Introducing our Shaping the Profession programme
By Sarah Chisnall, Director of Public Affairs
26 October 2023
Sarah Chisnall introduces and sets out the purpose behind our new Shaping the Profession programme.
At the time of writing, it is exactly one year to the day since I started as Director of Public Affairs at ICAS. In this role I’m lucky enough to have responsibility for policy leadership, public affairs and communications. Falling under those areas are a range of different policy boards and panels, from the Charities Panel to the Research Panel to the Business Policy Panel and more. They form a critical cog in the ICAS governance and leadership structure and give direction to our policy priorities.
In the main, it’s ICAS members who sit on these boards and panels offering their expertise on a voluntary basis. We couldn’t do our jobs without them and the non-members who also provide useful experience and great support.
All these panels and boards are supported by our policy leadership team, a group of experts whose work includes answering technical queries from members, representing ICAS across a huge range of external bodies, and drafting materials for members to update them with new developments, standards and regulations. Through their work with governments, regulators and standard setters, influencing policy and new regulation, the team play a key role in shaping the regulatory, policy and legislative framework that governs our profession. This work also involves developing consultation and legislative responses on emerging issues, often with the expert help of the various panels.
The range of issues these teams look at can be huge – and the list is only getting longer. But we hear a few clear refrains and questions. What will the role of chartered accountants be in the future? Where is the profession headed? How can we address issues like attractiveness and retention of skills in the profession? What skillsets will be needed? How will AI affect the sector and the ethical landscape?
As we enter our 170th year in 2024, we have been thinking about our heritage as the oldest accountancy professional body in the world, as well as the future of the profession. Our board and panel members have agreed to develop a programme of work under the broad heading of Shaping the Profession (StP). This work will help ICAS consider what tomorrow may bring for individual CAs, firms, businesses and, just as importantly, what society will need from us as a profession. After all, ICAS was founded by Royal Charter to serve not just the profession, but also the public interest.
In the article written by our Head of Research, Marie Gardner, you can learn more about this programme and the literature review we commissioned. To inform our work, we’ve also been talking to CAs about their views on what the future holds. These are their personal thoughts, which will be considered along with many other views, by the newly formed Shaping the Profession steering group as it agrees the programme of work.
Insight from our members is critical, but in later months, we’ll go on to explore what those outside the profession want and need. We’ll update you on the StP programme as it develops throughout 2024.
