CIMA Ireland Network News Autumn

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CIMA IRELAND NETWORK NEWS Rethinking credit control

by Finbarr McCarthy

Case study Gary Redmond, CIMA Student, EY

Frank Nolan FCMA, CGMA elected chair of CIMA Ireland

Student conference 2015 syllabus

AUTUMN 2014 NETWORK NEWS | AUTUMN 2014

CONTENTS Message from CIMA Ireland Chair, Frank Nolan FCMA, CGMA

1

CIMA Ireland chair elected

2

CIMA elects new president

2

US FDI forum addressing the employability crisis

3

CIMA annual dinner and student awards

4

Culinary excellence at CIMA Grapevine event 2014

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CIMA Global Business Challenge – Ireland final 2014

6

CIMA Diploma in Islamic Finance (CDIF) graduation 2014

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CDIF awards

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Area boards meet

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Inaugural CIMA ‘Tutor of the year’ Ireland award

10

New intake of students for the MSc in Strategic Management Accounting

10

Student conference – 2015 syllabus

11

CIMA/BSTAI schools quizzes

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Undergraduate CIMA achievement of excellence awards

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Case study – Gary Redmond, CIMA student, EY

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2015 Members in Practice conference

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Fellowship designation awarded to CEO of Tayto Group

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The digital practice – top ten tips, by Ray Baxter FCMA, CGMA

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Rethinking credit control, by Finbarr McCarthy

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Benevolent fund

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CIMA members visit Coca Cola HBC Ireland

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CIMA communicates on engagement

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Upcoming events across Ireland

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NETWORK NEWS | AUTUMN 2014

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WELCOME A message from CIMA Ireland Chair Frank Nolan FCMA, CGMA Fellow CIMA members and students welcome to the autumn 2014 issue of Network News. I am most honoured to have been appointed chair of CIMA Ireland at our AMM and would like to take the opportunity of the first issue of Network News to thank my predecessor Louise Connaughton for her excellent stewardship and oversight of our institute during her term. For my part I intend to provide both continuity and innovation which are integral to the CIMA membership and to the sustainability of our institute, the third largest accounting body on the island of Ireland.

As part of that commitment to continuity and innovation CIMA, earlier this year, announced the introduction of an updated syllabus for its professional qualification and new assessment method. This will take effect from January 2015 and bridges the skills gaps of newly qualified finance professionals worldwide, meeting the employability needs of both business and people. To facilitate your understanding of the updated syllabus and answer your questions, CIMA Ireland will also be hosting a 2015 syllabus student conference at our Dublin headquarters on Saturday 6 December. CIMA’s global education team will be in attendance to answer all your queries and give an in-depth overview of the 2015 syllabus and assessments methods.

For my part I intend to provide both continuity

and innovation which are integral to the CIMA membership and to the sustainability of our institute, the third largest accounting body on the island of Ireland.

CIMA is to the fore in terms of innovative thought leadership and has further underscored employability needs as critical with the recently published CGMA report ‘Addressing the employability crisis: Reconnecting education, skills and jobs’. This in turn has provided an important platform for stakeholder engagement with two key events hosted by the Eastern and Northern areas. Distinguished panels comprising key stakeholders across the island participated in the events.

In particular they addressed a practical approach that shows how the necessary links between key stakeholders comprising the educator, the employer, the student, the recruiter and the policy maker can be forged with employability at the core.

a CPD and networking perspective. These were shared across all boards as part of an active participation event attended by both the area boards and the CIMA Ireland executive. Arising from this each area board has now developed a 2015 calendar of activity to underpin the CIMA value chain.

This has been a great year for outstanding achievements among CIMA Ireland students with record numbers both sitting and passing their professional exams. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of you who worked so hard and were so dedicated in your commitment. We also saw excellent results in terms of global and local rankings and the annual dinner was an opportunity to acknowledge those achievements which are highlighted elsewhere in this issue.

With the CIMA Global Business Challenge barely completed we are now embarking on the CIMA/BSTAI Schools quiz with junior cert business students competing in a series of regional finals currently underway to win a place at the national final next spring.

This has been a great year for outstanding

achievements among CIMA Ireland students with record numbers both sitting and passing their professional exams.

I would also like to use Network News to remind you that CIMA is active not just on the ground but also via LinkedIn and Facebook so I would encourage you to join these platforms if you haven’t already for the latest updates and news on your institute.

Finally I look forward to meeting many of you at our regional events over the coming year.

Frank Nolan FCMA, CGMA CIMA Ireland Chair

Earlier this year in May, the CIMA Ireland branches were restructured into four area networks providing for the Eastern, Western, Northern and Southern area boards. The restructuring is already delivering benefits collectively and individually for the membership and has been positively received. Specifically each area is benefitting from enhanced programmes of activity (www.cimaglobal.com/irelandevents) both from

NETWORK NEWS | AUTUMN 2014

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CIMA IRELAND CHAIR ELECTED Frank Nolan FCMA, CGMA has been elected chair of CIMA Ireland. He is finance manager for the international supply centre with Diageo and is a former secretary, deputy chair and chair for the CIMA Northern area and deputy chair for CIMA Ireland.

