ACCA Insights
ACCA Insights
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The latest research and opinion from ACCA’s Professional Insights. We explore the big issues impacting business, the accountancy profession and the evolving world of work. From technology to talent management, our subject matter experts and guests discuss good practice from across industries to help you stay ahead in business and your career.
Available episodes
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Sep 1, 2023
Episode 5: Risk culture: Balancing risk and opportunity with a 'Pro-Society' mindset
This is the latest episode in a series looking at what risk culture means and to what extent we understand its impact on organisations and the behaviours of the people within them. Hilary Sutcliffe, Director of a London-based not-for-profit organization, SocietyInside, introduces us to the concept of a "Pro-Society" approach to innovation and regulation and explains how this gives stronger incentives for corporations to reverse-engineer innovation from societal demands rather than simply creating innovations in a relentless quest for a home.
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Jul 31, 2023
Episode 52: Match Fit Finance- Creating a successful application (episode 2)
We continue our discussion on how accountants are best placed to support small businesses to access funding. Glenn Collins, Head of Technical and Strategic Engagement at ACCA, continues his conversation with Simon Goldie, Director of Advocacy at the Finance & Leasing Association and FLA Board member and Managing Director of SME Finance at Paragon Bank, John Phillipou. This time we focus on the top tips in gaining a swift and successful funding application. Let us know whether you found this podcast interesting and what other topics you would like to hear covered at ukpolicy@accaglobal.com
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Jul 17, 2023
Episode 4: Risk culture: Comprehending the risks of AI
This is the latest episode in a series looking at what risk culture means and to what extent we understand its impact on organisations and the behaviours of the people within them. Dr Roger Miles, a behaviour at risk specialist, talks about the cognitive shifts caused by AI, how accountants play an important role in ‘foraging for the truth’, and why we need to dig deep beyond our limitations of knowledge if we are to make the most of the disruption.
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Jul 11, 2023
Episode 50: Match Fit Finance- Getting the basics right (episode 1)
Helping small businesses access the right funding is vital to them staying match fit. In this podcast, Glenn Collins, Head of Technical and Strategic Engagement at ACCA, is joined by Simon Goldie, Director of Advocacy at the Finance & Leasing Association and FLA Board member and Managing Director of SME Finance at Paragon Bank, John Phillipou, as they uncover how small businesses can get the right finance at the right time in increasingly testing times. Let us know whether you found this podcast interesting and what other topics you would like to hear covered at ukpolicy@accaglobal.com
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Jun 16, 2023
Episode 3: Risk culture: Aligning with purpose and risk appetite
This is the latest episode in a series focused on what risk culture means and how it affects performance. Julia Graham, the chief executive of Airmic, the risk management trade body, explains why and how an organisation's social purpose is key to building an effective risk culture.
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May 12, 2023
Episode 2: Risk culture: Organisational ethics
This is the latest episode in a series looking at what risk culture means and its impact on corporate performance. David Rodin, Founder and Chair of Principia Advisory, talks about how to integrate ‘organisational ethics’ in governance and culture.
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Apr 27, 2023
Episode 1: Risk culture: The human factor
This podcast is the first in a series looking at what risk culture means and its impact on corporate performance. In this episode Christian Hunt, risk culture and conduct specialist and author of ‘Humanizing Rules: Bringing Behavioural Science to Ethics and Compliance’, discusses how risk and accountancy professionals could think more about the human beings they are trying to influence. Presented by ACCA’s head of risk Rachael Johnson.
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Jul 6, 2022
Episode 49: Internal Control and the Transformation of Entities
Internal control is one of the fundamental concepts used by entities to achieve important objectives, improve performance and build reputation, especially in disruptive and uncertain times. Internal control forms a core part of the activities of accountancy, finance and internal audit professionals, assisting them in ensuring that entities operate effectively. Yet the nature of the business model is changing for many.
Transformation, including the adoption of digital enablers, is changing the way that processes are undertaken. Rapid response to changing customer and economic factors is a reality. In this webcast, we explore these and other emerging trends, their impact on internal control and the need for internal controls to be agile and future-ready to support business transformation and growth.
In this podcast we explore the key themes of the joint ACCA, Internal Audit Foundation and Institute of Management Accountants report.
