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Chris Good CA’s candour about his recovery from a mental health crisis offers a signal lesson for the profession, says President Clive Bellingham CA
A CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION
CAs are doing extraordinary work in a vast range of sectors. It’s up to us to get that message across if we’re to continue to attract future generations of talent, says President David Cruickshank CA
Two recent events I attended as ICAS President gave me pause to reflect on how they both tie into the future of the profession. The first was the ICAS Practice Conference, held in Glasgow in June. The events team did a fantastic job of creating an open atmosphere in which people were prepared to share their problems and experiences.
But it struck me that there are thousands of members in practice who might have benefited from coming along, especially given the current pace of change across the profession and the wider economy. I would urge them to attend next year’s event if they can – and for you all to read our report of this year’s event.
One of the most immediate challenges for our practitioners is recruitment. In Glasgow, people were talking about staff shortages and how they’re trying to take on more trainees.
“These young CAs’ achievements are astonishing – and should serve as a great calling card to those students who think chartered accountancy isn’t for them”
Having listened to the concerns of those in practice, I thought back to our CA Rising Stars 2026 awards ceremony, held in London 12 days earlier. I chatted to as many of the top 35 who attended this year’s ceremony as I could. As I said in my previous column, we face a challenge persuading students to consider a career in chartered accountancy.
What these young CAs are doing – the breadth of industries they are working in, the positive difference they’re making, both in their jobs and through their voluntary work for non-profits and charities – is astonishing. Their achievements should serve as a great calling card to those students who think chartered accountancy isn’t for them.
Image change
Of course, you still need to be exceptionally talented and have a good instinct for numbers to be a CA, but I am sure there are students out there who have the requisite skills but are put off for several reasons. One of them remains the stereotype of an accountant that dates back decades. While we have done much to shake off that image, in some areas it still persists.
Yet some of those CA Rising Stars 2026 are working at cutting-edge firms, applying AI in ways that add value for their clients and their organisations, but in a manner that is also ethical and responsible, ensuring proper human input and professional oversight.
This year’s entrants were trained in what could be classed as the ‘pre-AI’ era. There have been some interesting pieces of research recently, which examined where the AI-driven productivity gains in professional services are being made. The studies found that the people who gained the most are those with the most experience, whereas those with the least experience made no noticeable gains – because they don’t know how to probe and are too quick to take information at face value.
David Cruickshank CA addresses the ICAS Practice Conference
David Cruickshank CA addresses the ICAS Practice Conference
One of the sessions at the Practice Conference was hosted by Jordan Vickery, the co-founder of Vinyl. His business has a piece of software that interrogates the minutes and transcripts of meetings, using a large language model trained to understand the profession’s technical terms. The AI then picks out recommendations for items that should be followed up with the client.
Now think about this in the context of how you train young people and give them valuable experience. They will have that information under their noses, and the AI will show them what their principal or partner is discussing and how that can be converted into actions that benefit the client. That gives them real-world examples of professional service to work from. This may seem to some like a relatively simple thing, but the results have been fantastic.
From speaking to members at the Practice Conference and recent Meet the President events, I also heard of the need for ICAS to have a stronger voice with government. There is less of an expectation when it comes to Westminster, even though we have good links with the Treasury and across Whitehall.
But it is more pronounced in Scotland, especially on questions of tax, regulation and the government’s grasp of the issues businesses face and how Holyrood might support the creation of a more vibrant economy.
Our new CEO, Gail Boag, has made amplifying our collective voice a key part of her strategy – and she is right to do so. This is a subject I will return to in future columns.
Register now for our Bank of England briefings in Aberdeen, Inverness, London or Glasgow
A CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION
CAs are doing extraordinary work in a vast range of sectors. It’s up to us to get that message across if we’re to continue to attract future generations of talent, says President David Cruickshank CA
Two recent events I attended as ICAS President gave me pause to reflect on how they both tie into the future of the profession. The first was the ICAS Practice Conference, held in Glasgow in June. The events team did a fantastic job of creating an open atmosphere in which people were prepared to share their problems and experiences.
But it struck me that there are thousands of members in practice who might have benefited from coming along, especially given the current pace of change across the profession and the wider economy. I would urge them to attend next year’s event if they can – and for you all to read our report of this year’s event.
One of the most immediate challenges for our practitioners is recruitment. In Glasgow, people were talking about staff shortages and how they’re trying to take on more trainees.
“These young CAs’ achievements are astonishing – and should serve as a great calling card to those students who think chartered accountancy isn’t for them”
Having listened to the concerns of those in practice, I thought back to our CA Rising Stars 2026 awards ceremony, held in London 12 days earlier. I chatted to as many of the top 35 who attended this year’s ceremony as I could. As I said in my previous column, we face a challenge persuading students to consider a career in chartered accountancy.
What these young CAs are doing – the breadth of industries they are working in, the positive difference they’re making, both in their jobs and through their voluntary work for non-profits and charities – is astonishing. Their achievements should serve as a great calling card to those students who think chartered accountancy isn’t for them.
Image change
Of course, you still need to be exceptionally talented and have a good instinct for numbers to be a CA, but I am sure there are students out there who have the requisite skills but are put off for several reasons. One of them remains the stereotype of an accountant that dates back decades. While we have done much to shake off that image, in some areas it still persists.
Yet some of those CA Rising Stars 2026 are working at cutting-edge firms, applying AI in ways that add value for their clients and their organisations, but in a manner that is also ethical and responsible, ensuring proper human input and professional oversight.
This year’s entrants were trained in what could be classed as the ‘pre-AI’ era. There have been some interesting pieces of research recently, which examined where the AI-driven productivity gains in professional services are being made. The studies found that the people who gained the most are those with the most experience, whereas those with the least experience made no noticeable gains – because they don’t know how to probe and are too quick to take information at face value.
David Cruickshank CA addresses the ICAS Practice Conference
David Cruickshank CA addresses the ICAS Practice Conference
One of the sessions at the Practice Conference was hosted by Jordan Vickery, the co-founder of Vinyl. His business has a piece of software that interrogates the minutes and transcripts of meetings, using a large language model trained to understand the profession’s technical terms. The AI then picks out recommendations for items that should be followed up with the client.
Now think about this in the context of how you train young people and give them valuable experience. They will have that information under their noses, and the AI will show them what their principal or partner is discussing and how that can be converted into actions that benefit the client. That gives them real-world examples of professional service to work from. This may seem to some like a relatively simple thing, but the results have been fantastic.
From speaking to members at the Practice Conference and recent Meet the President events, I also heard of the need for ICAS to have a stronger voice with government. There is less of an expectation when it comes to Westminster, even though we have good links with the Treasury and across Whitehall.
But it is more pronounced in Scotland, especially on questions of tax, regulation and the government’s grasp of the issues businesses face and how Holyrood might support the creation of a more vibrant economy.
Our new CEO, Gail Boag, has made amplifying our collective voice a key part of her strategy – and she is right to do so. This is a subject I will return to in future columns.
Register now for our Bank of England briefings in Aberdeen, Inverness, London or Glasgow
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