He was closely involved with the initiative that saw the merger of CIMA Northern Ireland and CIMA in the Republic of Ireland to establish the single all island body CIMA Ireland.

Frank qualified in 1990 after completing his CIMA exams in Dublin and Belfast and has 24 years’ post qualification experience in private and public sectors including NILGOSC, NITB, BBCNI in Northern Ireland and Diageo Ireland. He joined Diageo in July 2002 working in various roles over the past 12 years.

CIMA ELECTS NEW PRESIDENT Keith Luck FCMA, CGMA is the new president of CIMA, the world’s largest professional body of management accountants. He was elected at its annual general meeting on 7 June.

Mr Luck brings over 30 years experience to the role having worked at organisations across the private and public sectors including Deloitte, HSBC, BT, the Metropolitan Police, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and, currently, Serco Group.

He has served on the CIMA council for over eight years and has been an active CIMA speaker and ambassador throughout his career, notably as CIMA’s representative on IFAC’s Professional Accountant’s in Business (PAIB) committee from 2006 to 2012. Mr Luck becomes the 81st president of CIMA. The position of president is a voluntary one and covers a one year term.

Mr Luck graduated in geography from Cambridge University and lives in Wimbledon with his wife (also a management accountant).

In addition to Mr Luck’s appointment, Myriam Madden FCMA, CGMA has been elected deputy president.

His presidency comes at a pivotal time as CIMA launches its updated 2015 syllabus, introduces pioneering global management accounting principles and implements computerised assessment. The initiatives reflect CIMA’s focus on driving better business practices and better skilled professionals to meet the challenges of today’s increasingly complex business environment.

On becoming CIMA president, Keith Luck FCMA, CGMA said: ‘As the global economy recovers, the spotlight is on its shape and momentum, raising CIMA’s relevance in boardrooms and classrooms across the world. I am honoured to be elected as president and I look forward to continue advancing our mission of helping people and businesses succeed.

We will strive to further develop CIMA’s activities and strategies with our students, members and stakeholders.’

A, CGMA Keith Luck FCM NETWORK NEWS | AUTUMN 2014

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CGMA THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONFERENCES – ‘ADDRESSING THE EMPLOYABILITY CRISIS’ CIMA Ireland recently delivered two high profile events focused on the topic of ‘employability’. The conferences were held in Dublin and Belfast and both analysed and discussed the subject of employability from the perspectives of the employer, the educator, the student and the policy maker. Both events we delivered under the auspices of CIMA Ireland’s new US FDI Forum and we were fortunate to have Peter Simons, the author of the CGMA report ‘Addressing the employability crisis’ present for both to deliver an overview of the salient findings of the report, together with details of a template that can be used to help address employability issues facing the business community generally.

The Eastern area seminar was delivered in collaboration with CIPD Ireland and the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland, and held at the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, Dublin. The Northern area conferences was delivered in partnership with the Chief Executives Forum and Invest NI, and held in the Hilton Hotel, Belfast.

Both conferences were delivered under the auspices of CIMA Ireland’s new US FDI Forum, with faculties comprised of senior representatives from key stakeholders involved in the local employability debate. In the Eastern area the faculty was comprised of: •

Ciaran O’hOgartaigh, Dean, UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School

•

John Murphy, Secretary General, Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

•

Sean Shine, Accenture’s European Head of Health and Public Policy Practice

Pictured at the Dublin conference are stakeholders and panellists at the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School.

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Michael McDonnell, Managing Director, CIPD Ireland

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Mark Redmond, Chief Executive, the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland

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Karin Weber, UCD Smurfit MSc CIMA Scholar

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Siobhan O’Shea, Associate Director, Morgan McKinley

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Arleen Thomas, Senior Vice President - Management Accounting and Global Markets, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

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Charles Tilley, Chief Executive of CIMA

In the Northern area, the faculty was comprised of: •

Paul Sweeney, Permanent Secretary, Department of Education

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Derek Baker, Acting Permanent Secretary, Department for Employment and Learning

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Mark Redmond, Chief Executive, the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland

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Niall Casey, Director of Skills, Invest NI

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Marie McHugh, Dean, Ulster Business School, University of Ulster

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Joanne Stuart, Chair US-NI Mentorship Program Steering Committee (NI), former Chair Institute of Directors NI

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Rebecca McKinty, Masters student, Ulster Business School

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Gemma McIlwaine, Graduate student, Ulster Business School

Pictured at the Belfast conference are Mark Redmond, CEO American Chamber of Commerce Ireland; David Cartmill, Interim CEO of Chief Executives Forum; Denis McCarthy, CIMA Ireland Director and Richard Stack, CIMA Northern Area Chair.

NETWORK NEWS | AUTUMN 2014

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CIMA ANNUAL DINNER AND STUDENT AWARDS Over 200 guests attended the all island CIMA annual dinner which took place in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham on Friday 28 March, which was sponsored by Careers Register. Keynote speaker Myriam Madden FCMA, CGMA, Vice President, CIMA, accompanied by outgoing CIMA Ireland Chair, Louise Connaughton FCMA, CGMA, jointly presented a number of awards to top students as follows:

Hannah Casimir of Carrickmacross came first in Ireland in the final exam T4 Part B case study. She was presented with the Brendan Fitzgerald award.

