1. 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

2. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 ICAEW is a world leader of the accountancy and finance profession and we support over 144,000 chartered accountants around the world ACA is our world-leading chartered accountancy qualification

3. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 What is an ICAEW Chartered Accountant? ICAEW Chartered Accountants are recognised around the world as leaders in accountancy, finance and business. Their qualification, the ACA, is one of the most advanced learning and professional development programmes available.

4. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 What does that mean… International recognition of premium business qualification 81% FTSE 100 companies have an ICAEW member on their board 97% Best Global Brands employ ICAEW members Over 20,000 students worldwide (25% based outside the UK) studying in 16 countries High pass rates and admission to membership because of calibre of our students

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

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

7. 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

8. 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

9. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 STAY CONNECTED Find great resources to boost employability and business skills: – Icaew.com/moocThe Importance of Money in Business – Icaew.com/careers – Business games in Cyprus Keep up-to-date with the latest news icaew.com/studentcommunity Like us on Facebook Students@ICAEW Follow us on Twitter @ICAEW_talk Join our LinkedIn group ICAEW Students

10. 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

11. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 Technology and accounting

12. 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?

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

14. 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

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

16. 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

17. 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

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

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

20. 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, 2011 2015 UK – trials of driverless cars

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

22. 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

23. 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

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

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015 Questions Email: kirstin.gillon@icaew.com Blog: www.ion.icaew.com/itcounts @icaew_ITFaculty

29. A world leader of the accountancy and finance profession BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCEicaew.com © ICAEW 2015