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May 29, 2022
Episode 48: Fintech state-of-play: opportunities for finance professionals
In this podcast Narayanan joins Jenny Knott FCCA for a wide ranging discussion about her path into fintech, the key trends in fintech as we look ahead, opportunities for professional accountants and the role of ESG and purpose.
Jenny Knott FCCA
Jenny Knott is both a board level investment banker with over 30 years’ experience as well as a leading innovator in financial technologies. Jenny has extensive prudential board experience having served on Boards of Global Investment Banks, Financial Services Corporates and Charitable organisations for over 25 years, her roles ranging from Chair to member of Board, Board Audit, Board Risk, RemCo and Technology Sub-Committees.
Jenny is also co-founder of FinTech Strategic Advisors and assists clients with their FinTech investment and adoption strategies. She supports start-ups achieve scale and commercial success. As an investment banker, she has been a CEO, CFO and COO, widely respected for leading the modernisation and transformation of her organizations and for her knowledge of the technical finance, emerging technology and regulatory environments.
Jenny believes that innovation, inclusivity and cognitive, demographic and experiential diversity are a ‘must’ for a successful business and acts as mentor and advisor to a number of CEO’s. She is a public speaker on emerging FinTech including Data transformation and Distributed Ledger as well as the commercial benefits of truly Innovative and Inclusive Board and Corporate cultures.
Jenny is currently a Non-Executive Director for SimplyHealth and deputy chair of both their Remuneration and Capital and Risk Committees. She is the chair of the Board Audit Committee in her capacity as Trustee for Ovarian Cancer Action, and Chairwoman of Equiida a global, senior executive leadership advisory firm founded on the science that greater inclusivity improves business performance.
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Apr 2, 2022
Episode 47: Accounting for a better world : Priorities for a transforming profession
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Feb 21, 2022
Episode 46: Maximising Technology Value in Medium Sized Organisations
Mid-tier businesses play a fundamental role in global supply chains, yet many of them are running on legacy systems and processes, facing long-term underinvestment in skills and technologies and have a very strong case investment that is not being addressed.
In this podcast Clive Webb Head of Business Management at ACCA’s Professional Insights, discusses the technology considerations for mid-tier organisations, with Adam Freeman, Director of Buyer Enablement at the Access Group and Tony Price, a Partner in PwC.
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Feb 19, 2022
Episode 46: Supply Chains: a finance professional’s perspective
Supply Chains are increasingly an area of focus for organisations. In a recent report ACCA, IMA and CIPS have explored the key issues from the perspective of the finance professional. In this podcast, Clive Webb, ACCA's Head of Business Management one of the report authors is in conversation with Aleksandra Zaronina-Kirillova, a fellow member of ACCA's Professional Insights team, about the key themes of the report.
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Feb 16, 2022
Episode 45: Climate action and the accountancy profession: building a sustainable future
Peter Hogarth leads PwC’s UK Accounting Consulting Services team. He advises the firm and its clients across a wide range of financial reporting topics, dealing with both UK GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards. He is a principal author of the firm’s Manual of Accounting and is closely involved with many of the firm’s initiatives concerning the future of corporate reporting. He is a member of the FRC’s UK GAAP Technical Advisory Group.
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Nov 18, 2021
Episode 44: Transformational Journeys - Episode 5: Transforming the profession
In this special edition, Julie Hotchkiss, Executive Director – People and Transformation, ACCA and Louise Fowler, Chief Transformation Officer, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) discuss with Charlotte Evett of CA ANZ, how their respective professional bodies are transforming in the context of a transforming profession.
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Nov 12, 2021
Episode 43: Transformational Journeys - Episode 4: The finance leaders’ perspective
What does transformation look like from the perspective of a finance leader who has successfully delivered change. In this podcast Andrea Naylor, Group CFO of Namos Solutions and James Best, Managing Director of Precision Finance Consulting share their personal perspectives and provide insights for the finance professional.
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Nov 12, 2021
Episode 43: Transformational journeys - Episode 3: Importance of transformative culture
Whilst many focus on the concept of digital transformation, technology and data can only ever be enablers. Having an agile and transformative culture is essential if organisations are to succeed. Brendan Sheehan, CEO of White Squires and Stephen Dowling of etm-unlearn, discuss how to establish an organisational culture that supports this rapidly changing world.
