International Accounting Forum & Awards 2022

The pandemic was a unique and exceptional challenge for society, the economy, and our profession.

But as we’ve adapted to new ways of working, and embraced greater use of technology, a more purposeful and people-centric accounting profession is becoming reality faster than ever could have been imagined.
As we look ahead 25 years from now, we say things can only get better…

• The outlook for the post-pandemic firm is set amid a backdrop of The Great Resignation, a younger generation’s shift in priorities, and desire for a greater sense of purpose from work
• Alongside these societal shifts, the hybrid-work era is just beginning – learning to develop and maintain relationships, creating and nurturing meaningful roles, and providing a better experience for accountants are all key to success
• In today’s – not tomorrow’s – digital audit-era, maximising the use of technology and automation is critical to enabling the accountant experience needed to attract and retain talented people in the profession
• Businesses have always recognised and valued the unique and comprehensive perspective accountants provide – technology is enhancing this
• Technology is enabling accountants to supplement professional judgement with greater objectivity – building more transparent and insightful client relationships
• The increasing connectivity of systems allows businesses of all shapes and sizes to benefit from big data
• In the age of disinformation, the concepts of true and fair have never been more important
• The Brydon report sets a path for a more purposeful Audit profession that acts in the public interest – this is achieved most easily with the right blend of people and technology
• Sport has shown how technology compliments and supports fair and consistent application of the rules – it’s time for financial referees to get the same help

• Modernize your accountancy and tax client interaction management with a secure, onestop interaction workflow platform
• Building a onestop hub to manage your complete accountancy and tax client life cycle across account onboarding, account servicing, and exception handling
• Rethinking today’s costly, inefficient, and fragmented client engagement model, which requires significant manual intervention
• Streamline client business processes across your accountancy and tax firm and orchestrate each step of your workflows to fast-track client business

• The pandemic has caused many firms to rethink their strategies and transformation is absolutely necessary for firms to grow and survive
• Breaking down the opportunities presented to firms today which include ESG advisory, supply chain advisory, client accounting and technology services

• Discussing the challenges and how firms are over coming these challenges. People challenges are top of mind

• Uncovering the challenge and opportunity in being in a remote world and how the office game has changed forever

• Find out how well technology is really transforming accounting
• Assess how your firm’s progress compares to peers
• Learn what’s critical for success in any digital strategy
• Hear the results from Silvefin’s annual research into technology use in the profession
• Understand views on the technology pillars for success in digital transformation and the critical role this plays in the building of a successful advisory revenue stream..

• Cyber Risks to firms and clients
• Impact of cyber crime – costs to businesses and impact on reputation
• How Praxity firms and clients are evolving, what are the solutions?

• Are we moving away from large digital solutions that can do everything?
• How we best maximize the potential of digitalizing your finance teams’ workflow for efficiency and accuracy

• Choose solutions that work well together. The more complete your ecosystem is, the more accurate information you can deliver

• Trends currently happing in building a digital finance team, e.g., business technologist and Citizen Technologist – are they a quick fix or long term?

• Accountants’ play a vital role as trusted advisers to the small business sector
• Given SMEs represent about 90% of businesses of the global economy, improvements in their sustainability practices are vital to addressing our global environmental and social challenges
• How can accountants take the lead and assist in making real, effective change at the heart of SMEs?
• Join our fireside chat as James Lizars of Thrive Accountants shares his experiences of becoming B-Corp registered and putting sustainability at the heart of his practice and the impact it has had

Pre-pandemic the industry was identifying potential future risks to accounting practices with a focus on automation of manual tasks and changes in client expectations. Fast forward two years and the pandemic has forced firms into change at a speed never seen before. This session will discuss key strategies and transformation to assist in the sustainability of your firm.

• What does the automation of a practice really look like? Is digital transformation necessary?
• What does the new working landscape look like and how do we manage it? ( Remote working inc client experience)
• Is long term growth of a practice dependent on revenue or people?
• Ignition

Many firms are experiencing high-growth from their audit business, but face capacity challenges. As a number of key developments in audit move from debate to implementation, how can firms capitalise on growth and drive high-impact, cultural changes.

• A high level overview of key developments in audit
• The role of standard setters, methodology providers, firms, and teams
• The status of firms and the impact of developments
• How firms can increase alignment across leadership

• Understanding the immediate risks for organisations and clients
• Practical first steps organisations can take
• The opportunities of developing ESR thinking into a service line