ICAS ICAS logo

Quicklinks

  1. About Us

    Find out about who we are and what we do here at ICAS.

  2. Find a CA

    Search our directory of individual CAs and Member organisations by name, location and professional criteria.

  3. CA Magazine

    View the latest issues of the dedicated magazine for ICAS Chartered Accountants.

  4. Contact Us

    Get in touch with ICAS by phone, email or post, with dedicated contacts for Members, Students and firms.

Login
  • Annual renewal
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Find a CA
  1. About us
    1. Governance
  2. Members
    1. Become a member
    2. Newly qualified
    3. Manage my membership
    4. Benefits of membership
    5. Careers support
    6. Mentoring
    7. CA Wellbeing
    8. More for Members
    9. Area networks
    10. International communities
    11. Get involved
    12. Top Young CAs
    13. Career breaks
    14. ICAS podcast
    15. Newly admitted members 2022
    16. Newly admitted members 2023
  3. CA Students
    1. Student information
    2. Student resources
    3. Learning requirements
    4. Learning updates
    5. Learning blog
    6. Totum Pro | Student discount card
    7. CA Student wellbeing
  4. Become a CA
    1. How to become a CA
    2. Routes to becoming a CA
    3. CA Stories
    4. Find a training agreement
    5. Why become a CA
    6. Qualification information
    7. University exemptions
  5. Employers
    1. Become an Authorised Training Office
    2. Resources for Authorised Training Offices
    3. Professional entry
    4. Apprenticeships
  6. Find a CA
  7. ICAS events
    1. CA Summit
  8. CA magazine
  9. Insight
    1. Finance + Trust
    2. Finance + Technology
    3. Finance + EDI
    4. Finance + Mental Fitness
    5. Finance + Leadership
    6. Finance + Sustainability
  10. Professional resources
    1. Anti-money laundering
    2. Audit and assurance
    3. Brexit
    4. Charities
    5. Coronavirus
    6. Corporate and financial reporting
    7. Business and governance
    8. Ethics
    9. Insolvency
    10. ICAS Research
    11. Pensions
    12. Practice
    13. Public sector
    14. Sustainability
    15. Tax
  11. CPD - professional development
    1. CPD courses and qualifications
    2. CPD news and updates
    3. CPD support and advice
  12. Regulation
    1. Complaints and sanctions
    2. Regulatory authorisations
    3. Guidance and help sheets
    4. Regulatory monitoring
  13. CA jobs
    1. CA jobs partner: Rutherford Cross
    2. Resources for your job search
    3. Advertise with CA jobs
    4. Hays | A Trusted ICAS CA Jobs Partner
    5. Azets | What's your ambition?
  14. Work at ICAS
    1. Business centres
    2. Meet our team
    3. Benefits
    4. Vacancies
    5. Imagine your career at ICAS
  15. Contact us
    1. Technical and regulation queries
    2. ICAS logo request

The days of making money at any cost are long gone

  • LinkedIn (opens new window)
  • Twitter (opens new window)
By Mike McKeon CA, President, ICAS

27 February 2020

Key points:

  • Futureproofing skills will be essential for firms seeking to survive the technological advances coming.
  • CAs need to be continuous learners to keep up.
  • CA magazine look at four ways to get – and stay – ahead.

Our profession needs to contribute to the health of society at large, as well as to climate rescue and restoration, else it risks being left behind, says President Mike McKeon CA

I was at the Investors’ Forum meeting in January, where a wide ranging discussion was held around shareholder engagement and the ever increasing need to address the environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda in their investee companies.

The keynote speaker was the Financial Reporting Council’s new Chair, Simon Dingemans, who in his speech, and in a quick chat with me afterwards, confirmed that they will be holding several consultations on the way forward for regulation of investors, companies and auditors, all of which will likely have profound implications for the wider accounting profession and how we go about our business.

Whether you’re an auditor, whether you sit on corporate boards, or whether you’re simply interested in how wider business and markets work, this is going to be a seminal moment in our profession, and we all need to be paying attention. A lot of things are going to change.

