IT and Accountants: A Partnership Made in Heaven? Kirstin Gillon, ICAEW IT Faculty Introduction by Christiana Diola, Members and Stakeholders, Europe region BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com ICAEW is a world leader of the accountancy and finance profession and we support over 144,000 chartered accountants around the world ACA is our world-leading chartered accountancy qualification BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com What is an ICAEW Chartered Accountant? ICAEW Chartered Accountants are recognised around the world as leaders in accountancy, finance and business. Their qualification, the ACA, is one of the most advanced learning and professional development programmes available. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com What does that mean… • International recognition of premium business qualification • 81% FTSE 100 companies have an ICAEW member on their board • 97% Best Global Brands employ ICAEW members • Over 20,000 students worldwide (25% based outside the UK) studying in 16 countries • High pass rates and admission to membership because of calibre of our students BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com What’s involved? BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com ACA TRAINING – THE QUALIFICATION BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com ACA TRAINING – WHO IS INVOLVED? EMPLOYER • Training agreement • Salary and rewards • Study time • Reviews YOU • Time • Intellect • Energy • Commitment TUITION PROVIDER • Tuition • Revision • Exam practice ICAEW • Syllabus • Examinations • Study support • Membership BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com ACA MODULES Case Study ADVANCED LEVEL Corporate Reporting Strategic Business Management Business Planning: Taxation Business Strategy Audit and Assurance Financial Accounting and Reporting PROFESSIONAL LEVEL CERTIFICATE LEVEL Accounting BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE Assurance Business and Finance © ICAEW 2015 Financial Management Law Tax Compliance Management Information Principles of Taxation icaew.com STAY CONNECTED • Find great resources to boost employability and business skills: – Icaew.com/mooc The Importance of Money in Business – Icaew.com/careers – Business games in Cyprus • Keep up-to-date with the latest news icaew.com/studentcommunity • Like us on Facebook Students@ICAEW • Follow us on Twitter @ICAEW_talk • Join our LinkedIn group ICAEW Students BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com IT Faculty Trust Broadband Cyber Policy Thought leadership Other Member service Roadshows Other ICAEW IT Value IT Security Cloud BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com Technology and accounting BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com Agenda • How do accountants and IT work together? • What are key technology trends for accountants? • What do our members want to know? BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com How do accountants and IT work together? BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com The different roles of accountants Decision makers IT investments Risk and strategy IT function Auditors IT controls Audit analytics Automation Business advisers Software selection Cyber security Process change System users Accounting systems Reporting systems Government systems BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com Should the CIO report to the CFO? CEO COO CFO CIO BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com The risks of poor communication Cyber risks are frequently pigeonholed as technical risks which are under the province of the Chief Information Officer. This makes it difficult to reach decisions which balance the opportunities and risks of digital technology and recognise the significant business impact that cyber security failures could have. In order to manage these risks effectively, businesses need to approach cyber risks as an integral part of business strategy and operations, not as a specialist technical topic. ICAEW Audit Insights: Cyber Security BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com Working with other skill sets Business and finance skills IT and data skills Statistics and algorithms Exploiting big data BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com What are key technologies for accountants? BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com The key enabler Exponential growth of computing power 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com Are we behind the curve? 2015 UK – trials of driverless cars 2013 Google’s driverless car logs 200k miles 2004 Driverless car – ‘not possible’ , Derived from Brynjolfsson 2011 BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com A changing business world Digital Disruption Consumerisation Democratisation Inclusion BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com Important technology trends Interaction Data Financial technology Cloud computing Big data and analytics Digital currencies and ledgers Mobile technology Automation Payment systems Social media Standards Platforms Online services Cyber security Analytics services BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com Different business priorities Value for money • Efficiency and cost • Revenues • Customer engagement Risk • Security • Project delivery • Organisational capabilities Strategic goals • Reach new markets • New products and services • Competitive advantage and pressure BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com What do our members want to know? BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com Is my accounting data safe in the cloud? Example Considerations • Small to mid-size business • Benefits of using a supplier • Cloud accounting software • Track record of supplier • Benefits of cloud computing • Contract and controls – Cost • Back up plans – Flexibility – Collaboration • But worried about security – Data breaches – Availability BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com How much should I spend on security? Example Considerations • Large business • Use of standards • Impact of major breach would be significant • Benchmarks • Cost of controls v loss avoidance – Reputation – Fines • Positive case and business enabler – Recovery cost • Spending more and more on security • But no blank cheque – where do they prioritise? BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com Can I rely on big data analytics? Example Considerations • Possibilities of using new sources of external data about customers e.g. social media • Value of data • Data quality • Use of correlations • Driven by competitors • Lots of free or cheap tools • But concerns about reliability of data and analysis BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com Questions Email: kirstin.gillon@icaew.com Blog: www.ion.icaew.com/itcounts @icaew_ITFaculty BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com A world leader of the accountancy and finance profession BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE © ICAEW 2015 icaew.com
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