Road to progress

ICAS’ major new Shaping the Profession research project, aided by the balanced new leadership team, will shine a light for the future of chartered accountancy, says CEO Bruce Cartwright CA

Every few years ICAS takes on a body of work that transcends silos or internal departments. For example, five years ago we focused on the future of audit.

Last November, we launched a programme which is far bigger and more significant than anything we’ve done in my time as CEO. Shaping the Profession encompasses the future of accountancy as a whole. In next month’s issue of CA, we will delve into detail about the work being undertaken around this huge project. But first, it’s worth reminding our members why we are doing this.

With the world changing at a rapid pace, we need to understand how the role of the accountant must change with it. If we put ourselves in the shoes of a business owner or leader, then we need to ask what that person expects of somebody who presents themselves as a member of our profession. Do you understand what their business is trying to achieve? And do you have the competencies to help it achieve its ambitions?

Will you tell the truth, irrespective of whether you feel comfortable telling it, or if the business wants to hear it? That is something we’ve always called the ICAS “moral courage”. That has never changed, nor will it.

But the moral dilemmas a CA might face are constantly evolving. For example, a CA has to play a central role in the digital transformation of a business. Cybersecurity can often fall within the remit of the CFO, as may the use of AI. These are issues we didn’t have to grapple with 20 years ago. The expectations of our members are growing.

As well as meeting the needs of the businesses to come, we must also consider the workforce of the future. This generation, and the ones that will follow, of newly qualified CAs and ICAS students want a sense of purpose. Of course, every generation has wants that, but this is arguably more pressing because of the urgent challenge of climate change, sustainability and economic fairness.

This generation want to know they are not just turning up for work. There is a greater sense of moral purpose and more focus on contributing beyond the bottom line.

“If you want a snapshot of the different places where that passport for business can take you, we only need to look at the make-up of our new office bearers”

One of the biggest challenges for the profession is being able to explain to this vast talent pool why accountancy can make a positive difference. How many CAs end up doing accountancy through word of mouth, perhaps because a parent was an accountant or knew someone who was? Elsewhere in this issue, David Bruce CA talks about when he first encountered a “Scottish chartered accountant” and how that prompted him to become one himself.

But not everybody gets that exposure. And if you’re 16 or 17 and considering your future career path, you may simply think accountants just “do numbers”. It’s not easy articulating the breadth of the role. But accountancy can be likened to learning a language, and once you understand that language, you operate in this environment.

At the recent ICAS admission ceremony (pictured above), we had almost 300 newly qualified CAs in attendance (of a record 843 qualifiers this year) who have mastered that language and now have, as we often say, a passport for business.

Think diversity

And if you want a snapshot of the different places where that passport can take you, we only need to look at the make-up of our new office bearers, who were formally announced in April. Alison Cornwell CA takes over from Clive Bellingham CA as President, while Karen Scholes CA moves from Vice to Deputy President. And we welcome David Cruickshank CA as our newest office bearer. While all three of this year’s triumvirate qualified at roughly the same time, they represent very different fields, the result of a conscious effort to bring diversity of thought to the leadership.

Alison is the CFO at Vue International. She is an experienced business leader who played a key role in steering the cinema group through the pandemic, an existential crisis that forced every cinema to shut for months on end, while also limiting the flow of their lifeblood – the new films that people pay to see.

Then we've got Karen, who’s highly successful and extraordinarily entrepreneurial. She has built up a family accounting practice, established in Orkney, to one with offices across Scotland. She also provides an important voice within ICAS for small and medium-sized practices.

David was Global Chair of Deloitte. In a stellar career, he was also a founder Chair of the 30% Club, which campaigns to improve gender diversity on boards, Co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Partnering Against Corruption Initiative, and a member of the advisory councils of Accounting for Sustainability and the International Integrated Reporting Council.

All will play a key role in our Shaping the Profession project. Last year, when asked to consider the future of accountancy, David said: “In an era when attention spans are reduced, there’s an obligation on accountants to take time to analyse and reflect on what the information is saying, and not to succumb to the temptation just to give quick answers because people want quick answers and easy headlines.

“My advice for those just starting out as a CA is: work hard, ask questions, listen all the time and discuss things with more experienced colleagues. You’ll learn a lot.”

What he says there is an important reminder of a CA’s timeless values. As we consider the profession’s future, you can be sure those words won’t get left behind.

Read last year’s introductory special report on Shaping the Profession