As suggested, and most significantly, there has been a sharp rise in interest in ESG impacts on corporate life. The days of “we’ll make money at any cost” are long gone. And anybody who still believes otherwise may struggle to find finance.

Investors, such as BlackRock, the biggest in the world, are now warning they won’t be investing with companies that don’t take ESG seriously.

Look wider and you will also see that young people, in particular, don’t want to work for companies that ignore environmental or social measures, because it is simply their future at stake. But we all need to be contributing to social growth and to the wellbeing of the planet. And this is very real and it is now.

At a recent board meeting of a transport group that I am associated with, we talked about how we are going to change our approach to the procurement of our fleet. Will electric buses be the new norm; will the technology do the job or, quite frankly, do we have to find a way to make it do the job?

All of these things are now genuinely on the agenda. Quite simply, if you don’t believe business bears some responsibility for our social and environmental health today then you shouldn’t be in business.

The UK isn’t unique in addressing this, and we’re not perfect by any means. But I’d argue we’re towards the front of the queue.

And in the profession of accounting and auditing and in terms of corporate governance we still punch above our weight in the world, so what we do matters.

If you don’t believe the environment and society are important you shouldn’t be in business

We’ve looked at the picture and said, “We really should be doing better than we are.”

Politicians can and will talk a lot about this, but some of the key actors in the world are the business communities, including our profession.

We are heading towards a much more enlightened and, dare I say it, rewarding profession than has been the case for the last 10 years.

And it starts with the restoration of trust in business and the auditing profession and regaining that sense of public respect.

That word “respect” is crucial here, because from respect you build trust. Now is a real moment of inflection in our profession. There’s no question in my mind that things are changing for the better.

It’s going to be painful for some – these kind of changes always are – but it’s about making sure we can support our members, future members and each other as the new landscape evolves.

And yes, we also do this in the wider public interest. If you’ve felt a bit down about life as a professional auditor, or in the corporate world, and you didn’t know where things were going, well now is the chance to look up and to move forward.

You can engage with the future and step by step we will rebuild trust in our profession, and in wider business, and once again we will lead the world to a better place.


This article first appeared in the March 2020 issue of CA magazine.

Read now

CAs can make a difference

By Mike McKeon CA, President, ICAS

29 January 2020

2022-01-xero 2022-01-xero
ICAS logo

Footer links

  • Contact us
  • Terms and conditions
  • Modern slavery statement
  • Privacy notice
  • CA magazine

Connect with ICAS

  • Facebook (opens new window) Facebook Icon
  • Twitter (opens new window) Twitter Icon
  • LinkedIn (opens new window) LinkedIn Icon
  • Instagram (opens new window) Instagram Icon

ICAS is a member of the following bodies

  • Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (opens new window) Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies logo
  • Chartered Accountants Worldwide (opens new window) Chartered Accountants Worldwide logo
  • Global Accounting Alliance (opens new window) Global Accounting Alliance
  • International Federation of Accountants (opens new window) IFAC
  • Access Accountancy (opens new window) Access Acountancy

Charities

  • ICAS Foundation (opens new window) ICAS Foundation
  • SCABA (opens new window) scaba

Accreditations

  • ISO 9001 - RGB (opens new window)
© ICAS 2022

The mark and designation “CA” is a registered trade mark of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS), and is available for use in the UK and EU only to members of ICAS. If you are not a member of ICAS, you should not use the “CA” mark and designation in the UK or EU in relation to accountancy, tax or insolvency services. The mark and designation “Chartered Accountant” is a registered trade mark of ICAS, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and Chartered Accountants Ireland. If you are not a member of one of these organisations, you should not use the “Chartered Accountant” mark and designation in the UK or EU in relation to these services. Further restrictions on the use of these marks also apply where you are a member.

ICAS logo

Our cookie policy

ICAS.com uses cookies which are essential for our website to work. We would also like to use analytical cookies to help us improve our website and your user experience. Any data collected is anonymised. Please have a look at the further information in our cookie policy and confirm if you are happy for us to use analytical cookies: