My ambition as President of CPA Ireland is to continue to build on the great foundations laid before me and to serve CPA Ireland to the best of my ability.

At the recent Extraordinary General Meeting held on 17th May 2024, members of CPA Ireland voted to approve a resolution that would adopt changes to its constitution to facilitate the amalgamation with Chartered Accountants Ireland. As Chartered Accountants Ireland members also approved its bye-law amendments, the two Institutes will now continue to work towards a joint future.

We will continue to discuss how the staff and Councils of both organisations will work together following the amalgamation, ensuring that CPA Ireland’s proud legacy of service to members and the culture and heritage of our Institute will be maintained and enhanced in the newly amalgamated Institute.

As the amalgamation is progressing through the legal processes and the scheme of arrangement, all members of the newly amalgamated Institute will soon be able to reap the benefits of a larger, stronger, more influential Institute.

In the meantime, I look forward to engaging with you, addressing any concerns or questions you may have. These are exciting times ahead for our profession, our students, and our members.

I also look forward to working with Vice Presidents, Michael Kavanagh and Gillian Cregan, with my colleagues on Council and Committees, with the executive team at CPA Ireland and I look forward to meeting many members in person across the next year.

Over the summer, a new programme for the CPA Metaverse, School of Innovation will be created in partnership with Sia Partners and with funding from Skillnet Ireland. As accountants, we know that professional scepticism cannot be taught. As young trainees we learned from our mistakes, we learned how to interrogate data and not to accept words without proof. This new virtual reality programme will be a simulated audit that will enable our trainee and junior auditors to make those mistakes in a hazard free environment, learn from them, and move forward with confidence. The team in CPA Ireland would greatly welcome input from our experienced members to ensure a fit for purpose programme is delivered.

Over the coming months CPA Ireland will host a variety of events including the Summer Socials and the Women in Business. I would encourage as many of you as possible to attend these events at which we will celebrate and honour the success and legacy of CPA Ireland.

My entry into the public sector from 2003 allowed me to use my global leadership experience and expertise in transforming Irish institutional organisations established from the 15th century into modern, efficient, high performing organisations which included CEO of Ordnance Survey Ireland, COO of Trinity College and CEO of the RDS. I have contributed as Chair and NED to Trinity College Enterprise Campus, Science Foundation Ireland and Genio, a not-for-profit foundation. I also gained the qualification of Chartered Director from the Directors Institute of Ireland.

The CPA qualification provided me with a solid foundation for continuous learning and growth. It allowed me to develop my career and achieve leadership positions within both the corporate and public sectors.

As COO I led a strategic vision that revamped operational dynamics to meet 21st-century demands. As a key contributor to the Executive team and Board I played a significant role in shaping and executing ground-breaking strategic plans, philanthropic campaigns, and large-scale capital projects.

I chaired the Steering Committee of Trinity College Technology Enterprise Campus from 2018-2021, a €1billion transformative development project for the new second campus of Trinity College Dublin.

I consider myself very privileged to have been in a position to complete my studies while gaining practical experience and exposure in accounting, taxation and forensic accounting.

I qualified in 2021 and continued to work in practice and be mentored by John McCarrick whose knowledge and leadership shaped my career as well as giving me the confidence to succeed in the profession.

I am now looking forward to starting a new role as a senior accountant with Xeinadin, a business advisory and accountancy group.

It is always a pleasure to work alongside like-minded individuals with shared values.

Recently l was appointed Chairman of the Leinster CPA Society. I am very grateful and deeply moved by being accorded the position along with the opportunity to serve CPA Ireland and my fellow members.

My advice to a trainee or newly qualified accountant would be to always lean toward your best qualities and not compare yourself to your colleagues but rather learn from them.

Working collaboratively with people who possess different strengths, is what contributes to a fulfilling career.

I have always been a creature of habit so recently l have made it a goal to try something different every so often whether that being a new sport, restaurant or even holiday destination. The excitement of trying something new is always a great way for me to unwind.

Resource Constraints
Business leaders will often report that limited resources pose a tough challenge for teams striving to adopt sustainable practices. From financial limitations to time and manpower constraints, organisations often encounter hurdles in investing in environmentally and socially friendly technologies and initiatives.

Regulatory Compliance
The ever-evolving landscape of environmental regulations presents a daunting task for organisations of all sizes. Navigating intricate legal frameworks requires considerable resources and expertise, placing an additional burden on these businesses, not only the business that falls into scope but for suppliers of goods and services to these businesses.

Consumer Expectations
In an era characterised by heightened environmental consciousness, consumers are increasingly scrutinising the sustainability credentials of businesses. At the same time, according to the Pulse Survey performed by PwC in February 2023, around 70% of Irish respondents said they would pay more for sustainably produced goods. Expectations are there but demand is also there, and organisations must respond to this paradigm shift by aligning their practices with evolving consumer preferences to remain competitive.

Supply Chain
Businesses frequently encounter the challenge of navigating intricate supply chains, which complicates their efforts to uphold sustainability standards across the entire network. The complexity of these supply chains can leave businesses feeling ensnared, presenting a myriad of obstacles, from the apprehension of disrupting well-established relationships to the constraint of limited time to explore alternative partnerships. As a result, business leaders may find themselves stuck, hesitant to initiate changes that could jeopardise their existing supply chain dynamics.

Collaborating with suppliers and partners to integrate sustainable practices becomes a formidable undertaking for these enterprises.

The task involves not only overcoming internal barriers but also aligning diverse stakeholders with varying priorities and levels of commitment to sustainability. This collaborative endeavour demands strategic coordination, effective communication, and a shared vision for driving positive environmental and social outcomes throughout the supply chain.

In order to measure an organisation’s footprint, it’s important to initially determine the scope of your carbon footprint assessment. This includes identifying the boundaries and sources of emissions you will consider.

Common sources include energy consumption, waste generation, employee commuting, business travel, and purchased goods and services.

Next up, it’s time to collect relevant data related to energy sources used in the business. You can do that by gathering utility bills or meter readings to determine resource consumption.

In a similar way, you will need to assess the amount of waste generated in the office and categorise it into recyclable, compostable, and non-recyclable waste.

You can track your waste generation over a period of time and while this work is happening, you can brainstorm potential initiatives on how to reduce the amount of waste created by your office.