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Nov 12, 2021
Episode 43: Transformational journeys - Episode 2: Establishing the business and value case for change
The rapid nature of organisational change is one of several reasons why finance professionals struggle with traditional business cases. In this podcast two leading experts, Tim Barber of the University of Hull and Chris Carter of orgshift Solutions Inc, discuss how finance professionals should address evaluating transformation and the resulting benefits. The key is taking a value-based approach.
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Nov 12, 2021
Episode 43: Transformational journeys - Episode 1: How finance professionals play an important role
Organisations are increasingly needing to respond rapidly to changing customer requirements. This requires agility to adapt in order to survive. What role should the finance professional play in this. In their joint report the strategic partners ACCA and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, together with Generation CFO explore the key issues. This introductory podcast with the report authors considers why it is important for the finance professional to play an active role.
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Aug 10, 2021
Episode 42: Finance Functions: Seizing the opportunity - Part 3
The collaborative nature of the response to the pandemic in many organisations has reinforced the role of the finance business partner. The provision of insights, often in real time, by finance teams has helped organisations manage the changing scenarios. As part of the series to accompany ACCA and PwC's report Finance Functions: Seizing the Opportunity Dev Ramnarine, a partner at Thrudheim Advisory Services in US and Harry Shuttleworth, Director, Finance Transformation at PwC in the UK, discuss with one of the report authors, Clive Webb, the on-going impact and the lessons learned.
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Aug 10, 2021
Episode 41: Finance Functions: Seizing the opportunity - Part 2
Opportunity Andrea Naylor, CFO of Namos Solutions and Richard Pinder, Partner Finance Transformation at PwC in the UK, discuss with one of the report authors, Clive Webb, the on-going impact and the lessons learned.
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Aug 10, 2021
Episode 40: Finance Functions: Seizing the opportunity - Part 1
How have finance functions been impacted by the pandemic? What lessons can be learned and what opportunities now present themselves? Only 34% of survey respondents suggest a positive change that is long lasting. In this podcast Ronnie Patton, lecturer in Accounting and Finance at Ulster University and ACCA Council Member talks to two authors of the joint report Finance Functions: Seizing the Opportunity, Brian Furness, Partner in PwC in the UK and Clive Webb, Head of Business Management, Professional Insights, ACCA.
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Jun 20, 2021
Episode 39: Industries of the future Part 2 - waste, plastics and going circular
In this episode, we explore the problems of plastics and waste with Dr Mushtaq Memon, United Nations Environment Programme in Bangkok Thailand, Matt Morris and James Harmer from the Cambridge Design Partnership.
The conversation covers the opportunity of redesign and rethinking how products and services can be reimagined to serve us and the planet better, how to promote more sustainable lifestyles that demand fewer materials use ‘by design’, and as a result, have less of an impact and provide us with better experiences.
Find out more about their work:
https://www.unep.org/regions/asia-and-pacific
https://www.cambridge-design.com
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May 11, 2021
Episode 38: Gen Z and the future of the accountancy profession
What are the aspirations, concerns and expectations of generation z as they join the workforce? As future accountants, what opportunities and challenges will they face, how will they shape the future of work and the accountancy profession? Gen Z share their views with Jamie Lyon, Head of Business Management, ACCA Professional Insights
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Mar 23, 2021
Episode 37: Leading inclusion Part 3 - a profession perspective
If we don't address these challenges, we won't actually be able to ensure that our profession remains the profession of choice for the next generation. Alan Johnson, President of the International Federation of Accountants, reflects on the importance of the messages contained in our Leading Inclusion report with Clive Webb, Senior Insights Manager, ACCA's Professional Insights.
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Feb 2, 2021
Episode 36: Rethinking risk Part 3 with Dr Ariane Chapelle
The Covid-19 pandemic has shed new light on operational risk. Rachael Johnson, Head of Risk Management and Corporate Governance, ACCA Professional Insights, discusses with Dr Arianne:
* the key takeaways from her award-winning book, Operational Risk Management
* how the growing awareness of operational risk impacts business models influencing risk appetites
This episode is part of the Rethinking Risk podcast series to support our members as they navigate the rapidly changing and increasingly uncertain world.
