BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 IT and Accountants: A Partnership Made in Heaven? Kirstin Gillon, ICAEW IT Faculty Introduction by Christiana Diola, Members and Stakeholders, Europe region

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BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 What’s involved?

BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 ACA TRAINING – THE QUALIFICATION

BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 ACA TRAINING – WHO IS INVOLVED? ICAEW Syllabus Examinations Study support Membership EMPLOYER Training agreement Salary and rewards Study time Reviews TUITION PROVIDER Tuition Revision Exam practice YOU Time Intellect Energy Commitment

BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 ADVANCED LEVEL Case Study Corporate Reporting Strategic Business Management PROFESSIONAL LEVEL Business Planning: Taxation Business Strategy Audit and Assurance Financial Accounting and Reporting Financial Management Tax Compliance CERTIFICATE LEVEL AccountingAssurance Business and Finance Law Management Information Principles of Taxation ACA MODULES

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BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 IT Faculty Broadband Cyber Roadshows Other ICAEW Trust IT Value IT Security Cloud Thought leadership Member service Other Policy

BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 Technology and accounting

BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 Agenda How do accountants and IT work together? What are key technology trends for accountants? What do our members want to know?

BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 How do accountants and IT work together?

BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 The different roles of accountants Decision makers IT investments Risk and strategy IT function System users Accounting systems Reporting systems Government systems AuditorsIT controls Audit analytics Automation Business advisers Software selection Cyber security Process change

BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 Should the CIO report to the CFO? CIO COO CEO CFO

BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 Cyber risks are frequently pigeonholed as technical risks which are under the province of the Chief Information Officer. This makes it difficult to reach decisions which balance the opportunities and risks of digital technology and recognise the significant business impact that cyber security failures could have. In order to manage these risks effectively, businesses need to approach cyber risks as an integral part of business strategy and operations, not as a specialist technical topic. ICAEW Audit Insights: Cyber Security The risks of poor communication

BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 Working with other skill sets Business and finance skills IT and data skills Statistics and algorithms Exploiting big data

BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 What are key technologies for accountants?

BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 The key enabler 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 Exponential growth of computing power

BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 Are we behind the curve? 2004 Driverless car – ‘not possible’ 2013 Google’s driverless car logs 200k miles Derived from Brynjolfsson, UK – trials of driverless cars

BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 A changing business world Digital Disruption Consumerisation Democratisation Inclusion

BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 Important technology trends Cloud computing Mobile technology Social media Online services Interaction Big data and analytics Automation Standards Cyber security Data Digital currencies and ledgers Payment systems Platforms Analytics services Financial technology

BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 Different business priorities Value for money Efficiency and cost Revenues Customer engagement Risk Security Project delivery Organisational capabilities Strategic goals Reach new markets New products and services Competitive advantage and pressure

BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 What do our members want to know?

BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 Is my accounting data safe in the cloud? Example Small to mid-size business Cloud accounting software Benefits of cloud computing – Cost – Flexibility – Collaboration But worried about security – Data breaches – Availability Considerations Benefits of using a supplier Track record of supplier Contract and controls Back up plans

BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 How much should I spend on security? Example Large business Impact of major breach would be significant – Reputation – Fines – Recovery cost Spending more and more on security But no blank cheque – where do they prioritise? Considerations Use of standards Benchmarks Cost of controls v loss avoidance Positive case and business enabler

BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 Can I rely on big data analytics? Example Possibilities of using new sources of external data about customers e.g. social media Driven by competitors Lots of free or cheap tools But concerns about reliability of data and analysis Considerations Value of data Data quality Use of correlations

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