Pictured from l-r were: Myriam Madden FCMA, CGMA, Vice President CIMA; Hannah Casimir, award winner; Louise Connaughton FCMA, CGMA, outgoing CIMA Ireland Chair and Denis McCarthy, CIMA Ireland Director.

Barra Cryan from Salthill came first in Ireland for the P1 Performance Operations exam.

Joseph O’Reilly from Loreto Park, Rathfarnham, came joint first in Ireland for the E1 Enterprise Operations exam.

Caroline Kelleher from Kilgarvan came joint first in Ireland for the E1 Enterprise Operations exam.

John Donnelly from Armagh city came first in Ireland and fourth in the world for the E2 Enterprise Management

Tara Carty from Jordanstown has come first in Ireland for the E3 Enterprise Strategy exam

NETWORK NEWS | AUTUMN 2014

Frank Nolan, CIMA Ireland Chair; Paul McClatchie, Careers Register (Event sponsor); Louise Connaughton, Outgoing CIMA Ireland Chair; Peter O’Neill, Managing Director, IBM Ireland; Myriam Madden, Vice President, CIMA and Denis McCarthy, CIMA Ireland Director.

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CULINARY EXCELLENCE AT CIMA GRAPEVINE EVENT 2014 This year’s CIMA Ireland Grapevine event had a culinary theme and took place at Cook’s Academy in Dublin, in May. There were more than 60 participants including representatives from seventeen business schools.

CIMA Grapevine

The event provided a networking opportunity for academic staff from colleges across the island including career guidance, accounting, finance and business backgrounds as well as employers, recruiters, CIMA staff and CIMA members from each area. The evening saw participants assigned to themed teams who set about cooking up a storm in a bid to win the ‘Chef Idol challenge’.

NETWORK NEWS | AUTUMN 2014

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CIMA GLOBAL BUSINESS CHALLENGE (GBC) IRELAND FINAL 2014 Nine business colleges from across the country took part in the CIMA Global Business Challenge Ireland final 2014, held in partnership with Barclays and supported in Ireland by Dublin Business School.

WINNERS!

Letterkenny IT

The international business management competition was designed to showcase the very best in the next generation of business leaders. The Ireland final took place in June at IT Tallaght. To reach the final students analysed a real life CIMA business scenario and presented innovative solutions to a panel of judges. This year’s winners were Letterkenny IT (LYIT) who went on to represent Ireland at the global final in Mumbai.

Runners up were IT Tallaght and UCC.

IT Tallaght IRELAND WINNERS - Letterkenny IT Stephen McGlynn; Emmett Paterson; Daragh Boyle and Breege Boyce.

UCC RUNNERS UP – IT TALLAGHT Pictured with Louise Connaughton, CIMA Ireland Chair were Michelle Long; Luke O’Reilly; Andrew Gilbert and Lisa O’Dwyer.

Dublin Business School RUNNERS UP - UCC Pictured with Louise Counnaghton, CIMA Ireland Chair were James Furlong; Jennifer Keating; Mary-Jade Hynes and Cian Sheehy

sponsored by

Dublin Business School Pictured with CIMA Ireland Director, Denis McCarthy, were George Bertram; Kamar Onileere; David Hill and Lukas Bäumer;

NETWORK NEWS | AUTUMN 2014

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Dun Laoghaire IADT

IT Sligo

Dun Laoghaire IADT Paul Downes; Ronan Heffernan; Cian Buckley; Shane Lynch and Keith O’Looney IT Sligo Pictured with CIMA Ireland Director, Denis McCarthy, were Michael Gilraine; Ann Carter; Martina Nevin and Robert Martin.

University of Ulster

UCD

University of Ulster Pictured with CIMA Ireland Director, Denis McCarthy, were Nicole Burnett; Clare Hamill; Niambh Hughes and Aaron Callaghan.

IT Blanchardstown

UCD Pictured with CIMA Ireland Director, Denis McCarthy, were James Porter; Richard McDonagh; Nicole Crockford; Denis Vaughan.

IT Blanchardstown Pictured with CIMA Ireland Director, Denis McCarthy, were Louise Geraghty; Killian O’Flynn; Matondo Nzika and Keith Ryan.

NETWORK NEWS | AUTUMN 2014

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CIMA DIPLOMA IN ISLAMIC FINANCE (CDIF) GRADUATION 2014 The CDIF graduation ceremony took place on 15 May at CIMA Ireland.

Neil Ryan, Assistant Secretary General at Department of Finance and Dave Flynn, Programme Support Manager of Skillsnet were the keynote speakers at the ceremony which was attended by 14 graduates. Neil Ryan presented a number of awards to prize winners. The CDIF is now in its fourth year and to date has seen approx 170 students undertake the diploma. CIMA took the lead in 2011 as the first professional body to introduce the CDIF to the Irish market.

The Irish government is actively working to establish the IFSC as a European hub for the provision of wholesale Islamic finance services.

The government recently signed double taxation agreements with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

CIMA is the only professional accounting body to offer a diploma and advanced diploma in Islamic finance. There is a programme currently running and the next programme will commence in February 2015.