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Feb 2, 2021
Episode 35: Rethinking risk Part 2 with David R Koenig on effective risk governance
Has the Covid-19 pandemic shed new light on the board's fiduciary duties, how can they meet the increasingly complex expectations of different stakeholders? These are some of the questions Rachael Johnson, ACCA's Professional Insight's Head of Risk Management and Corporate Governance, poses to David R Koenig, a renowned author and experienced risk professional, on effective risk governance and risk taking.
Their conversation includes key takeaways from David's book, moving away from perceiving risk as loss and towards building trust and the benefits of having diversity of board members.
David is a global leader in the governance of risk and founder of the Directors and Chief Risk Officers group (the DCRO). He also is one of the founders of both the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association (PRMIA) and the PRMIA Institute and serves on the US' Advisory Board of the Center for Advancing Corporate Performance.
This episode is part of the Rethinking Risk podcast series to…
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Jan 27, 2021
Episode 34: Leading inclusion Part 2 - an individual's perspective
Paul Barwick-Copeland, a diversity and inclusion advocate shares with Clive Webb, Senior Insights Manager ACCA Professional Insights, the impact of the pandemic on workplace culture, changing attitudes on the topic and some actions that individuals can take to contribute to change.
Read the 'Leading inclusion' report
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Jan 19, 2021
Episode 33: Leading inclusion Part 1 - an organisational perspective
Clive Webb, Senior Insights Manager, ACCA Professional Insights, discusses with Ksenia Babat, Founder & CEO at Babat Consulting, the first Russian Diversity & Inclusion consulting company, some of the ideas in our Leading Inclusion report. Ksenia shares the benefits for businesses and their employees, individuals and advice on being better advocates for diversity, inclusion, and equity.
Read the 'Leading inclusion' report
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Jan 14, 2021
Episode 32: Industries of the future Part 1
This series features voices that are leading the way in helping our economies transform and build the industries of the future that are fit to take the challenges facing society today.
ACCA’s Head of Sustainability, Jimmy Greer, talks to John Elkington, Chief Pollinator at Volans, about his most recent book Green Swans, the coming boom in regenerative capitalism, and Naina Batra, CEO, the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network, on why social impact and its measurement, matters now more than ever. Both guests are at the forefront of the big shifts that are taking place around the world.
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Nov 10, 2020
Episode 31: Rethinking risk Part 1 with Michele Wucker on building resilience and thinking long-term
Rachael Johnson, ACCA Head of Risk Management and Corporate Governance speaks with Michele Wucker, a well-known risk commentator who conceptualized the Gray Rhino metaphor for a high probability risk that is often ignored. In this episode, Michelle and Rachel discuss her book, The Gray Rhino, and how businesses can recognize and act on obvious risks that tend to be overlooked.
This is the first of the Rethinking Risk podcast series, which consists of regular thought leadership discussions to help our members navigate the rapidly changing and increasingly uncertain world.
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Oct 30, 2020
Episode 30: Greening up, better work in a just transition
An ACCA led panel discussion at the 2020 UK Labour Party Conference with former Labour Leader and current Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Industrial Strategy and Energy, Ed Miliband MP on green recovery post-Covid-19. Chaired by ACCA's Head of Sustainability Jimmy Greer, guest speakers included ACCA Corporate Reporting and Tax expert, Yen-Pei Chen, Chief Executive, ShareAction, Catherine Howarth and Director of Research and Advocacy, Miriam Brett.
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Sep 25, 2020
Episode 29: The CFO of the future
The role of the chief financial officer, the CFO, is one that continues to evolve and grow in breadth.
How has the pandemic reinforced the importance of the CFO role beyond financial stewardship? Clive Webb, ACCA's Senior Insights Manager, Professional Insights discusses this and other trends in our joint report with the IMA 'The CFO of the Future' with Helen Morgan, CFO Character.com, ACCA Panel member and Brendan Sheehan, Change and Agility expert, ACCA Global Council Member, and Chair of the audit committee.
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Sep 11, 2020
Episode 28: Analytics in finance
Big data and analytics present a significant opportunity for finance professionals. Report authors Clive Webb, Senior Insights Manager, ACCA Professional insights, Charlotte Evett, and Suresh Sood of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand discuss our joint report Analytics in Finance and Accountancy, the importance of forward-looking analytics, data strategy and the skills finance and accountancy professionals need to develop.
