Chartered Accountants Leaders Unite to Urge Political Progress

It’s one of those years when Northern accents rule the roost at Chartered Accountants Ireland and its Ulster Society at the same time. Niall Harkin, Chair of the Ulster Society, and Feargal McCormack, President of Chartered Accountants Ireland, talked to Richard Buckley about their respective roles, the challenges facing accountants and business leaders... and they’re united on the thorny question of the local political logjam.

RB – So what are your individual agendas for your periods of office?

FM – I see it as a seamless transition. There are no solo runs in this job. You’re carrying on a policy which will go on after you’ve left. I see the principal role being an ambassadorial one....as well as a chairman’s function. My core objectives are the same as the Institute’s....to attract the brightest and the best to this profession and to be relevant to our members. It’s a diverse membership. We’ve got 3,000 members working overseas, 49% of our trainees are female, and female membership as a whole is now over 40% where it used to be 10%. Our voice is crucial. We see it as our role to comment on public policy. And all of that fits in to an overarching role which is to make a positive contribution to the economy and the community.

NH – We’re part of the overall Institute, of course, and we have around 4,500 members here in Northern Ireland. I came in under a theme of ‘Adapt & Engage’ and there are a number of strands to that. Firstly, engagement is crucial and we see it as key to engage with political parties and leaders like the Secretary of State and her junior ministers. Our membership is broad, roughly a third in business, a third in practice and a third in public sector roles and the third sector. As Feargal says, the voice is important. As well as engaging with politicians, we’ll engage with the media and we’ll comment as we see fit. On Brexit, for instance, we’ll try to inform the debate and, as Brexit becomes a reality, we see our role as being a very important one. The skills and attributes of a chartered accountant are more relevant than ever. But the market for recruiting talent is becoming more challenging, and that’s crucial. We have to secure the future of this profession.

What makes the Ulster Society tick? We’ve got a series of committees, all of them manned by about 140 volunteers.

FM – And that’s what gives us credibility. That accountants are willing to give of their time to contribute their views and inform the debate. Our views are sought....and regularly so. We’re a regular contributor to all sorts of consultation processes.

RB – You mention talent. Is there a shortage of young accountants coming through?

FM – We have a record membership. However, the demand for graduates and apprenticeships has never been higher and we’re in a competitive marketplace. This profession is a lot broader than it used to be. Audit and accounts these days would account for less than 50% of activity at practicing offices.

This is a talent management industry. So we need to attract and retain talent. We’re not about training accountants. We’re about training business leaders of the future. If you look at the empirical evidence, there is no better foundation than an Irish chartered accountancy qualification. Even after qualifying, the level of flexibility is phenomenal. Look at leaders of industry, of business, of sports organisations, of health services, utilities....you name it. Our members are in the leadership roles. In fact, it’s worth noting that accountancy practice represents 25% of our membership on the island.

NH – It’s important that we get that message out to young people. A chartered accountancy qualification can lead to a broad range of careers. It’s not about a lifetime in audit or accounts.

FM – Let’s put it like this. Irish chartered accountants are in demand around the world. We’ve got upwards of a thousand members in Australia, for example. I haven’t heard of one yet who has left here and not found a job.

RB – Is your’s a more important voice than it has ever been, when we consider Brexit and other issues?

NH – You could say that we’re at a crossroads. We could be living with the consequences of Brexit, and the current political stalemate, for years to come. So it is crucial that we represent the voice of our members.

FM – Yes, and it is a diverse membership. Diversity might be a buzzword everywhere these days, but we’ve always embraced it, insisting that our committees are as diverse as they can be, for example, across sectors and geographies. We have a responsibility to speak up on issues, and we’re recognised for having a balanced view. But we’re willing to make forceful comments when we think they have to be made. We don’t fudge any issues.

NH – We’ve been running our members surveys for a number of years, but the strength of feeling that came through in the latest one was powerful. So we’ve been a lot more forthright in calling for political progress and an end to the logjam. Our members were very clear on it.

FM – I think we led the way amongst professional organisations on Brexit. We took a view right from the start and we took the decision to appoint a full-time policy officer to concentrate on the one issue. We’ve played a central role in Belfast, London and Dublin on this issue, and we think we have credibility.

I hosted an event for members in London recently and the one thing that came through there was that our members wanted us to be a voice at Westminster level.

RB – Is there more concern now amongst your members than there has been in the past?

NH – Yes. There’s concern about the lack of representation for Northern Ireland at the negotiating table. And there’s a lot of concern over the fact that we’re well down the road now yet there is a lack of understanding around the consequences of Brexit. No one knows what it is going to look like.

RB – Once more detail comes out, you are going to play a vital role.

FM – Yes, we have the skills base to play a major role in advising businesses around tax, customs and other issues. But the fundamental issue at the moment is uncertainty. And uncertainty, by its very nature, starts to eat into confidence. Businesses can take the odd bump in the road, but uncertainly can be very damaging.

Look, we sometimes forget that our politicians have come a long way. Overseas, Ireland is held up as an example of what can be achieved. So we need to be a bit careful not to be too negative. But we have to encourage our politicians to reach agreement. I believe that there is a willingness out there to reward the risk takers. Stable government in Northern Ireland can only enhance the business environment.

NH – There’s no doubt that local business is very resilient. But the big investment decisions are very, very difficult with uncertainty hanging over us all.

FM – To look on the bright side, maybe Brexit will become a phenomenal opportunity for us. But, until we know what it is, we can’t deal with it.

NH – It came through on our survey, too. We asked about preparations, but most respondents suggested that it was hard to make preparations when we don’t know what it going to happen.

FM – That’s true, but you’d be surprised how many organisations are doing a bit of Brexit-proofing without really knowing that they’re doing it. Maybe a bit less dependence on one supplier or one customer. Or moving outside of Northern Ireland. Anything to avoid being dependent on this one, small economy. They’re doing it instinctively.

RB – You’re based on the border, in Newry. How do you see it from that perspective?

FM – If we can get the uncertainty eliminated, we can look to a reasonably bright future. As a location, the island of Ireland is fortunate in its talent base and its education. There will be opportunities for the next generation and the challenge for our’s is to ensure that we learn from the past and have flexible, open economy. We’re too dependent on Westminster and we can’t solve that overnight..... but we can keep making progress, being entrepreneurial and being positive. We badly need more Plc’s and we need to build on the attractive location that we have. I’m very optimistic about the future.

And we need to focus on infrastructure. We can all benefit from every pound spent on infrastructure here.

NH – Picking up on Feargal’s point, we can beat ourselves up a bit but we’ve got a hell of a lot going for us. There is huge potential and we could really make a difference in five years time.

FM – Absolutely. We all know we can do better....and we all know that we owe it to the next generation to do just that.

RB – Do the politicians listen to business?

NH – I think that in Northern Ireland business hasn’t been given a high priority...but our long term success and prosperity is going to be driven by the private sector.