Front row from left to right: Jean Scally, David Harrison, Sinead Hart Moran, Kasturi Majumdar, Simon O’Neill, Rana Sayegh.

Back row from left to right: Abdullah AL Naimi; Neil Ryan, Assistant Secretary General at the Department of Finance; Eoghan Ryan; Gerard Greene; Eamon McDonagh; Dermot Monahan; Mert Demiralp; John Havel; Dave Flynn, Programme Support Manager of Skillsnet; Michelle Nolan, Communications Executive; The Law Society of Ireland, Irshad UI Hassan; Denis McCarthy, CIMA Ireland Director.

NETWORK NEWS | AUTUMN 2014

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CDIF AWARDS Two prize awards were sponsored

by The Law Society of Ireland and CIMA, each for the highest overall mark for the February and May 2013 programmes.

John Havel, FCMA was the recipient of the prize award of €500 for highest overall mark for the February 2013 CDIF programme.

Jean Scally was the recipient of the prize award of €500 for highest overall mark for the May 2013 CDIF programme.

Prize winner John Havel and Jean Scully pictured with Neil Ryan, Assistant Secretary General at the Department of Finance and Denis McCarthy, CIMA Ireland Director.

AREA BOARDS MEET

Pictured at the Active Participation Event for the area boards held in Limerick last month were: Back row: Niall Cremin, Southern Chair; Oliver Gilvarry, Eastern Chair; Tom O’Connor, Council Representative; Georgina Skehan, Member and Student SIG Chair.

Front row: Mary Dullaghan, Western Chair; Sheila Lewis, CIMA Ireland Vice Chair; Frank Nolan, CIMA Ireland Chair; Sharon McCue, Council Representative.

NETWORK NEWS | AUTUMN 2014

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INAUGURAL CIMA ‘TUTOR OF THE YEAR’ IRELAND AWARD Peter Plant accepted the CIMA ‘Tutor of the year’ award on behalf of Adrian Sims of First Intuition Ireland.

Pictured are Fiona Arnold, Student Progression Manager, CIMA Ireland; Clancy Peiris, Study Support and Learning Manager – Learning Development, CIMA; Peter Plant, Managing Director, First Intuition Ireland and Denis McCarthy, CIMA Ireland Director.

NEW INTAKE OF STUDENTS FOR MSC IN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING East meets West at the new intake for the 2014/2015 full time MSc in Strategic Management Accounting delivered by UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School and in close association with CIMA. The intensive course targets high level graduates with a solid background in management accounting, financial accounting and reporting, finance, taxation or law, seeking a long term career with leadership level responsibility in the finance function, advisory, accountancy, and general business . Dr. Christoph Drechsler, Course Director and Lecturer, and Denis McCarthy, CIMA Ireland Director are pictured with the 2014/15 cohort of students. Jinhou Wang from China won the CIMA Scholarship.

CIMA Scholarship student Jinhou Wang from China is pictured with Dr. Christoph Drechsler, Course Director and Lecturer, and Denis McCarthy, CIMA Ireland Director.

George Campbell (US/New York); Aideen Fennell and Chloe Grennan (Ireland); Carlos Serna (Spain); Nora Tacken (Germany); Olga Chumachenko (Moscow/Russia); Thuy Bui Nguyen (Vietnam); Jinhou Wang (China).

NETWORK NEWS | AUTUMN 2014

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CIMA IRELAND 2015 SYLLABUS STUDENT CONFERENCE Date for your diary The CIMA Eastern area will host a student conference inviting all students from across the island, to update on the 2015 syllabus.

Attendance is free.

Date: Saturday 6 December Time: 12.00-4.00pm Venue: CIMA Ireland office, 5th floor, Block E, Iveagh Court,

Harcourt Road, Dublin 2

Are you aware of the upcoming changes in the CIMA syllabus for 2015? Do you have burning questions about the revised syllabus and its assessment?

Do not miss this event!

CIMA’s global education team will be in attendance to answer all your queries and give an in-depth overview of the 2015 syllabus and assessments methods.

Start 2015 with all the information you need to progress with your CIMA studies.

Book to attend: fiona.arnold@cimaglobal.com 01 6430400/ 02890268490

CIMA/BSTAI SCHOOLS QUIZ UNDERWAY Following on from the huge success of last year’s quizzes, CIMA Ireland is once again partnering with the Business Studies Teachers Association of Ireland, BSTAI, to run a series of schools quizzes for junior cert business students on a regional basis, across Ireland which are currently underway.

The programme will conclude with a national final to be held in April 2015. For details of upcoming finals in your region check www.cimaglobal.com/irelandevents.

NETWORK NEWS | AUTUMN 2014

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UNDERGRADUATE CIMA ACHIEVEMENT OF EXCELLENCE AWARDS

IT SLIGO

Letterkenny IT

CONGRATULATIONS!

Paul O’Sullivan, LYIT; Hugh Shelvin, Prizewinner, BA Accounting; Kevin Gormley, CIMA and Patricia Doherty, Head of Dept. of Business Studies, LYIT.