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Aug 10, 2020
Episode 27: Meaningful work for the digital professional Part 4 - impact of Covid on the digital agenda
Narayanan and the panellists share their closing views on the report Meaningful work for the digital professional series with Ernst & Young (EY). This fourth and final episode covers the positive changes to digital that have occurred in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the potential long-term consequences on businesses and their employees.
Panellists include ACCA Chief Executive Helen Brand, EY EMEA Public Policy Leader Andrew Hobbs; EY Canada Assurance Digital & Innovation Leader Daniela Carcasole; EY Global Assurance, Audit methodology, and Analytics leader Alan Young; and Prime Global CEO Stephen Heathcoate.
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Aug 3, 2020
Episode 26: Meaningful work for the digital professional Part 3 - how to think about building digital skills
Part 3 of our ‘Meaningful work for the digital professional’ series with Ernst & Young (EY) hosted by Narayanan Vaidyanathan focuses on how professional accountants can build their digital skills and the importance of balancing those skills with other skill sets.
Panellists include ACCA Chief Executive Helen Brand EY EMEA Public Policy Leader Andrew Hobbs; EY Canada Assurance Digital & Innovation Leader Daniela Carcasole; EY Global Assurance, Audit methodology and Analytics leader Alan Young; and Prime Global CEO Stephen Heathcoate.
Conversation highlights:
* Helen (0.32 secs), developing human skills that enable effective use of technology skills
* Stephen (2.43 mins), having a learning mindset, how small practices are developing complete talents of accountants,
* Alan (6.58 mins), managers roles in encouraging their employees to develop their skills
* Daniela (9.50 mins), the value of personal passion and curiosity to step outside comfort zones, the role of GIG workers…
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Jul 27, 2020
Episode 25: Meaningful work for the digital professional Part 2 - the state of play on digital adoption
In part two of our series on ‘Meaningful work for the digital professional’ with Ernst & Young (EY), hosted by Narayanan Vaidyanathan, the panellists explore the benefits of digital adoption in accounting and how the new ways of working due to Covid-19 have positively influenced the importance of enhancing digital capabilities.
Panellists include ACCA Chief Executive, Helen Brand; EY EMEA Public Policy Leader, Andrew Hobbs; EY Canada Assurance Digital & Innovation Leader, Daniela Carcasole; EY Global Assurance, Audit methodology and Analytics leader, Alan Young; and Prime Global CEO Stephen Heathcoate.
Discussion highlights:
* The journey to adopting and embedding digital within accountancy practices to add value to their work and with clients
* How digital is shaping the policy agenda for organisations, its impact on accountancy organisations to meet societal expectations
* The role of regulation, the role of public and private partnerships in addressing some of the chall…
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Jul 23, 2020
Episode 24: Sustainable development goals disclosure recommendations – risks, opportunities and long-term value
The Sustainable Development Goals Disclosure (SDGD) Recommendations, authored by Carol Adams, Professor of Accounting, with Paul Druckman and Russell Picot, Honorary Professors at Durham University Business School, offer a new approach for organizations to address sustainable development issues. They attempt to establish a best practice for corporate reporting on the SDGs and enable more effective and standardized reporting and transparency on climate change, social and other environmental impacts.
Jimmy Greer, ACCA’s Head of Sustainability, discusses with the authors and Charles Tilley, interim Chief Executive International Integrated Reporting Council.
Their conversation covers, how the SDGD recommendations augument other frameworks and support organisations to achieve sustainable development goals, its relevance to integrated thinking and reporting; its importance for the work of benchmarking agencies.
Read the SDGD recommendations
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Jul 21, 2020
Episode 23: Finance insights reimagined Part 3
As the business environment changes and businesses evolve to meet expectations and demands, finance functions are increasingly required to support strategic decision making through data-driven insights. Clive Webb, Senior Insights Manager, ACCA Professional Insights speaks with Claus Thorne Madsen, a PwC Partner in Copenhagen, to discuss how finance business partners can become proactive, to add more value to their organisations as finance functions change.
Read the 'Finance insights reimagined' report
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Jul 20, 2020
Episode 22: Finance insights reimagined Part 2 - the changing role finance business partners
Finance functions are increasingly being required to support strategic decision making through data-driven insights. Clive Webb, Senior Insights Manager, ACCA Professional insights, Brian Furness, PwC Partner and Global Head of Finance Consulting and Jamie Lyon, Portfolio Lead, ACCA Professional Insights, explore the role of finance business partners, how it's changing, the breadth of skills they need to develop in order to be effective and meet the future needs of the business.
