Inside ICAS: Top talking points from June 2023
Your Office Bearer team review their top talking points from June.
Your Office Bearer team review their top talking points from June, including an event which delved into ICAS’ newly published 2030 strategy, and our first Digital Practice Conference which is helping small and medium sized-firms to grow and better serve clients.
Clive’s top talking point
“In June we shared videos which outline the priorities which we’d like to champion during the year, and our key areas of focus for supporting ICAS members.”
Clive Bellingham CA, ICAS President
"At the start of each new term, your newly appointed President, Deputy President and Vice President set out their visions for the year ahead. In June we shared videos which outline the priorities which we’d like to champion during the year, and our key areas of focus for supporting ICAS members.
During my year as President, my focus is to support ICAS in delivering the ambitions of our new strategy. The changes we are implementing will have a lasting impact on our profession and will help maintain ICAS as the leading educator for our profession. We’ll lead on key sustainability issues, embrace our net zero future and place equality, diversity and inclusion at the forefront of everything we do.
Another key focus area I have for my presidency is social mobility and widening access to the profession.
As well as supporting the delivery of our strategy, Alison Cornwell CA is setting out once again to back the ICAS Foundation. Following her year as Vice President, when she raised £25,000 for the ICAS Foundation, Alison has shared her goal to raise even more funds as Deputy President in 2023.
This year’s new member of the Office Bearer team is Karen Scholes CA who takes on the role of Vice President. Karen has outlined her intent to talk with as many members as possible, particularly those in practice and working in small and medium-sized firms.
Watch the videos from each of us on our plans for 2023/24."
Alison’s top talking point
Our new strategy is a roadmap for delivering an exciting and ambitious future for ICAS and our members... At the start of June, I chaired a webinar on how we’ll achieve these ambitious plans
Alison Cornwell CA, ICAS Deputy President
"As Deputy President, I want to focus on our ‘raison d être’ as embodied in the recently published strategy, ‘ICAS 2030: Together, we will…’.
Our new strategy is a roadmap for delivering an exciting and ambitious future for ICAS and our members. It will help us respond to extraordinary times. The strategy details how we’re transforming to embrace positive change, with a renewed focus on always delivering value for members, students, firms and wider society.
At the start of June, I chaired a webinar on how we’ll achieve these ambitious plans. The ICAS Executive team joined me to share insight into our enhanced CA syllabus and approach to learning, how we’re empowering the profession to lead on key sustainability issues, and our focus on upholding trust and ethics by acting in the public interest and demanding the highest standards of those we regulate.
In case you missed it, you can catch up on the webinar to learn more about ICAS’ new strategy and how we’ll achieve our ambitious vision for the future."
Karen’s top talking point
The Digital Practice Conference explored the latest strategies and technologies underpinning them, allowing small and medium sized-firms to grow and better serve clients.
Karen Scholes CA, ICAS Vice President
"It was exciting to see ICAS host the first Digital Practice Conference recently. The event explored the latest strategies and technologies underpinning them, allowing small and medium sized-firms to grow and better serve clients.
A full day of in-person panel discussions, presentations and round tables, featuring the UK’s leading accountancy firm mentors, highlighted cutting-edge accountancy trends and software. The day allowed members in small and medium sized-firms the opportunity to take a step back from the day-to-day, and to get the knowledge needed to implement meaningful changes and be fit for the future.
Those who attended heard the first-hand experience from other accountants who have already grown successful practices and learned how to avoid making any costly mistakes.
It was an interactive and insightful day, an unrivalled opportunity to have access to some of the industry’s most innovative accountants.
To catch up on all that was said at the 2023 Digital Practice Conference, watch the recording here."
What else has got us talking...
- We submitted a response to the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants' proposed strategy and work plan for 2024 to 2027.
- We welcomed the release of new sustainability reporting standards, which help establish a global baseline for sustainability disclosures.
- In our latest podcast, Hazel Smith CA shares her journey from studying economics and finance at the University of Strathclyde to the present day, where she works in external audit for Bentley's Chartered Accountants in Brisbane and the role the ICAS Foundation played in supporting her career journey.
- ICAS presented at a CCAB Ethics Webinar – 'Resilience Under Pressure' on 'Organisational culture: The importance of speaking up and listening'.
- Our new learning platform was launched in June. Advantage is the new home for everything students will need throughout their CA training, from communications to courses.
- The June edition of CA magazine provided an in-depth examination of the roles to be discovered by CAs within the space sector.
Let's keep talking
- Connect with Clive on LinkedIn.
- Connect with Alison on LinkedIn.
- Connect with Karen on LinkedIn.