The same goes for business travel. In a post-pandemic world, business travel can easily be replaced by video conferencing. In order to ensure employees are not missing out on important opportunities to meet and engage with clients and partners, it’s important to understand what sort of business travel happens and why. By collecting data on business-related air travel, train journeys, hotel stays and car usage for business purposes you will be able to find out what is really needed versus what can be replaced by technological solutions.

When it comes to your supply chain i.e. Purchased Goods and Services, it’s important that you can gather information on the procurement of goods and services, including their associated emissions, such as transportation, manufacturing, or disposal. Suppliers are becoming familiar with this sort of requirement so the first step here is to invite the most relevant of your suppliers for a meeting where you will present your organisation’s sustainability plans and invite them to be a part of the change.

Note: Measuring an organisation’s carbon footprint is an iterative process, and it may require refinement and adjustments over time. Consider using recognised carbon footprint calculators or seeking assistance from sustainability experts to ensure accuracy and consistency in your measurement.

There are three categories of emissions:

Scope 1 emissions — This one covers the Green House Gas (GHG) emissions that a company makes directly — for example while running its boilers and diesel / petrol vehicles.

Scope 2 emissions — These are the emissions it makes indirectly – like when the electricity or energy it buys, is being produced on its behalf.

Scope 3 emissions — In this category go all the emissions associated, not with the company itself, but that the organisation is indirectly responsible for, up and down its value chain. For example, from buying products from its suppliers, and from its products when customers use them. Emissions-wise, Scope 3 is nearly always the big one.

5 things every organisation needs to know about Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions:

1. Scope 1 and 2 are mostly within an organisation’s control.

Companies will normally have the source data needed to convert direct purchases of gas and electricity into a value in tonnes of GHGs. This information may sit with procurement, finance, estates management, or in a sustainability function.

2. In some cases, the solutions exist to deliver net zero for Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

For example, an organisation can source renewable electricity, renewable gas, or electrify its heat demand, transition to electric vehicles or look at alternative fuel types.

3. Scope 3 is often where the impact is.

For many businesses, Scope 3 emissions account for more than 70% of their footprint. For example, for an organisation that manufactures products, there will often be significant carbon emissions from the extraction, manufacture, and processing of the raw materials.

4. Businesses also have less control on how Scope 3 emissions are addressed.

Organisations can offer to collaborate on solutions to reduce emissions with current suppliers or consider changes to their supply chain. However, in most areas, suppliers will have considerable influence on how emissions are reduced through their own purchasing decisions, and product design.

5. Committing to reach net zero will involve tackling your Scope 3 emissions.

Definitions for what constitutes net zero ambition can be slippery but businesses looking to adopt best practice will commit to tackling Scope 3 emissions as part of their plans. Mapping emissions footprint by scale, and how much control business leaders have over the source will be a good way to start addressing them. As well as making the emissions hotspots within easy reach an organisation’s first ports of call.

Upstream emissions encompass the indirect greenhouse gas emissions within a company’s value chain related to purchased or acquired goods (tangible products) and services (intangible products) and include:

• Purchased goods and services
• Capital goods
• Fuel & energy-related activities
• Upstream transportation and distribution
• Waste generated in operations
• Business travel
• Employee commuting
• Upstream leased assets

Downstream emissions: 

Downstream emissions include the indirect greenhouse emissions within a company’s value chain related to sold goods and services and emitted after they leave the company’s ownership or control:

• Downstream transportation and distribution
• Processing of sold products
• Use of sold products
• End-of-life treatment of sold products
• Downstream leased assets
• Franchises
• Investments

For businesses who have not yet started to calculate emissions, the Climate Toolkit 4 Business provides practical ways to start taking action. The toolkit helps businesses measure energy, water, waste and company travel or freight data. https://www.climatetoolkit4business.gov.ie/

• Bespoke ESG Strategy design and implementation
• Corporate and product carbon footprint
• Green Team training including setting KPIs
• Sustainability Communication Strategies
• BCorp Certification Assistance
• Financial Reporting requirements to explore regulatory obligations, strategic reporting options and potential future reporting responsibilities.

Useful Resources

• Climateactiontoolkit
• CPA Sustainability Hub
• www.mywaste.ie
• SEAI
• Uisce Ireland
• www.ghgprotocol.org

If left unabated and unmitigated, the damage to ecosystem services could result in significant negative financial impacts on industries that are highly dependent on them. These include sectors such as forestry, agriculture, food, beverages and tobacco, fishery and aquaculture, construction, water utilities and electricity.

Concerns surrounding nature-related sustainability issues are coming through in the policy and regulatory arena as seen through the imposition of nature-related sustainability reporting requirements and the proposal of new laws to protect natural resources and nature. As these come into play, SMEs will also need to consider how this will affect their businesses.

Examples of nature-related dependencies vary between sectors.

These dependencies can give rise to negative impacts on nature cutting across the five areas of climate change, water use, resource use, pollution, and invasive alien species. (See Figure 2)

There is a two-year phase in for all disclosure requirements under E4 Biodiversity and Ecosystems for companies with less than 750 employees. While there are between one and three-year phase ins for certain disclosure requirements related to E2 Pollution, E3 Water and Marine Resources and E5 Resource Use and Circular Economy, the majority of disclosure requirements under these topical standards will be mandatory for the first cohort of companies reporting under the CSRD in 2025 based on their 2024 performance. Nature is currently being touted as the next climate change, with expectations that nature-related risks and opportunities will play a more prominent role when assessing business risks and opportunities.

As larger companies begin reporting on nature-related disclosures under the CSRD, supply chain expectations will change in tandem. Larger companies will expect their SME suppliers in the value chain to step up on their nature-related commitments. Much like climate reporting has captured SMEs in the value chain as part of Scope 3 GHG emission reporting, nature-related reporting will require SMEs to provide their large clients/customers with information on nature-related matters.

Other impacts SMEs would need to consider is access to equity and debt finance and insurance. Financial institutions that are reporting under the CSRD will also be required to consider the nature-related dependencies of the businesses they lend to invest in or insure.

A recently published Global Survey conducted by the GARP Risk Institute on nature risk management across financial firms worldwide reveals that 46% of the Boards of financial institutions surveyed have oversight of nature-related risks and opportunities, while another 48% are working or intend to do so.

