Acca Insights

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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 appetitesThis episode is part of the Rethinking Risk podcast series to support our members as they navigate the rapidly changing and increasingly uncertain world.

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 support our members as they nav

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.