Beatrice Flavin, IT Sligo; John Gaynor, Programme Chair BA (Hons) in Accounting; Colm Murphy, CIMA; Ann Carter, Prizewinner, BA Hons Accounting student and Michael Barrett, Head of Department of Business, IT Sligo.

University of Ulster

NUI Galway Queens University

Kevin Gormley, CIMA pictured with Melissa McGrath, Prizewinner, BSc in Accounting.

Queens University

Kevin Gormley, CIMA pictured with Ruari Collins, Prizewinner, Business Management.

NETWORK NEWS | AUTUMN 2014

Alison Hampton, Lecturer UU; Mark Forsythe, Prizewinner, BSc Business Studies student; Rachel Giles, Prizewinner, BSc Business Studies student and Kevin Gormley, CIMA.

Mary Clisham, CIMA; Gordon Coffey, Prizewinner, BComm student and Geraldine Robbins, NUI Galway.

Queens University

Prizewinner Xiaowen Xu, MSc Accounting and Finance; Kevin Gormley, CIMA and Sally Denton, Prizewinner, MSc Accounting and Finance.

NCI

Desmond Gibney, NCI; John Kelly, Prizewinner, BA (Hons) in Accounting student and Karen Greene , CIMA.

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NETWORK NEWS CASE STUDY Gary Redmond is a CIMA student and a senior consultant at Ernst and young.

Having a degree in computer science and working as a consultant in EY’s Advisory practice, Gary wanted to pursue a professional qualification that had a broader focus than pure accounting, deciding to study CIMA. Gary achieved second place in Ireland for his Financial Operations exam result in May 2014 Gary Redmond, CIMA student BSc. Science (Computer Science Major),UCD Senior Consultant, Advisory Services, EY

Why did you choose CIMA? I was told about CIMA by my EY CIMA Buddy. He was able to demonstrate the relevance of the qualification to my work and the flexibility of the programme. The strong emphasis on the non-accounting aspects of the syllabus, coupled with CIMA’s global recognition was pivotal in attracting me to the qualification.

To date CIMA has enabled me to better

understand the needs of my clients and to offer them a higher level of service.

The qualification is flexible and enabled me to complete the exams at a pace that suited my workload and other commitments. I wanted to pursue a professional qualification that trained me for practice but also enabled me to provide insight to my clients in industry. In addition to the financial accounting modules the qualification has a strong focus on strategy, management and risk, which have been particularly relevant to my role.

How has CIMA accelerated your career?

To date CIMA has enabled me to better understand the needs of my clients and to offer them a higher level of service. Working in a ‘Big four’ professional services firm people often assume that I’m a traditional accountant working in tax or audit. As a consultant in EY’s Advisory practice I work with a broad range of people from diverse backgrounds such as science, engineering, law and healthcare on a variety of projects from strategy and process improvements to IT security and internal audit. EY are fully supportive and are sponsoring me to pursue the CIMA professional qualification as they are a recognised CIMA Training Partner.

What are your key responsibilities in your current role?

My key responsibilities include planning, developing and delivering reviews, risk assessments and third party reports for an array of international clients that are household names. I also lead on-site workshops, manage the performance of team members and prepare reports for our clients for each project. In addition to my core client delivery responsibilities I support the advisory senior management team in tracking market activity, identifying new opportunities and planning key marketing campaigns.

‘I wanted to pursue a professional qualification

that trained me for practice but also enabled me to provide insight to my clients in industry.’

What advice would you give to anyone thinking of studying towards the CIMA qualification?

A distinct advantage of the CIMA qualification is that it enables you to complete the qualification at a pace and time that suits you. Strong time management skills are important to allow sufficient time to cover all of the key learning objectives and to be completely comfortable with the material in each subject before attempting the exam.

NETWORK NEWS | AUTUMN 2014

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THE 30TH MIP CONFERENCE Next year’s conference will be a special treat for MIPs. We are busy working on the programme and speakers now and hope to have a final programme within a few weeks.

The strapline for the conference will be ‘Update and earn’ and it will be all about improving your skills for the modern world. There will be updates on tools, techniques, software, marketing, selling and pricing and other things that are important to your business and your income. Of course the other big benefit is the opportunity to network with 140 other CIMA MiPs and share ideas.

We are running a special early bird offer for those booking the two day package before 31 December 2014 which gets your Thursday night’s accommodation for £50 instead of £100. Check it out here: www.cimaglobal.com/mipconference Only 10% is payable now with the balance not due until May 2015.

The best way to travel from Ireland is to fly to Birmingham and hire a car. We will try to partner you up with other travellers so that the cost of the car can be shared.

Date: Friday 19 and Saturday 20 June 2015 Location: Heythrop Park, Oxfordshire

FELLOWSHIP DESIGNATION AWARDED TO TAYTO GROUP CEO CIMA has awarded Paul Allen, CEO of the Tayto Group with his Fellowship designation, recognising the tactical contributions that Paul has made at a senior management level during his sustained career.

Paul Allen began in banking before moving to a leading management consultancy. He joined Tayto 12 years ago when the company had a turnover of £19 million, directing the organisation through a number of strategic acquisitions and a period of rapid growth to become the third largest crisp and snack manufacturer in the UK. The group now employs around 1,500 people across five UK sites with a turnover of more than £200 million.

