literacy being widely perceived as the solution to creating individual financial responsibility and contributing towards the stability of the economic system, there has been a significant increase in research measuring personal financial literacy across the world with studies generally finding widespread low levels along with significant heterogeneity within populations.

Surprisingly, there has been much less attention on financial literacy in micro and small enterprises (MSEs). In an Irish study,¹ 81% of owner managers stated that financial literacy was important, however only 46% thought they had a good level of financial literacy. Owner-managers were reluctant to address this weakness for a variety of reasons including a lack of time, the cost of training, inappropriate methods of training or believing it was not their responsibility but rather their accountant’s. These findings, and the lack of research in comparison to personal financial literacy, suggest there is still a lot learn about financial literacy in MSEs.

The hours required by the medical field proved to be too much with a small baby who needed his mother. I decided to leave the profession altogether and move over to the finance industry. But being the determined person I am, I decided that if I am going to make this change, I am going to do it thoroughly and to the best of my ability. When my son was 12 weeks old, I started my accounting internship whilst studying for my degree online.

The Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA) contributes to ESMA’s activities in the accounting enforcement arena through its participation in the ESMA-sponsored European Enforcement Co-ordination Sessions (EECS). With responsibility for the coordination of supervision of almost 4,500 issuers listed on the regulated markets in the EEA preparing IFRS financial statements, EECS constitutes the largest regional accounting enforcers’ network with supervision responsibilities for IFRS.

I’m a chartered accountant by profession, have an MBA and am a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accounts.

Prior to joining the Port of Cork Company in 2020, I held senior board positions in Musgrave PLC as Chief Executive of Supervalu and Centra. I also fulfilled the role of Group Finance and Operations Director of Dunnes Stores and CEO of Lifestyle Sports.

When asked about their progress on implementing measures to address climate change, 34% of businesses reported they are only beginning to do so and have a long way to go, while 6% don’t know where to start. Businesses listed “upfront investment costs” as the leading barrier for their organisations to act more sustainably, with 55% of businesses mentioning it as a barrier. Less than half (46%) of organisations with more than 250 employees plan to spend over €100,000 on sustainability over the next two years, and 51% of all organisations plan to spend less than €40,000. Other barriers included uncertainty of return on investment (38%) and a lack of clear sector guidelines or advice (35%).

Nielsen conducted a study in 60 countries to determine the potential effect of CSR. Out of the 30,000 consumers studied, 66% said they would pay more to brands that prove to be socially responsible. In another US-based study, Cone Communications found that 87% of Americans are willing to spend more on something if they see a company engaging in issues they care about. In essence, sustainability initiatives are a win-win for businesses. According to HBR, companies’ primary motivators to create CSR programs are sustainability, moral obligations, reputation, and operating license. 

CSR is a great way to do good for the world while growing profits. Here are the top reasons why a company should incorporate sustainability in its long-term marketing strategy.

To avail of the extension, the business must already be eligible for warehousing. The extension applies to the Period 1 end date for all taxes that the customer has warehoused, so if a customer has all the eligible taxes warehoused (VAT, PAYE (Employer), IT, TWSS, and EWSS) then all these taxes will get the extension for periods up to the end of April 2022. Under the terms of the extension, businesses concerned could continue to warehouse tax liabilities up to 30 April 2022, including the April PAYE Submission (due 14 May 2022) and the March/April VAT Return (due 19 May 2022). The warehoused liabilities can remain ‘parked’ on an interest free basis for a 12-month period until 30 April 2023 (this is “Period 2 – the zero-interest phase”). At that point, the debt can be paid in full, interest free, or alternatively be paid on a phased basis over a suitable timeframe at a reduced interest rate of 3% per year (“Period 3”).