As an illustration, let’s consider the construction sector as a high impact sector. The construction sector uses cement from the cement manufacturing sector for its construction activities. The cement manufacturing sector, in turn, uses sand to manufacture cement. The WEF has noted that sand is the second most exploited natural resource in the world after water and demand for sand mining for construction materials has tripled in the past two decades.

The high demand for sand is negatively impacting people and planet. For example, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)’s 2019 Sand and Sustainability Report notes that marine sand dug up by the marine dredging industry is causing degradation to biodiversity and impacting the lives and livelihoods of coastal communities.

To achieve healthy soils, the EU has a proposed Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience in the pipeline which has classified sand as a protected soil.

Ahead of the Directive coming into force, SMEs in the construction value chain should consider how this proposed Directive will impact them. Some specific impacts they need to consider would be how banks will integrate nature-related risks into their loan/financing portfolio assessments and how insurance firms reflect nature-related risks in their insurance premiums.

1. Understand the ESRS reporting requirements for nature-related sustainability matters.
2. Build their internal capability by identifying nature champions in their organisation to develop their nature-related knowledge and capabilities. There are a number of free resources available from organisations such as the TNFD for this purpose.
3. Familiarize themselves with the nature-related dependencies of the business. They can begin by identifying potential impacts that the business may have on nature. The National Biodiversity Data Centre of Ireland has a mapping tool that SMEs can use to generate a biodiversity report for businesses located in Ireland.
4. Begin having conversations with clients reporting under the ESRS to understand their ask in relation to the nature-related topical standards, and what information they would require from their value chain partners.

1. The biodiversity business case: Companies need ecosystems | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
2. What Are Ecosystem Services, and How Do They Help Our Planet? (nationalgeographic.org)
3. EU at COP15 global biodiversity conference – European Commission (europa.eu)
4. Donor countries commit to increase biodiversity finance (europa.eu)
5. Nature and biodiversity – European Commission (europa.eu)
6. COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT Accompanying the document Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Soil Monitoring and Resilience (Soil Monitoring Law)
7. Nature restoration: Parliament adopts law to restore 20% of EU’s land and sea | News | European Parliament (europa.eu)
8. Proposal for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience – European Commission (europa.eu)
9. GARP Risk Institute, Global Survey of Nature Risk Management at Financial Firms 2024: A Discipline in its Infancy.
10. TNFD in a box – TNFD
11. Sand mining: how it impacts the environment and solutions | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
12. Proposal for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience – European Commission (europa.eu)
13. National Biodiversity Data Centre – A Heritage Council Programme, Documenting Ireland’s Wildlife (biodiversityireland.ie)

In this regard, notice must be sent to all creditors at least 10 clear days in advance of the meeting.

The notice sent to creditors should be accompanied by a general proxy and a special proxy in the prescribed format, together with details of the proposed liquidator and a list of names of the creditors. If a list is not provided with the notice, the notice itself should inform the creditor of their right to request this list to be provided where 24 hours’ notice is given in writing or the right to go to the registered office during business hours to inspect this list.

Post the Covid pandemic, creditors meetings can be held virtually. The Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Covid-19) Act 2020 related to the holding of virtual meetings, including Annual General Meetings (AGMs), will now continue until the 31st of December 2024.

If creditors meetings are being held virtually, the notices will include notice of how to get access to the meeting details (generally by returning a proxy for a company)

The creditors of the company will either be limited companies or creditors who are owed monies personally. The rules governing the conduct of creditors meetings state that a proxy representing a limited company must be appointed:

• under the common seal of the company, or under the hand of some officer duly authorised who must state that fact on the proxy form.
• In practice, to avoid any dispute over the admissibility of a proxy submitted by a limited company, it is advisable that the person duly authorised who signs the proxy on behalf of the creditor writes in beneath his name the following: “Duly authorised officer of the company”.

The proper completion of a proxy (and consequently the validity of same) is something that many creditors fail to understand and do properly.

1. To present a Statement of Affairs to the creditors.
2. To give the creditors an opportunity to appoint their choice of liquidator.
3. To give creditors the opportunity to appoint a Committee of Inspection.

The meeting is chaired by a director and may be conducted by a professional advisor (e.g. a solicitor) who advises the Chair of the meeting.

The chairman at the outset of the meeting, will give a brief outline of the history of the company and details of the causes of failure before talking through the statement of affairs.

Statement of Affairs

The directors are obliged to present to a creditors’ meeting a full statement of the position of the company’s affairs, together with a list of creditors of the company and the estimated amount of their claims to the meeting of creditors.

This statement will show the book values of the company’s assets with the directors estimated realisable values in a winding up. This will be sent out in advance of the creditors meeting, once prepared, to creditors who have confirmed their attendance.

Creditors Questions

Creditors will get an opportunity to ask the Chairman questions on their Statement and the Statement of Affairs. Some creditors will send along, or attend the meeting with, professional representatives who are very knowledgeable about insolvency matters. A flavour of some types of questions that may be asked are set out below:

1. When did the company cease trading?
2. When did the directors first realise the company was insolvent?
3. Provide details of all major payments made in the past three months.
4. When was the last set of audited accounts prepared?
5. Did the bank have personal guarantees as security for the company’s lending?
6. Who owns the building that the company operated from?
7. Will the directors continue the business through another company?

Specific questions may also be asked on the statement of affairs presented to the meeting. In this context, some creditors attending the meeting may have copies of the last set of accounts filed at the Companies Registration Office, and they may ask questions based on these accounts and in particular any material movement between the last accounts and the statement of affairs.

This line of questions, may seem innocuous at first, however they can be used to determine whether the directors have acted honestly and responsibly and to identify:

• Any transfer of assets to related entities for less than fair value.
• The payment of certain creditors in priority to others. (e.g. guaranteed creditors)
• The continuing to trade whilst insolvent.
• Whether the directors have carried out any breaches of company law such as unfair preference, reckless trading, or fraudulent trading or are involved in a phoenix company.

However, the creditors have an opportunity after the questions and answers, to nominate an alternative liquidator. If an alternative nomination for a liquidator is proposed, a formal vote needs to be taken.

The nominated liquidator should not have previously acted for the company or its directors in a professional capacity.

If the creditors do nominate an alternative liquidator a vote of all creditors present personally or by proxy is conducted by the chairperson. The nominee liquidator with the majority vote of creditors in terms of value owed (the number of creditors voting is not a factor) is then held to have been appointed.

The creditors are entitled to nominate up to five people onto this committee, and the shareholders are entitled to appoint three people.