The Tayto Group manufactures more than five million bags of crisps and snacks every day for its own brands including Tayto, Real, Golden Wonder, Mr Porky and Jonathan Crisp and for many private label customers, who can be found on every UK high street.

NETWORK NEWS | AUTUMN 2014

Harold Baird, Past CIMA President; Paul Allen, CEO of the Tayto Group and Kevin Gormley, CIMA.

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THE DIGITAL PRACTICE - TOP TEN TIPS

by Ray Baxter FCMA

New and disruptive technologies are changing our industry at an alarming pace. It is vital that we keep ahead to maintain our place in the market. The changes are wider than practice. Articles in journals like Accountancy Age are predicting that the CFO and CIO jobs will soon merge into one. As management accountants running small practices, technical change, and whether we adopt it, is relevant to our future profitability. Does this mean that we have to have to acquire technical skills in iXBRL, Java, Microsoft Server etc? Not necessarily, a basic grasp of the underlying concepts and a few signposts to the winning tools of the trade is enough. It is vital however that we recognise what is going on around us and respond.

In addition we need to become technical advisers to our clients to gain kudos and be their first port of call for business advice. This will give us an extra ‘edge’ over our professional competitors.

What is causing the rapid change? It is a picture of convergence of momentous technical developments, namely a mature internet, fast broadband, cloud infrastructure and new devices like smartphones and tablet computers. Add to this cost pressures such as governments wanting to shed work to their customers (RTI, online filing, agent access) and the commercial drive to increase productivity which has moved on from manufacturers to service providers.

Here are my top ten tips to keep ahead:

1. Abolish paper. The convergence of technologies has suddenly made the 40 year old dream of a paperless office not just possible but happening as we speak. In a few years the famous clip by the drifter in the film Waterworld, ‘Paper, have you ever seen paper?’ won’t seem so strange.

2. Make your working area efficient. Laptops can be permanently used by professions like journalists and consultants but not by professionals like us who need to process numerical information.

Unless you are travelling or browsing always use a device with a good keyboard and two or three monitors. After all in a non-digital environment you would not dream of working on a 20 inch desk.

The same logic applies to your staff and your client’s staff so they can be more productive when they need several digital documents to be open and in view at the same time.

3. Get comfortable with one or more cloud accounting systems. Off line versions of Sage and QuickBooks are now in the last stage of their product cycle. The business model of traditional suppliers will not survive the disruptive effect of the new upstarts, Xero, ClearBooks, Liquid accounts and the others. The big players are scrambling to catch up after being asleep at the start of the race.

Cloud will not work for all your clients but for those that are suitable you should start converting them now and enjoy the benefits to your practice.

4. ‘App up’ and provide new services. The power of the cloud is going to create opportunities that you never considered before.

Put Receipt-Bank together with Xero and suddenly you have a bookkeeping system cheaper than an outsourced provider in Bangalore. Cloud will be a great leveller giving small businesses the cost benefits currently enjoyed by large organisations.

5. Take advantage of the new ways to communicate. Using VOIP, Remote Desktop and technologies like Skype allows you to provide a superior customer service. Significantly it also allows you to redefine your target market from a geographical perspective. You should only visit clients’ premises to attend a meeting, not to prepare figures. Do that work from your base and save time and money.

6. Consider using cloud payroll systems. Paper payslips are eliminated.

The employee can log in to see their payslips up to three years back (depending on the system). If they move house they can change their address themselves. If you are (or are thinking of) offering a payroll bureau service this could be staffed by a suitable part time person working from home with a convenient dashboard to access all your payroll clients.

7. If you do compliance work, make sure you use quality professional software for accounts production and tax with links to all the government systems. Anything less will render you either uncompetitive or underpaid.

8. Use a digital signing application to get letters of engagement signed and tax returns approved. This works well as a secure client area on your website. You upload the document and the system asks the client to follow a link to read and approve. Client approvals are legally binding under the framework of the EU directive 1999/93/EC and all commercial systems should comply with this framework. The plug in app that I use was simple to install on my website and looks after everything for £25 per month. Some systems charge per document. This can also be used as an easily accessible repository for your client’s accounts which impresses them no end.

9. Use an online payment system to make things easy for your client and to help you get paid quicker. A lot of work is going on at the moment by providers in this area. Systems exist for both credit card and DD online systems. I find that even clients who get billed once a year like to pay monthly. Now it is easy to set up without having to use standing orders which are difficult to change.

10. Finally consider moving your desktops into the cloud. If you have a large network with staff, it can save the overhead of server support.

If you are working on your own it allows you better access to your software and data. You might also change to a cloud office suite like office 365 for the same reason. Best to consider this when it is time to refresh your IT infrastructure.

Ray Baxter FCMA is founder and CEO of Baxterworld. He served as the Northern Ireland president of CIMA and is currently the secretary for the Members in Practice (MiP) committee of CIMA and an ambassador for the Federation of European Accountants (FEE).

Ray Baxter is happy to reply to questions via email at: ray@baxterworld.com

NETWORK NEWS | AUTUMN 2014

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RETHINKING CREDIT CONTROL

by Finbarr McCarthy

If I was to ask what the primary function of credit control is, you might respond by saying that it is responsible for converting sales into cash in the shortest possible timeframe.

