President’s Message
President’s Message
Welcome to the December 2022 edition of Accountancy Plus.
Headshot of Aine Collins
The Collins Dictionary has named ‘Permacrisis’ as their word of the year for 2022 and it perfectly describes yet another tumultuous year in the global and national arenas. War in Ukraine, the ever-increasing cost of living, concerns about energy supplies and the ongoing challenge of climate change have all contributed to global instability.

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.

The hub covers many areas such as Audit, Financial Reporting, Strategy, ESG Reporting, Sustainable Lending, Carbon Footprint reduction, Employee Health & Wellbeing as well as offering live sessions with key industry experts in sustainability and case studies of those who have managed a sustainable journey. I would encourage you to explore the sustainability hub which can be found at https://www.cpaireland.ie/Resources/CPA-Sustainability-Hub.

I’d also like to remind you of CPA Ireland’s Digitalisation Hub and Well-being Platform which were both developed and launched in 2021 and would encourage you to take the time to navigate around these different offerings.

Our global footprint continues to grow and in May 2022, we were extremely proud to sign a Mutual Recognition Agreement with The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA)/American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) U.S. International Qualifications Appraisal Board (IQAB).

This agreement provides an exciting new opportunity to Irish CPAs, helping them to travel further and avail of new opportunities in the U.S. and is also a very strong endorsement of the CPA Ireland qualification. The U.S. and Ireland have a unique relationship based on historic cultural ties and now represented through a strong economic relationship. We are excited to be playing a part in enhancing this relationship by facilitating CPAs from both the U.S. and Ireland to form part of the next generation of that relationship.

The global nature of the profession is most evident every 4 years when a World Congress of Accountants takes place. I was privileged to represent CPA Ireland in Mumbai in November and to reconnect with some of our key partners in the USA, Australia, South Africa, Nigeria and to forge a new alliance with ICMA Bangladesh.

We also had the opportunity to meet with the leadership of ICA India and to engage with so many members of ICA India who are interested in availing of our MRA and seeking to live and work in Ireland. We also met with Ireland’s Consul General in Mumbai, Ms Anita Kelly and with senior representatives of the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, all in an effort to facilitate trade between Ireland and India on behalf of the 100,000+ businesses that CPAs advise in Ireland.

This year we also say goodbye to Deirdre McDonnell, Director of Education and Gillian Peters, Director of Business Development who have left CPA Ireland to concentrate on other roles. Their work in CPA Ireland has been exemplary and myself, Council and all the staff at CPA Ireland would like to wish them all the best in their futures.

I am delighted that we once again have the opportunity to convene in person and I look forward to many more in 2023. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the exceptional work you have done in 2022 and wish you a peaceful and happy Christmas.

Aine Collins signature
Áine Collins
President CPA Ireland