Read the 'Finance insights reimagined' report
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Jul 20, 2020
Episode 21: Finance insights reimagined Part 1
Finance functions are increasingly being required to support strategic decision making through data-driven insights. In the first of this three-part conversation, report authors Clive Webb, Senior Insights Manager ACCA Professional Insights, Brian Furness, PwC Partner and Global Head of Finance Consulting and Jamie Lyon, Portfolio Lead at ACCA Professional Insights, discuss why insights matter and how finance functions need to think broader than their traditional measures when evaluating performance and supporting decision making.
Read the 'Finance insights reimagined' report
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Jul 17, 2020
Episode 20: Meaningful work for the digital professional Part 1
In the first of a four-part series on Meaningful work for the digital professional, which is based on our joint report of the same title with Ernst & Young (EY), Head of Business Insights in Professional Insights, Narayanan Vaidyanathan introduces the start of an engaging discussion with four panellists about what meaningful work means to each of them.
The series will explore: Part 2 - the state of play on digital adoption (the journey to digital adoption, risks, challenges, opportunities and rewards), Part 3 - how to think about building digital skills and Part 4 - the impact of Covid-19 on the digital agenda.
Panellists include ACCA Chief Executive Helen Brand, Prime Global CEO Stephen Heathcoate, and three leaders from EY: EMEA Public Policy Leader, Andrew Hobbs; Canada Assurance Digital & Innovation Leader, Daniela Carcasole and Global Assurance, Audit methodology and Analytics leader Alan Young.
Read the 'Meaningful work for the digital profession' report
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May 4, 2020
Episode 19: Continuous learning in turbulent times
Why is it especially important to ensure that we grow our skills and continuously learn? What approaches can we adopt to ensure that we are successful? How do we remain relevant? Dr Nigel Spencer of Oxford Said Business School, Keith Jones, Executive Partner at Alchemy Worldwide and Senior Insights Manager ACCA Professional Insights, Clive Webb explore the importance of learning in turbulent times.
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May 4, 2020
The digital accountant - Part 2 - The digital finance function
In this podcast, Neil MacLean, patner at EY, explores the nature of digital transformation and how it impacts the finance function. He explores the impacts of technology and the implications for skills for the accountancy and finance professional and how these need to evolve. In a survey with over 4,200 ACCA members, affiliates and students we reviewed the digital skills that a professional needs to be relevant, as expressed by ACCA’s digital quotient; one seven quotients that define the skills needed. In the report, "The Digital Accountant – digital skills in a transformed world," we explore the results and provide guidance on growing the necessary skills and knowledge.
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Mar 16, 2020
The digital accountant - Part 3 - The digital skill set
In this podcast, Stephen Dowling, Founder and CEO of ETM considers why the accountancy and finance professional needs to develop their digital skills and the steps that they need to take to ensure that they remain relevant. He considers the importance of learning and unlearning in this context.
Digital transformation is one of the key conversations around businesses at present. The evolution of the business model has an impact on us as accountancy and finance professionals from the way that we collect, verify and utilise increasing volumes of data.
In a survey with over 4,200 ACCA members, affiliates and students we reviewed the digital skills that a professional needs to be relevant, as expressed by ACCA’s digital quotient; one seven quotients that define the skills needed. In the report "The Digital Accountant – digital skills in a transformed world," we explore the results and provide guidance on growing the necessary skills and knowledge.
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Mar 16, 2020
The digital accountant - Part 1 - The digital transformation
In this podcast, Brendan Sheehan, ACCA council member and CEO of digital transformation company White Squires, explores the nature of digital transformation and how it impacts the accountancy and finance professional. He considers the role that they need to play and why it is relevant. He specifically considers the implications for the finance leaders (as discussed in the companion report, "Digital Leadership: Leading finance digital transformation").
Digital transformation is one of the key conversations around businesses at present. The evolution of the business model has an impact on us as accountancy and finance professionals from the way that we collect, verify and utilise increasing volumes of data.