Or would your answer be that credit control focuses on contacting overdue accounts to collect payment?

Reflect for a moment on the tasks that are often assigned to credit control. These can include gathering purchase order numbers for invoices that have already been raised; invoice production; attaching backup documents to invoices; credit checking new accounts; handling account queries; inputting invoices into customers’ online portals; creating backup billing reports; oh and of course, debt collection.

Given this range of tasks, it may come as a surprise to discover that your credit control team may have more contact with your customers than anyone else in your organisation, including the sales team! Therefore would it not make sense to reconsider the credit control team function as a customer service opportunity rather than simply being ‘debt collectors’?

Would your customers prefer to deal with

you or with a competitor whose product or service is equally good but whose follow through in terms of accounts is poor.

Imagine a scenario where you provide an excellent product or service, invoices are issued promptly and are very clear, customers have easy access to your invoices and your account information online and they can drill down to see supporting documents. All invoices are presented correctly, including purchase orders where appropriate, so customers have everything they need to reconcile each invoice, allocate it to an internal cost centre, and process the payment. If a customer does ever need to make contact to discuss an account, they are dealt with professionally and quickly.

Would your customers prefer to deal with you or with a competitor whose product or service is equally good but whose follow through in terms of accounts is poor, e.g. incomprehensible or difficult to process invoices, delays in receiving invoices, queries on many invoices, time wasted asking for copies of documents or invoices? And what’s worse, a credit control function that is difficult to contact (they only work mornings, or afternoons or some other pattern), and they take an age to resolve even the simplest query.

NETWORK NEWS | AUTUMN 2014

Surely the positive experience of the first scenario would provide an advantage when a customer is deciding which supplier to choose?

There are a number of steps that can be taken to leverage credit control more effectively. The first is automation because there are so many time-wasting tasks typically undertaken by credit control. Supplying copies of invoices to customers is a real time-waster but others such as gathering purchase order numbers where they are absent from invoices can also consume significant amounts of time. Many of these manual, labour intensive activities can be automated.

Secondly engage with the sales team so that there is a shared understanding of the implications of extending credit to potential customers and how to minimise the risk of a default. Simply linking sales rep bonuses to cash collection is often an easy way to incentivise sales teams to engage in the credit process, because after all, a sale is not a sale until the cash has been collected! In fact, including credit control early in the prospecting process can avoid much wasted effort on the part of sales teams and can lead to innovative solutions for balancing the need for sales with the need to maximise the likelihood of payment.

Supplying copies of invoices to customers is a real

time-waster but others such as gathering purchase order numbers where they are absent from invoices can also consume significant amounts of time.

Thirdly consider renaming the credit control function to move it away from the perception of ‘debt collection’. I have seen many terms suggested including credit management and accounting services.

Whatever it is called, there needs to be an understanding that credit touches on most aspects of an organisation. The credit team may often be the first to hear about product quality issues (when customers refuse to pay invoices), or late deliveries, or misunderstandings about pricing or financial difficulties.

Therefore, it is time to ‘Rethink credit control’. In fact, I have written a white paper on this that can be downloaded from www.go.oneposting.com/whitepaper-rethinking-credit-control.

About the author Finbarr McCarthy is the author of the white paper ‘Rethinking credit control’ and has also developed the credit management benchmark that allows businesses compare their credit performance against their peers.

As well as contributing to the blog on the OnePosting website, he has also written extensively for other publications and was instrumental in designing

PAGE 23 17 PAGE

CIMA BENEVOLENT FUND CIMAIRELAND IRELAND BENEVOLENT The CIMA benevolent fund here in Ireland supports members and their dependents facing difficulties and hardship caused by serious illness, bereavement, unemployment and other misfortunes.

FUND

The fund is most appreciative of the support given by the members.

Nevertheless, in recent years, the economic climate has had an adverse affect on a number of our members and fund expenditure is again exceeding its income. CIMA Ireland is therefore asking members to consider making a contribution to the fund.

Established in 1992, the fund has helped many members through difficult and stressful times for themselves and their families. Member’s contributions, both financial and advisory, have contributed enormously.

Economic conditions, illness and or bereavement continue to prevent some members achieving the success they had expected in their careers. In most cases this is a temporary setback. Where there is a young family involved, the consequences can be particularly distressing. The people the fund has assisted have heart warming stories in which situations of despair have become manageable, and rectified over time thanks to the contributions by CIMA Ireland membership.

There is no fixed amount asked or expected as every contribution is valuable, but donations in the range of €30 to €50 tend to be the standard. Some members exceed this amount significantly and we acknowledge this extra generosity. Members who wish to contribute to the fund can do so by completing the standing order form. All contributions whether by standing order or once off payment are most appreciated.