The purpose of the committee is to assist the liquidator in carrying out his duties. They can do this by:

1. providing the Liquidator with a background on the company and its activities.
2. aid the liquidator in his investigation of the company’s affairs.

The committee can also approve the liquidator’s fees, approve proposed legal actions to be taken by the liquidator and approve the payment of dividends to various classes of creditors.

There are a number of reasons why a creditor may want to attend a creditors meeting:

1. In genuine collapses, the creditor may want to provide support to the director of the company that has failed. Most business failures are collapses arising for genuine reasons and the directors are facing an uncertain future.
2. If you have supplied stock to the company, you will get your first opportunity to ascertain if any of your stock remains with the company. This is critical if you have a valid retention of title clause on your goods supplied and you will be able to inform the appointed liquidator of your wishes to process your claim for retention of title asap.
3. If you have concerns regarding the directors stewardship of the company, you can:
   1. Ask questions at the creditors meeting and ask that the nominated liquidator investigates your concerns and report back to the Committee of Inspection (if one is appointed) and address your concerns in the Liquidators report to the Corporate Enforcement Authority.
   2. Play a role in the liquidation process by nominating yourself to be appointed to the Committee of Inspection.

As a result of this partnership, by the end of June almost 100 businesses will have benefitted from this fully subsidized industry-led programme which aims to support Irish companies to build capacity within their organisations around ESG and sustainability performance.

Embedding sustainability in business strategy is essential for Irish businesses to meet increasing expectations from staff, investors, customers and consumers, as well as evolving European regulatory requirements.

This micro-credential programme, which runs for 12 weeks, incorporates six workshops and aims to drive and assist both firms and sustainability professionals to embrace sustainable business practices towards a net zero economy.

I lead an incredible team that creates impact on entrepreneur development and SME support across Ireland. Together we champion entrepreneurs to build sustainable futures and achieve their dreams.

We do this through the Learning & Development services we create in partnership with government agencies and corporate partners and are always open to new opportunities to increase our impact.

It is important to go back to the beginning of my career to understand what motivates me and has shaped me as a leader. My working life started (a little early) at the age of twelve when family members brought me in to work in the local hotel during the recession of the 80s and I worked there until I left college. I loved the financial freedom it gave me and being able to contribute financially to my family, as my dad was unemployed, and my mum was providing for a family of eight.

At the hotel, I was supported by a group of amazing women. They were not in management or leadership positions; those roles were all filled by men. These women were waitresses. They however played a key role in guiding, supporting and challenging me. I generated a strong work ethic and was quickly in demand to work with and that felt great! It increased my self-belief as well as giving me huge respect for women in the workplace and an understanding that, whatever position you hold within an organisation, you have power and an opportunity to lead and impact others.

This was foundational and I learned a lot about myself and true leadership, even though I did not stop and reflect on this until much later.

When the time came to leave school, I had a taste for work and money and so I did not want to go to college.

I did love one thing though, and that was Art. I knew I was good at it and my art teacher encouraged me to apply to art college. I was such a practical person though and could not see how I could make money from studying art.

My mother liberated me when she advised me that if I really loved something and became good at it, then people would pay me to do it. This freed me to follow my passion and take a chance.

After graduation, I founded and led a successful textile design and manufacturing business that serviced the fashion, interiors, and gift markets, partnering with leading designers, premium retailers, and corporate clients. We created everything from Riverdance costumes to gifts for the Department of Foreign Affairs and supplied premium retailers including Brown Thomas and Kilkenny.

I continued to upskill myself over the years, including completing a master’s that developed my Leadership and Management skills.

My opportunity to join The Entrepreneurs Academy came through meeting its founder, serial entrepreneur, Joanne Hession when we were both appointed by the European Commission as mentors to support female entrepreneurship across the EU.

We shared a passion for impacting Entrepreneurs and for SME development.

I had always been self-employed and initially came on board The Entrepreneurs Academy as a consultant in 2013 to lead a project during the last recession. The project focused on helping four hundred people experiencing long-term unemployment. The enormous success of that project, with 70%+ of participants successfully starting a business or gaining employment, had me hooked! Since then, the immense impact we have on the economy, society and individuals has been my driver.

Every year we partner with organisations that have an interest in the success of the startup ecosystem and small business.

Having worked in hospitality for many years I wanted to test if I could earn money using the skills I learned at college. With three friends, we set up a base in Denmark and travelled across five countries, making and selling a range of clothing products at markets and festivals.

We had to research for opportunities (pre-internet or mobile phones!) to plan production, respond to different market needs, learn to navigate risks (including being robbed at gunpoint), set prices and manage our cashflow, understand how to play to different strengths and skills within our team and how to collaborate effectively.

I realised quite early that the financial management of this simple enterprise was neither my strength nor passion.

One of my friends was much better at the financial side of our early enterprise and she loved it. She wisely went on to study Accountancy.

It was an important lesson that I was not skilled yet to manage financially and resulted in me later upskilling to build my financial confidence, literacy, and competence. It also taught me that I needed to engage the services of financial professionals and advisors in future and that I need to be able to communicate with them and understand their advice and the financial data in my business.

I learned that what I did love and was great at was R&D, product development, customer service and selling because it allowed me to listen and observe customer needs so we could respond to the specific needs of each market.

I realised overall, from those two summers, that it takes different people, with different strengths, passions, and perspectives, to form a collaborative team to enable any enterprise to succeed. It is also essential to have positive leadership driving the team to success.

SMEs and entrepreneurship are central to Ireland’s challenge of generating broad-based indigenous growth and prosperity.

To remain agile and responsive to emerging changes over the coming years as an economy, we need to stimulate entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial development from cradle to grave. Equipping the nation with an army of problem solvers and innovators with the skills and competencies to bring startups to life and to scale globally.

One of the main reasons participants on our Start Your Own Business programmes sign up is because they are afraid of getting into financial difficulty or falling foul of Revenue. However, when we start the programmes the finance sessions have the lowest attendance as people tend to avoid the ‘tough stuff’. Yet the feedback from finance sessions is amazing. For Example: ‘10/10! I could listen to Michael all day long. His finance sessions are extremely informative and very entertaining’

Great communication around finance, in this case, Michael’s training, provided the sense of safety and control that the entrepreneurs were looking for.