In a survey with over 4,200 ACCA members, affiliates and students we reviewed the digital skills that a professional needs to be relevant, as expressed by ACCA’s digital quotient; one seven quotients that define the skills needed. In the report, "The Digital Accountant – digital…
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Jan 21, 2020
Creating effective learning "eco-systems" for the future of professional services
In October 2019 Saïd Business School, University of Oxford and ACCA published an article Creating effective learning ‘eco-systems’ for the future world of professional services. This podcast is a discussion between the two report authors: senior insights manager for ACCA, Clive Webb, and leadership development specialist and adviser on talent development based at the business school, Nigel Spencer.
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Aug 9, 2019
Finance: A journey into the future? Part 2 - The journey
Finance functions are facing a number of potentially disruptive challenges led by technological innovations, changing business models and evolving consumer expectations. Based on a series of interactive workshops and interviews with leading finance professionals around the world, as well as through an online survey of over a 1,000 ACCA members and PwC contacts, we have set out in a new report what we consider to be a possible vision for the future finance organisation, and what we think the journey to get there is.
Part 2: The journey to the future
In this podcast, PwC specialists Colin Bezant, Fedelma Good and Helen Tuddenham share their insights for finance teams to successfully embark on a journey of change. Amongst those, encouraging people-led solutions, understanding the entire data lifecycle built around a strong digital core, and offering training to finance teams outside of traditional channels, all appear key concepts to focus on in order to deliver effective transformation…
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Jul 30, 2019
Overview of the Global Economic Conditions Survey: Q2 2019
On 18th July we launched the Global Economic Conditions Survey: Q2, 2019 (GECS) for the second quarter of 2019. GECS, carried out jointly by ACCA and IMA (the Institute of Management Accountants), is the largest regular economic survey of accountants around the world.
This podcast features Michael Taylor, chief economist at ACCA, discussing the global economy and looking at the current picture and the potential risks.
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Jul 15, 2019
Finance: A journey into the future? Part 1 - Opportunity
Finance functions are facing a number of potentially disruptive challenges led by technological innovations, changing business models and evolving consumer expectations.
Based on a series of interactive workshops and interviews with leading finance professionals around the world, as well as through an online survey of over a 1,000 ACCA members and PwC contacts, we have set out in a new report what we consider to be a possible vision for the future finance organisation, and what we think the journey to get there is.
Part one: The opportunity for the finance community
The first podcast features ACCA’s director of Professional Insights Jamie Lyon and PwC Partner and Global Head of Finance Consulting in London, Brian Furness, the two sponsors of this joint research initiative. Together they discuss key insights from the report and top tips for finance leaders embarking on a journey of change.
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May 30, 2019
Cyber and the CFO Part 3: The leadership perspective
Cyber security is one of the most significant risks that an organisation faces. ACCA and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand’s recent survey of over 1,500 members suggests that it is an issue that most accountants see as belonging to somebody else. Is this valid? What is the nature of threat? In our series of podcasts that accompany the report, Cyber and the CFO, Clive Webb, a Senior Insights Manager at ACCA and one of the report authors considers, with his guests, how the finance community needs to respond to the threat. To read the full report go to accaglobal.com/cyber-cfo.
In the third podcast Paul Diamond, a senior Technology & Risk Director, with significant experience and a sustained record of success in the public and private sector considers the executive level view and why cyber risk matters. He also explores the role of standards and accreditations in managing the cyber risk, especially as these relate to the supply chain.
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May 30, 2019
Cyber and the CFO Part 2: The business perspective
Cyber security is one of the most significant risks that an organisation faces. ACCA and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand’s recent survey of over 1,500 members suggests that it is an issue that most accountants see as belonging to somebody else. Is this valid? What is the nature of threat? In our series of podcasts that accompany the report, Cyber and the CFO, Clive Webb, a Senior Insights Manager at ACCA and one of the report authors considers, with his guests, how the finance community needs to respond to the threat. To read the full report go to accaglobal.com/cyber-cfo.