STANDING ORDER – ANNUAL PAYMENT Bank Name (The Manager): Account Name:

Account No:

Branch Address:

Sort Code:

On the

day of

each year commencing on the

day of

(in words)

to the following account:

CIMA Benevolent Fund

IBAN number: IE03BOFI90149037010974

pay the sum of €

BIC code: BOFIIE2DXXX

Bank of Ireland, Baggot Street, Dublin 2 My/Our account will at all times contain sufficient funds to enable payment to be effected on the due date: Signed: Date:

Address:

Note: This instruction cancels any previous instruction in favour of the above named under this reference. After returning form, please allow 3-4 weeks for standing order process to be completed. Please return to: Nicola Glynn, Member Services Manager, CIMA Ireland, 5th floor, Block E, Iveagh Court, Harcourt Road, Dublin 2, Republic of Ireland.

NETWORK NEWS | SPRING 2014

NETWORK NEWS | AUTUMN 2014

PAGE 18

CIMA MEMBERS VISIT COCA COLA HBC IRELAND Coca Cola HBC Ireland hosted a meeting of the Northern Area at its state-of-the art 50,000 square metre manufacturing, bottling and warehousing facility at Knockmore Hill, Lisburn, Co.Antrim.

The event, which included a plant visit, provided an opportunity to learn about the history and development of the business, its business model and how ‘finance’ operates within the business.

Coca-Cola bottling operations started in Northern Ireland in 1934 and the company opened its Lisburn facility in 2010. Together, Coca-Cola HBC ‘Northern Ireland’ and ‘Ireland’ forms one of the biggest operations in the non-alcoholic beverage industry on this island and is a franchised bottler of The Coca-Cola Company.

CIMA COMMUNICATES ON ENGAGEMENT CIMA is a signatory to the UN Global Compact, an initiative for companies committed to aligning their business with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.

As a signatory, CIMA has recently submitted a ‘Communication on engagement’, a statement of our work and support of the Global Compact initiative, where you can find out about our research, syllabus, code of ethics, partnerships, and much more, that foster sustainable and responsible business worldwide.

CIMA’s ‘Communication on engagement’ is featured in the October issue of our newsletter Ethical Lens, alongside other sustainability and responsible business news from around the globe. As a management accountant committed to lifelong learning, keeping up to date on the latest developments in responsible business supports you and your organisation’s prospects for long term sustainable success.

Also in Ethical Lens, read about the second wave of sustainability, the $150 billion bill to unethical behaviour, and the future of global business post the 2015 millennium development goals. Access the latest CGMA and CIMA reports; learn about the possibility of independent assurance in Integrated Reporting <IR>, and a recent proposal to prosecute companies for failure to prevent economic crimes in the UK. Read Ethical Lens at www.cimaglobal.com/ethicallens

NETWORK NEWS | AUTUMN 2014

PAGE 19

UPCOMING EVENTS SOUTHERN AREA 2015 economic outlook (CIMA/IACT event) Date: Thursday 20 November 2014 Time: 5.45-7.30pm Address: Maryborough House Hotel, Douglas, Cork Members dinner, Waterford Date: Saturday 7 February 2015 Time: Pre-dinner drinks from 7.30pm Address: Waterford Castle, The Island, Waterford

EASTERN AREA Eastern area annual ball Date: Saturday 29 November 2015 Time: 7.30pm for 8pm dinner Address: Four Seasons Hotel, Dublin 4 Cost: â&#x201A;Ź75.00 per ticket or â&#x201A;Ź700 per table

NORTHERN AREA How to get that next job - Neal Lucas Date: Thursday 23 October 2014 Time: 6.00pm registration, 6.30pm presentation Address: Holiday Inn Belfast, 22 Ormeau Avenue, Belfast UK export finance - take your business further Date: Thursday 13 November 2014 Time: 6.00pm registration, 6.30pm presentation Address: Holiday Inn Belfast, 22 Ormeau Avenue, Belfast

WESTERN AREA Business intelligence (In association with Brenda Jordan) Date: Thursday 6 November 2014 Time: 6.30pm-8.30pm Address: Clarion Hotel, Sligo What is cloud computing - the cloud simplified Date: Thursday 6 November 2014 Time: 6pm registration, 6.30pm presentation Address: South Court Hotel, Raheen, Limerick Challenges of moving beyond traditional budgets (NUI Galway and CIMA event) Date: Tuesday 18 November 2014 Time: 6.00-8.30pm Address: The SAC Room Cairnes Building, NUIG The advantages and disadvantages of social media to your business (Presented by well-known journalist Conor Pope).

Sponsored by Morgan McKinley Date: Wednesday 26 November 2014 Time: 6pm-8.30pm Address: The G Hotel, Galway

BOOKING: Please contact the events team to book your place at any of these listed events at: E. events.ireland@cimaglobal.com T. 01 6430410 I 02890268490 All events are listed at www.cimaglobal.com/irelandevents

Understanding product and customer profitability Date: Wednesday 19 November 2014 Time: Full day workshop Address: Holiday Inn Belfast, 22 Ormeau Avenue, Belfast HR risk management Date: Thursday 27 November 2014 Time: 6pm registration, 6.30pm presentation Address: Holiday Inn Belfast, 22 Ormeau Avenue, Belfast Christmas lunch Date: Thursday 11 December 2014 Time: Lunch 12.30pm Address: Academy Restaurant, Belfast campus York Street, University of Ulster

NETWORK NEWS | AUTUMN 2014

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