Beyond the Numbers sees ICAS asking wider stakeholders to play their part in the future of chartered accountancy, says CEO Bruce Cartwright CA

On 8 October, ICAS hosts Beyond the Numbers in central London. It is a conference that forms part of one of the most important projects ICAS has undertaken for many years.

We launched Shaping the Profession last year, in part to find out how the market views the accountancy profession – but more importantly to help us ensure the profession is fit for purpose, with the skillset to serve the needs of the public. Equally, part of our mission is to ensure the profession will continue to be attractive to future talent.

Even now, when we think about the new cohort of CA students who joined us in September and who will have attended our first ever induction ceremony, we want to provide them with the foundations to ensure they are thriving long after they become qualified CAs.

In recent weeks, our Shaping the Profession research has been gathering momentum, including through the series of CA Conversations sessions held in Scotland and England. I have had the privilege of welcoming some of the attendees, but this is not about them hearing my observations or the ICAS view – it’s about us hearing views across the spectrum of stakeholders. Shaping the Profession is ICAS in listening mode.

“Accountants are good at giving other people advice, but now we need to listen and embrace a wide range of views. We must avoid groupthink”

The preliminary results of those sessions and other activities will be revealed on 8 October as part of the Beyond the Numbers event. These will be presented by experts in their fields, including Professor James Baird, a former Managing Partner at Deloitte and Chair of the Shaping the Profession steering group.

There will be a panel session focusing on the challenges and opportunities presented by the evolving developments in regulation, ethical leadership and technology. The panel line-up features Sarah Rapson of the Financial Reporting Council; Jaci Badenhorst CA, ICAS Council member and Head of Software Engineering at NatWest; Loree Gourley, a Deloitte Partner and Chair of the ICAS Ethics Board; and Martin Martinoff, Financial Services Lead from Innovate UK. Broadcaster, columnist and author Timandra Harkness will deliver the keynote speech.

Attendees will also hear from President Alison Cornwell CA, who brings the experienced CFO perspective. And, of course, there will be an opportunity to network and discuss the sessions at refreshments afterwards.

We welcome the opportunity to gather the views of members, but we also want to hear from external voices, to understand their expectations of the profession. Accordingly, the conference is free to attend and open to everyone, members and non-members alike.

Sometimes we are seen as a profession that is too inward-looking. For this project to deliver meaningful insights and action, it’s incumbent on us to engage with the entire market of stakeholders and professional users, as well as the wider public.

For example, what do they think when they consider the word “trust”? Not just the meaning but the perception. We know that trust is vital as a professional body, so we need to understand those perceptions.

Coming on board

Another issue is technology, including AI. I am clear that it will not replace CAs; rather, it will enhance the role. But a key question will be how best we work in harmony with it. It would be wrong to think we can do this in isolation. As we start providing more information to the market, we want other people and bodies to come on board and offer us their input and collaboration.

One of the driving forces behind this whole project is that accountants by their nature give advice and hence are good at telling other people what’s right. But now we need to listen and embrace a wide range of view – so we are reaching out. We must avoid groupthink.

We want to hear individual points of view and set a consensual direction of travel with others. It is imperative we fully equip the professionals of tomorrow to serve the needs of wider society. That’s a key yardstick for us. We want you to be part of it and actively participate in the breakout sessions that will from part of the conference.

This isn’t a project that will be confined by time, something that involves a big reveal and is then put away. It will be the launch pad for future development. Shaping the Profession will roll and roll.

I’ve been CEO for six years and I think we’ve seen more change in those six years than I can recall in the previous 25. Every one of our members has the same two letters after their name, yet no two CAs are the same. Look at the diversity of the roles of our 24,000 members around the world, and what they do with their qualification. The way they serve the public is extraordinarily diverse and in doing so they play a key role in the wider economy. That relevance and variety is key to our future.

Serving the public interest and being able to meet stakeholder expectations with a strong backbone of ethics is core to our DNA. This is our collective opportunity to shape the profession and ultimately the future.

Register here for Beyond the Numbers