In the second podcast Michael Hughes, a Partner at Haines Watts, United Kingdom, a Director – ISACA Central UK and Non-Executive Director of the CyberQ Group considers the business perspective of the cyber risk. Mike explores why cyber risk is not just about data privacy and why the two are often confused. He considers how the connected world of the Internet of Things is changing the cyber risk p…
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May 22, 2019
Cyber and the CFO Part 1: Risk
Cyber security is one of the most significant risks that an organisation faces. ACCA and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand’s recent survey of over 1,500 members suggests that it is an issue that most accountants see as belonging to somebody else. Is this valid? What is the nature of threat? In our series of podcasts that accompany the report, Cyber and the CFO, Clive Webb, a Senior Insights Manager at ACCA and one of the report authors considers, with his guests, how the finance community needs to respond to the threat. To read the full report go to accaglobal.com/cyber-cfo. This first of three podcasts features Clive’s fellow report authors, Geraldine Magarey of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and Philomena Leung and Christophe Doche both of the Optus Macquarie University’s Cyber Security Hub. We explore the nature of the risk, how it is changing and why it is important for the finance community. What is the nature and extent of the cyber threat and…
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Apr 8, 2019
Machine learning: more science than fiction
As with any technology, with power comes responsibility. And in the case of machine learning, ethical considerations are never far away. Professional accountants need to consider and appropriately manage, potential ethical compromise from decision making by an algorithm.
In this podcast, Narayanan Vaidyanathan, who is leading on ACCA's futures research is speaking to some of the leading voices in finance and digital. They talk about AI and machine learning and some of the ethical considerations that come with these emerging technologies.
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Apr 4, 2019
Future(s) of work
In this podcast @jimmygreer talks to entrepreneurs, policy makers and academics about what has become known as the future of work. We discuss the challenges and opportunities of online platform working; why it is so important and to make this new way of working fair; how some freelancers are making the most of digital; the impact of automation (or should that be ‘automatability’?) on emerging and developing country jobs; and what to do about the so-called ‘rise of the robots’. This podcast is the first in a series exploring the themes from our research into business models of the future. Click here to read a short summary of our latest report on Business Models of the Future https://tinyurl.com/y3an5trg Thanks to our guests: Willem Pieter de Groen (Centre for European Policy Studies), Romain Trébuil (Yoss), Ellen Thijs (B-Hive), Natalya Sverensky (NOBL), Brando Benifei (MEP), Luke Schlögl (University of Vienna). Music and production by @snowlionmedia.
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Mar 25, 2019
The capitalisation debate: R&D expenditure and the ‘intangibles’ question
The so called ‘intangibles gap’ refers to the difference between the stock market value of companies and the net asset value that accountants are reporting. There are concerns that financial statements no longer reflect the underpinning drivers of value in modern business. Such concerns are particularly relevant to accounting for ‘intangibles’, including R&D costs. In this podcast, Richard Martin, head of corporate reporting in the professional insights team at ACCA is joined by Alan Teixeira, global director of IFRS Research at Deloitte. Together they walk us through the challenges that come with the option to either capitalise or expense the R&D costs of a company.
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Jul 19, 2018
Episode 5: The digital CFO
The opportunities for organisations to drive advantage from the digital world have never been stronger.
Clive Webb, Senior Insights Manager at ACCA Professional Insights leads the conversation with, Jens Madrian, CFO & CCO Reactive Technologies, Bryan Furness, Global Consulting Lead, PwC London and Jamie Lyon, Portfolio Lead, ACCA Professional Insights.
Their discussion focuses on:
* How CFOs and their team can ensure their goals including technology implications are fully aligned with those of the organisation overall
* Four steps a CFO can take towards digitalisation
* Skills implications for finance organisations/teams
* The culture change required
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May 30, 2018
Episode 4: Initial coin offerings
What’s all the hype about initial coin offerings? Narayanan Vaidyanathan, Head of Business Insights in our Professional Insights team, briefly explains the background, process and risks of ICOs - and how it links to professional accountants.
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Mar 23, 2018
Episode 3: Purpose and the profession: A conversation with Sacha Romanovitch, Grant Thornton UK
What is the role of business in society? Head of Sustainability, Research and Policy in the Professional Insights team at ACCA, Jimmy Greer, talks with Sacha Romanovitch, CEO of Grant Thornton UK, about social mobility, why it matters, and what they are doing to improve access to opportunities.
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Feb 21, 2018
Episode 1: Race for relevance: Legal issues - Part 1 with Harry Small
This episode is part of our Race for Relevance campaign on technology and the finance function. Harry Small, a partner in the IT/Commercial department of Baker McKenzie's London office, shares the legal risks involved in procuring technology that finance teams should be aware of.
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