We do this in our training by making no assumptions about their financial acumen, by making it safe to ask (even silly) questions and we tailor our communication and content to meet their level of understanding.

Entrepreneurs want and need to avoid cash flow problems, optimise spending, set prices, track product profitability, and assess future opportunities from a cash flow perspective.

Accountants can additionally assist in setting budgets, forecasting future revenues and putting a clear financial plan in place to enable the owner to assess the financial success or otherwise of the business performance. Ensuring that the entrepreneur fully understands and owns the plan is key to enabling the owner to optimise their decision-making and investor readiness.

I asked one of my colleagues, Michael Kealy, who is an accountant, to join me in answering this question. Why did I ask him? Because our advice to all start-ups and SMEs is to talk to their accountant!

I am on the National Advisory Council of Network Ireland and enjoy this opportunity to support women in business. I also judge their national awards. I recommend taking this opportunity to both give back to and learn from the entrepreneurs and employees, who bravely put themselves and their businesses to the test through the awards process.

The Entrepreneurs Academy are founding members of LIFT Ireland and I have facilitated leadership roundtables for young people in sports clubs and with online participants who engage in free weekly roundtables to build their values-based leadership.

Pro bono mentorship of young entrepreneurs is a passion of mine and I do this in several ways including through the work of Inner City Enterprise (ICE).

I also believe it is important to equip and support people to build and demonstrate their leadership and their understanding that they can impact others and their organisations through their words, decisions, and actions.

LIFTIreland.ie is a social enterprise that has developed a simple and proven process to embed leadership values. LIFT’s programme is being rolled out nationwide via a volunteer facilitator network with a goal of reaching 10% of the population by 2028.

I believe the first stop shop in building leadership across Irish society starts with LIFT.

Entrepreneurship is not for everybody, but I believe everybody should have the opportunity to explore and understand it as a potential career path they can choose at any stage of life.

I am also inspired by ‘intrapreneurs.’ Those who work within organisations in an entrepreneurial way, leaving their positive mark without being the founder/ entrepreneur.

Intrapreneurship skills can be taught and nurtured throughout the workforce. It also makes great commercial sense. These skills consist of critical human skills like resilience, listening, creativity, innovation, critical thinking, problem-solving and relationship-building. These become superpowers when combined with business acumen skills such as commercial and competitive awareness, and understanding of business models and organisational structures.

All these skills feed into increasing employee engagement and uplevelling the ‘human’ or customer experience within organisations.

‘We are focused on making sure our customers have the right support and funding to scale at every stage of their business life cycle,’ says Denis Ryan, TMT Sector Specialist, AIB Business Banking. ‘We can provide tailored solutions ranging from equity, debt capital and treasury solutions to corporate finance advisory services, fund raising, M&A, as well as an array of advisory services for individuals and businesses at all stages of the technology life cycle.’

Denis points out the role a bank plays in the early stages of a company’s lifecycle. ‘There are a huge array of products and advisory services a bank can provide to augment growth. This is often overlooked in the early stages of a company’s lifecycle where companies are focused on product market fit. Like a technical stack, a good banking foundation can set a company up to handle the complexities of scaling the team and growing internationally,’ says Denis.

The Portershed now has capacity for over 300 members. This new innovation space, which can host up to 100 people, has held over 60 events since it launched in November 2023 and continues to be the fulcrum for tech events in Galway and the West region. The Portershed’s core focus for 2024 is rolling out a suite of AI programmes and supports for their members and community.

Ludgate is also thriving and has hugely optimistic plans for supporting innovation across Cork. It recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of the partnership between Ludgate and Skillnet Innovation Exchange, facilitated by Skillnet Ireland. Over the past year, this partnership has flourished, creating a vibrant ecosystem for innovation, growth, and collaboration.

This piece is an extract from AIB’s recently launched Technology, Media and Telecoms Outlook for 2024. The full report is available on Technology (aib.ie)

“AIB has been backing SMEs for decades. Fostering a deep understanding of the challenges faced by family businesses is of critical importance to us. The recent Family Business research report conducted with Dublin City University’s National Centre for Family Business (NCFB) highlighted that succession aspirations are healthy across the island of Ireland. The report also highlights that Succession Planning is critical to futureproofing, and failure to plan for the medium and long term in this way ultimately damages the viability of the family business for future generations. Financial planning stands as a cornerstone of succession planning, enabling family businesses to thrive through generations.”

When engaging with an AIB Financial Advisor, the initial question posed often revolves around identifying the most crucial asset—the business owners and Company Directors themselves. Understanding the personal and corporate implications in case of unforeseen events allows for the creation of a robust financial plan that emphasises protection and continuity. Protecting business loans emerges as another critical component of financial planning for family businesses. The ability to maintain debt payments in the face of unpredictable circumstances can be challenging without proper strategies in place. Tax-efficient plans can help alleviate the burden and safeguard the financial stability of the business during turbulent times.

By integrating succession planning principles, businesses can unlock new avenues for wealth creation and expand their financial horizons beyond the present. “We worked with a business recently where we were involved from the business formation, through to a buyout situation,” shares Tom McDonald. “Ahead of the buyout, we recommended utilising measures to extract value from the business into retirement vehicles and investment options. Now, we’re collaborating on investment strategies post-sale and planning for future ventures. Working closely with founders, family members, and Company Directors is always rewarding. Family businesses are the backbone of our communities. Your business works hard for you; it’s essential you’re ensuring its working hard for your financial future.”

For guidance tailored to your unique business and personal needs, contact us at 01 771 5867 to schedule a chat with an AIB Financial Advisor. Whether in-person at an AIB Branch or virtually, our advisors are ready to support you on your journey towards financial security and succession success.

Open banking is a game-changer for higher-value transactions, offering a safer, faster, and more cost-effective alternative to manual bank transfers, drafts, or cheques.

Let’s dive into the five key open banking trends we’re seeing this year:

With a national stamp in Ireland currently costing €1.40, many businesses have pivoted to email, but have yet to modernise their payment options, still requiring IBAN payments. This causes a large degree of friction for the payer.

This is where smart invoices can help with the “payment requests” feature where a link to pay the bill directly is available. The payee information will be preset, and the payment can be made with full authentication, in just a few clicks. This is how open banking can significantly optimise businesses’ AR function.