The extension does not apply to businesses which were not in receipt of one of the relevant COVID-19 support schemes up to April 2022. This means that the warehousing periods are unchanged for those businesses: Period 1 ended on 31 December 2021; Period 2 began on 1 January 2022 and will end on 31 December 2022; and Period 3 will commence on 1 January 2023

Properties that were liable for LPT in 2022 were charged LPT based on the valuation of the property as ay 1 November 2021. This valuation date will be used for residential properties for the period 2022 to 2025. Properties which are now newly liable for LPT in 2023 will need to be valued as if they had existed on 1 November 2021.

Properties are newly liable for LPT if they satisfy either of the following conditions:

1. If it is a newly constructed residential property completed after 1 November 2021 and before 1 November 2022.
2. If the property has come to be lived in or become suitable for use as a dwelling after 1 November 2021 and before 1 November 2022.

There were no changes made to tax rates for 2023. The standard income tax rate will remain at 20% and the higher rate at 40%.

The Standard Rate Cut Off Points (SRCOPs) for 2022 have been increased as follows:

It’s never too late to meet the deadline and our message is: don’t despair. There is still time to get ready, although it’ll mean setting aside dedicated Audit Partner and senior audit staff time to achieve this. Regulators will be looking for clear evidence of progress by the end of 2022 and certainly by this time in 2023 when firm’s compliance with the standard will come under intense scrutiny.

In order to stay ahead of the curve and be top-of-mind for potential clients, professional services need to focus on building visible expertise. But what exactly is visible expertise? And how can professional services go about acquiring it?

The UN World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987 defined sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

The nature of True-Cloud solutions is that they are designed to revolutionise how you see and consume your IT. To provide an “any device-any browser” fully scalable approach. Future generations will see our historic reliance on sever rooms and physical servers in the same vein we now consider electricity on demand compared to having our own generators, or water on demand compared to our own water pumps. The next stage in evolution is to consume our technology on demand.

True-Cloud challenges us to consider a future without local servers, local infrastructure, UPS, switches, expensive cabling, with vastly reduced capital IT hardware spend, reduced IT obsolescence, and finally no more dusty rooms full of old PC’s and equipment.

Hardly a day goes past without receiving warnings about record numbers of victims of fraud, new fraud schemes, and how fraudsters are adapting their techniques in order to enhance the sophistication of their scams.

This was recently highlighted under Operation Skein, the gardaí investigation into the notorious Black Axe crime network who focussed on email fraud, targeting individuals abroad and laundering up to €64 million in Ireland with the help of 4000 money mules.

With the growing difficulties in the financial sector, discussions around enhanced cybersecurity, insider threats and the deepening financial crisis the growth in fraud is likely to become part of our daily consideration, which of course it should be. The financial losses experienced by victims are increasing, as too is the lesser discussed psychological impact.

As a rule, technology should be viewed as supporting, not replacing, accountants. It is understandable that worries might exist in relation to skills like creative problem solving being removed, but instead it should be viewed as an opportunity to enable accountants to do more valuable work. Leave technology take care of monotonous or time-consuming jobs and focus on being more creative or collaborative. Most of the tasks that can be handed over to technology are ones that could be automated, and the truth is, forward thinking organisations have always favoured automation.

It is important to note the success of FinTech in accountancy to date before we look at any future impacts. The implementation of cloud-based accounting and bookkeeping has radically changed how accountants manage and interact with their clients. This was especially relevant during Covid-19 when firms had to adapt and operate remotely during the pandemic. Indeed, it has become such a mainstay of the industry over the last twenty years that we probably take it for granted.

Under the agreement, members in good standing of either body will be considered for membership by the other body. Members wishing to practice public accounting will be required to meet the specific regulatory and legal requirements in each jurisdiction.

CPA is one of the best-known international accounting designations and Irish professional qualifications are held in high regard worldwide.

Practice:

• 75 structured hours
• 45 unstructured hours

Industry:

• 60 structured hours
• 60 unstructured hours

For our newer members who have qualified in the past two years your CPD requirements are calculated on a pro rata basis.

The CPD Wrap Up 2022 will take place online on 13th & 14th December.

Key Event Details:

Time: 9.30am – 4.40pm each day

CPD Credit: 16 hours for both days