Customers enjoy a quick, secure, and seamless way to pay directly from their bank accounts. With open banking payments, customers no longer need to worry about mistyping account details. In a few simple taps, they select their bank, log in to their mobile banking app, and authorise the payment in a familiar setting. They have more control over who accesses their personal data and enjoy greater visibility into their transactions and account balances. Sensitive payment information becomes ‘invisible’, making it harder for criminals to exploit. Customers authenticate payments directly through their banking app, with their personal information encrypted and safeguarded by industry-standard banking security.

Customer consent is the cornerstone of open banking, obtained before any data is shared or transactions initiated. Unlike direct debits, the payment is initiated by the payer and pushed to the merchant, and not initiated by the merchant and pulled from the payer. All providers offering open banking services must meet high-security standards to ensure that customer data is protected.

Mairead McGuinness, our EU Commissioner for Financial Services recently announced this as “the ability to send and receive money within seconds, at no extra cost, will allow EU citizens to better manage their finances.

It also brings real and tangible benefits for businesses, especially SMEs and merchants, who can be reassured that funds transferred to them are immediately received.”

Merchants can set automated thresholds to present their desired payment method, depending on factors such as the value, location, or transaction type. They can easily set automatic chase paths for failed transactions or where the cart has been abandoned and present an alternative payment method to complete the transaction – bank or card. This strategy allows them to achieve substantial savings on transaction fees and operational costs, while also mitigating card fraud and minimising chargebacks.

Furthermore, PSD3 strengthens fraud prevention measures by expanding the scope of IBAN and name checks. Payment providers now bear the responsibility of ensuring the accuracy of payment details. This will increase the demand for Confirmation of Payee services among PSPs and reduce misdirected payments and fraud. PSD3 gives customers greater control and security. It mandates that PSPs implement Strong Customer Authentication across numerous devices, thereby enhancing payment and data security through a variety of diverse authentication methods.

The open banking landscape in 2024 is dynamic and full of promise, powered by transformative trends driving it toward a future marked by greater speed, security, accessibility, and innovation. In addition, significant costs can be saved in accounts receivable functions by implementing an open banking strategy.

Curious to learn more about how Pay by Bank can help you? Get in touch – www.prommt.com

IFRS 18 introduces three sets of new requirements to improve companies’ reporting of financial performance and give investors a better basis for analyzing and comparing companies:

Improved comparability in the statement of profit or loss (income statement)

Currently there is no specified structure for the income statement. Companies choose their own subtotals to include. Often companies report an operating profit, but the way operating profit is calculated varies from company to company.

IFRS 18 introduces three defined categories for income and expenses – operating, investing and financing – to improve the structure of the income statement, and requires all companies to provide new defined subtotals, including operating profit. The improved structure and new subtotals will give investors a consistent starting point for analyzing companies’ performance and make it easier to compare companies.

Enhanced transparency of management-defined performance measures

Many companies provide company-specific measures, often referred to as alternative performance measures. Investors find this information useful. However, most companies don’t currently provide enough information to enable investors to understand how these measures are calculated and how they relate to the required measures in the income statement.

IFRS 18 therefore requires companies to disclose explanations of those company specific measures that are related to the income statement, referred to as management-defined performance measures. The new requirements will improve the discipline and transparency of management-defined performance measures and make them subject to audit.

More useful grouping of information in the financial statements

Investor analysis of companies’ performance is hampered if the information provided by companies is too summarised or too detailed. IFRS 18 sets out enhanced guidance on how to organize information and whether to provide it in the primary financial statements or in the notes.

The changes are expected to provide more detailed and useful information. IFRS 18 also requires companies to provide more transparency about operating expenses, helping investors to find and understand the information they need.

IFRS 18 is effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027, but companies can apply it earlier. Changes in companies’ reporting resulting from IFRS 18 will depend on their current reporting practices and IT systems.

IFRS 18 replaces IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements. It carries forward many requirements from IAS 1 unchanged.

• Level 1 is a general request for information (much like the “old” aspect query); it is often a “nudge” (a term HMRC likes) and still affords the taxpayer or agent the ability to make an unprompted disclosure (the significance of which is explained further below). For example, Revenue has been busy with share option and similar queries – the Level 1 letter showed the taxpayer that Revenue thought he/she hadn’t dealt with it properly (typically based on employer share scheme returns) and the letter was a chance to sort it out before the intervention level was escalated (and the cost of settling rose).
• Level 2 is now split in two – there is still the “old” Audit but now also the “new” Risk Review (which is typically more targeted in looking at a single tax-head or even a single issue within that tax-head; consequently, Risk Reviews tend to close out more quickly than Audits). When it comes to disclosure options under Chapter 2 of the Code, both have the same effect – on receipt of a Level 2 letter, it is too late to make an unprompted disclosure but, with an eye on penalty mitigation and possible publication, thought needs to be given to whether making a prompted disclosure is wise. On that, one potential trap for the unwary is the “desk” audit whereby the Level 2 intervention is dealt with “by way of correspondence”. The potential trap? Responding in writing to Revenue’s queries in their letter before indicating the taxpayer wishes to make a prompted disclosure means it may be too late to do so. Why? The written response can be deemed to be the start of the intervention.
• Level 3 is pretty much as it was – it is an investigation as Revenue’s “intelligence” (gleaned from many sources) suggests potential serious non-compliance and there is typically no protection (in terms of penalty mitigation) under the Code for the taxpayer. Level 3 letters need to be taken seriously as the next step could be a move from civil penalties to criminal sanctions.

• Self-correction (Para 2.2),
• Innocent error (Para 2.3),
• Technical adjustment (Para 2.4), and
• No “loss of revenue” (Paras 2.5 and 2.6)

These, where/when available, generally afford a “cheaper” outcome (i.e. lower penalties) than a QD.

The period to prepare a QD is worth noting, particularly Para 2.10.1 re a prompted QD (“PQD”) where a 60-day extension is available; I see this used quite a bit. Two notes of caution – the request needs to made (typically via MyEnquiries) within 21 days of the intervention notification letter and, if the extension is sought, Revenue’s expectation is a PQD will be made.

Co-operation also assists with penalty mitigation; it is covered in Para 2.17 – note, it must be “full”.

This table summarises penalty mitigation opportunities with QD etc.

There is a school of thought (and some case law emerging in other common law jurisdictions) that a prudent taxpayer who takes advice from a tax “expert” can’t be regarded as “careless” if Revenue subsequently challenges the expert advice and prevails. To date, that argument typically cuts no ice with Revenue, but it is an evolving area so watch this space.

Whether “careless” behaviour is with or without “significant consequences” comes down to simple maths – see Para 4.6.3; this can be crucial in the context of publication.

• If a QD is accepted by Revenue, or
• If the settlement figure (for tax) does not exceed €50k, or
• If the penalty amount does not exceed 15% of the additional tax due, or
• A qualifying avoidance disclosure (QAD) is accepted (see Chapter 7 re avoidance).

Once a taxpayer is within any one of these four exclusions, there can be no publication. It is somehow counter-intuitive that a “normal” taxpayer suffering a 30% penalty can be published but a punter who has engaged in (what Revenue regards as) avoidance can’t be if he/she is within the QAD regime (see Para 7.15). I understand this is being looked at.

Knowledge of the Code and how to use it is key in seeking to limit the damage, both monetary and reputational (if publication “bothers” a taxpayer), for those selected for intervention.

The standard treatment for vehicles imported into Ireland from GB may be summarised as follows:

• VAT and Customs Duty are payable at the point of import:
• Customs Import Declaration is required in Ireland and include the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). The declaration is usually completed by a customs agent on behalf of the importer, or an individual can also complete the declaration using the declaration portal on the Irish Revenue’s Automated Import System (AIS). In order to be able to complete the declaration the person completing it must:
  • Be registered for Revenue Online Service (ROS)
  • Be registered for Customs & Excise (C&E)
  • Have an EORI number.

This treatment applies to all vehicles imported from GB unless it is proved that the vehicle qualifies for preferential origin or Returned Goods Relief.

Where the vehicle was manufactured in the UK and complies with the origin terms as set out in the EU-UK TCA, a preferential tariff rate of 0% may be claimed.

Importantly however, where goods are of EU origin and are in use in the UK and then subsequently imported into Ireland from GB will not qualify for the 0% rate.

However, if there is no proof of declaration to customs in Northern Ireland, then the importer is required to complete a Customs Import Declaration, pay Customs Duty, if applicable and VAT on import.

It should be noted that vehicles purchased from NI, that were in NI prior to 1 January 2021, are treated as EU goods and no customs formalities are required, VAT on import and customs duty are not applicable.

Motor vehicles in Ireland must be registered within 30 days of their date of entry into the State.

There is a replacement scheme, the Second-Hand Motor Vehicle Payment Scheme (SHMVPS). This new scheme allows car dealers who are VAT registered in NI and in EU Member States to reclaim the VAT element of the vehicle cost:

• if the vehicle is purchased in GB

and

• removed or exported from there for resale in NI or an EU Member State.

The new rules apply from 01 May 2023 and claims can be made from August 2023 onwards.

Vehicles bought by NI dealers before 1 May 2023 and sold after 1 May 2024 can be registered in Ireland without customs obligations.

There are no customs obligations for vehicles brought into NI after 1 May 2023, where the vehicle has been in private ownership in NI for a reasonable period of time.

Where a vehicle availing of the UK VAT Margin Scheme (as introduced in January 2021) has been declared to customs on import into NI, including payment of any customs duties, there will remain a liability to VAT on import into Ireland. VAT will apply at the standard rate currently 23% and must be discharged before the vehicle can be registered. In such cases, a Supplementary Import Declaration Form – VAT on Import on Used Vehicles must be completed, and the associated import VAT must be paid. Proof of the customs declaration on import into NI must also be provided.

Before buying a vehicle from NI with either a GB registration or a vehicle that was previously registered in GB, the purchaser should ensure that they have documentation to prove that the vehicle was declared to NI customs.

If the purchaser does not have proof of declaration to Customs in NI, then the purchaser:

• must complete a customs declaration in Ireland;

and

• pay customs duty in Ireland (if applicable), and VAT on the import value of the vehicle.

This must be done before presenting the vehicle for registration.

• the purchase price of the vehicle, plus
• transport and insurance costs, plus
• handling charges

VAT at the standard rate (currently 23%) applies on the importation of vehicles from GB. Generally, VAT is not applied to used vehicles purchased in NI. However, VAT may apply if the vehicle is regarded as a “new means of transport” or was previously registered in GB and move to NI after 31 December 2020. VAT is levied on the value of the vehicle that equals the customs value (as detailed above) plus customs duty.

The scheme is available to all VAT registered traders who are registered for VAT and Customs and Excise. However, Revenue may exclude importers who do not fulfil certain conditions. Such conditions include compliance with tax and customs law, the viability of their business operations and their capacity to pay their VAT liabilities.

Where postponed VAT accounting is being applied, it is essential that the importer correctly reflects the import in its VAT return. The VAT3 return now includes new fields for the taxpayer to input the customs value of goods (including motor vehicles) imported plus Customs Duty.

The Irish Revenue have issued detailed guidance on the operation of postponed VAT accounting, which may be accessed below:

Vehicles that are within Categories B and C may have different VAT deductibility rules. Where the imported vehicle is used for commercial purposes and falls under the appropriate VRT categories (likely B or C), the VAT incurred can be reclaimed, aligning with the general rules of VAT recovery for business purposes. This means that if such a vehicle is used exclusively for business purposes, the VAT is deductible in the normal way. Vehicles within VRT Categories B and C, such as vans, lorries, pick-ups and crew-cabs are generally deductible for VAT. Buses or minibuses with more than 8 seating positions (in addition to the driver’s seating position) are not generally deductible for VAT, although they come within Category C, as they are normally used for the exempt activity of transporting passengers.

Mobile devices have turbocharged this usage as now we carry the internet with us in our pockets or purses 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The development of the Internet of Things and AI will further increase our reliance on the internet.

Whilst most internet related things are positive, unfortunately there are plenty of actors out there who use the internet and our naivety to impose harm and financial loss.

Some of these attempts to catch us out are now so recognisable that we instantly dismiss them – the various Crown Princes from countries all over the world who email us asking for our support as they are having a hard time financially now. The millions in Euro/Dollars/Sterling that are sitting in the bank accounts of deceased individuals who have no heirs remain in those bank accounts. The winnings from lotto draws that you didn’t even realise that you had entered are still waiting to be claimed.

You may still get these phishing emails but we probably all recognise them for what they are.

We have all read the stories about companies receiving emails from a supplier advising of a change of bank details and while we may think that this only happens to smaller, less informed companies, consider this:

“Using imitation email addresses, Lituanian national Evaldas Rimasauskas successfully defrauded US tech giants Facebook and Google out of a total $122 Million Dollars. Rimasauskas did this by sending fake invoices that were disguised as coming from a common supplier, Quanta Computer Inc, based in Thailand.

This demonstrates that even the largest corporations can be conned by a committed fraudster.”

Mr. Rimasauskas was sentenced to 5 years in jail in 2019.

Facebook and Google are far from being naive when it comes to the internet and yet, they were caught out by a “simple” invoice scam.

Unfortunately, the people operating in the darker regions of the internet are becoming more and more sophisticated in their “art” and are receiving greater financial support from nefarious State actors and because we as individuals and businesses are storing more and more information in digital form in the Cloud, the opportunities for these people to wreak havoc is growing all the time.

Whilst losing money on an individual basis – such as the cases that are reported in the paper from time to time – is painful, it is probably the hit to our confidence that is the worst thing. It’s the “how can I have been so stupid” question that goes round and round in our heads for days and weeks after. We berate ourselves for having fallen for the scam. We wonder would anyone else have known it was a scam. Our internal reputation, i.e. our ego, takes a hit.

Now, imagine that it wasn’t you individually who was the victim of an internet hack. Imagine instead that it’s your company and hackers have gained access to your files including the personal and financial details. Or imagine that hackers have taken control of your computer systems, and you are locked out of those same files.

Your first port of call in the event of this happening is going to be your IT support department. If you’re company is big enough to have a department like this then work on rectifying the situation can start immediately – even though the outcome may still be unpleasant.

If you are too small to have a dedicated IT department, you are on the phone to your IT support provider, hoping that they can bring you back from the brink.

After those calls, who’s next? Your regulator will need a call to inform them of the situation and probably the Data Protection Commissioner.

But who’s going to ring your clients to inform them of the issue and how do you evaluate the potential reputational damage that such an event will create?

“Hi Ms. Client, listen, our systems have been hacked and we’re not sure, but your financial information may be in the hands of the hackers. Our IT team are on the case, but we don’t know when we will regain control of our systems. It’s probably a good idea to change passwords on your bank accounts etc.”

Do you need to employ a PR company to smooth things over?

How are these costs as well as the increased spend as IT try to retrieve the situation being covered?

This is where Cyber Security Insurance can help. Cyber Security Insurance can pay for professional support to help businesses restore data and be up and running as soon as possible.

It can:

• Offer protection from cyber risks which could be damaging to a business and its reputation.
• Assist in helping business recover after a cyber-attack.
• Pay for professional support to help businesses who are the victims of cyber-crime.

It is not a prevention, but it helps protect against a financial loss.

Whilst Cyber Security Insurance can help alleviate the costs after an event has occurred, it is always better for the event never to have occurred in the first place. Unfortunately, too many of us still use the same password on multiple applications.

Passwords should ideally be between 8 and 64 characters long and whilst the thought of remembering a 64-character password may be daunting, using a password that is also a sentence may be easier to recall.

The above sentence is 64 characters (without the full stop). The length of this password makes it extremely difficult to crack.

Don’t share passwords with colleagues.

Computer systems should have strong anti-virus protection. Digital Data should be encrypted. Use Firewalls.

Use up to date software and make sure to apply any patches or fixes issued by the provider.

Use Multi Factor Authentication. When you log onto an application, your phone receives a code which needs to be entered as well to confirm that it is you logging in.

However, no matter how good the security on our systems is, there is always the human factor which can breach the strongest defence.

I will leave you with this story as an example.

A colleague of mine received a call from his father asking if he had sent an email with a virus to him. My colleague had no clue what his father was speaking about but asked his wife if she had seen any strange emails. “Oh yes” she replies. “I saw an email come in with the title ‘Had a great time last night, can’t wait to do it again”. “And what did you do?” asked my colleague. “Oh, I clicked on it” she replied, “but nothing happened, so I clicked on it another 20 times to try and open it”.

My colleague had to explain that this email contained a virus that sent itself to all the email addresses on his computer because of her attempting to open the original email in the first place.

Unfortunately, the best IT practices and security in the world is easily defeated by a spouse who thinks her husband is up to something nefarious!

Whilst this anecdote may bring a smile to all our faces, it highlights the fact that the weakest link in any cyber security is always the person at the end of the keyboard.

Here in JDM Insurances, we would be delighted to discuss Cyber Security Insurance as an additional layer of protection for your business. Please do not hesitate to contact us for further information.

Bottom (Mark Gargan, President, CPA Ireland, Brendan Brady, Partner, Brady and Associates, Trish O’Neill, Director of Member Services, CPA Ireland, Jude Condell, Director Business Development, Eamonn Siggins, CEO, CPA Ireland, Gail McEvoy, Founder, McEvoy Craig, Alan Farrelly, Managing Director, UHY Farrelly Dawe White, Clodagh Henehan, Vice President, CPA Ireland).

Throughout her distinguished career, Gail McEvoy has been an exemplar in the accountancy profession.

For 25 years Gail’s firm, McEvoy Craig, has been a leader in accountancy in the Northeast region of Ireland. Providing excellent client services across accounting, taxation, audit, and business advisory, the firm has delivered these with a strategic mindset and a personalised service.

Her commitment to helping the accountancy profession deliver to its potential emerged when she first joined the Council of CPA Ireland in 2007. She served as the Institute’s President in 2011 and 2012.

Her commitment to accountancy extends beyond borders as she served on the board of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). This placed Gail, for six years over two terms, in the leadership of the organisation that represents 3 million accountants across 130 countries. Gail was also a member of the Planning & Finance Committee of IFAC from 2016-2019.

Gail balanced her work and life commitments across a 6-year term on the Board of IFAC and brought the voice of Small to medium Practice, and of the SMEs that sector represents, to the global accounting stage.

CPA Ireland CEO Eamonn Siggins and CPA Ireland President Mark Gargan joined a virtual meeting with President of CA Sri Lanka, Mr. Heshana Kuruppu and completed the renewal of the Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) with The Institute of Chartered Accountants Sri Lanka on Thursday 25th April 2024. The Mutual Recognition Agreement recognises that global portability is becoming increasingly important for professional accountants around the world and strengthens the global relationships and opportunities for members of both organisations.

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