MCASS August Newsletter

ICAEW
MCASS August 2016
Newsletter
BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE
icaew.com/manchester
2
Welcome
Welcome to the MCASS August edition newsletter. Browse your
way through the following pages to find out about recent and
future events, exam and careers advice.
Included is a tutor’s guide on the steps to take after results, articles
on the recent notable political changes and outlooks, and a future
CABA event to be hosted for you (page 9).
Dates for the events over the next six months can be found, as
well as further details on the eagerly anticipated Masquerade Ball,
to be held at The Midland Hotel on the 9 September. Whilst the
early bird ticket deadline has since passed, tickets are still available.
See page 10 for the details.
Michael McCullough
Matthew Holt
If you have any suggestions or requests for the next newsletter,
please email matthew.holt@crowecw.co.uk or michael.
mccullough@rsmuk.com. You can also find us on Twitter
@MCASSupdates
Contents
Welcome
3
Partner Interview
4
RGL Forensics
Five perspectives on exam results – pass or fail 4
Accounting & Assurance – Certificate Level
7
Recent articles
7
Economia articles
Brexit and Economia
ICAEW Chairman article
Other articles
Events
7
Events review
MCASS Summer BBQ – Review
MCASS SpeedQuiz – Review
Upcoming review
Summer games
Charity spin
Bowling
CABA
Annual Ball Trustees 8
Committee 6
7
7
7
8
8
8
9
9
9
9
9
10
11
12
3
Partner Interview
RGL Forensics
How did you first become interested in
Forensics?
I started working in Coopers & Lybrand back
in the mid 1980’s. At that time you could not
qualify as a forensic accountant (you can now
of course) and you had to qualify in audit. I
started auditing but was lucky enough to be
in an audit team which was geographically
close to the Litigation Support Unit, as it was
known. Often, they would need help on cases
and whenever possible I volunteered to assist.
I found the work fascinating – I was working
on the divorce case of a rock star one day
and assisting in calculations supporting the
extension of a patent on a pharmaceutical
product the next. Auditing could never live up
to forensic work once I had a taste for it!
Name: Catherine Rawlin
Position: Partner
Email: crawlin@rgl.com
Firstly, could you please inform us of what the
role of a Forensic Accountant entails – what
distinguishes it from the other professional
accountancy roles such as Audit or Corporate
Finance?
The definition of a forensic accountant can
vary and the type of work done by different
firms and individuals can cover a broad
spectrum. Essentially, the word ‘forensic’ can
be defined as either ‘Relating to or denoting
the application of scientific methods and
techniques to the investigation of crime’ or
‘Relating to courts of law’. I consider it in
the broadest possible terms as describing an
investigative accountant. This can mean you are
investigating the financial impact of an incident
on a business. That incident could be a fire,
flood, personal injury, dispute with a business
partner or breach of contract. The business
could be a huge multi-national or a sole trader.
Alternatively, you might be investigating and
quantifying fraud, and assisting in seeking to
recover the stolen assets. Another example
is marital dissolution or divorce where you
might be asked to investigate and value a
family-related business. The key distinguishing
features are that it is always varied and you
never know what you will be asked to look at
from one day to the next. There is also a very
personal, people-oriented aspect to the work
as you are generally dealing with some form
of crisis situation. Overall, it is an exciting and
interesting field of accountancy!
4
Please tell us a bit about your career journey
(qualifications, career experiences)
Initially I was sure I wanted to be in the medical
professions so I took a degree in Physiology
at Bristol University with a plan to potentially
transfer across to Medicine at the end of the
three year degree. However, my mind changed
and I decided to move to London and train as
a Chartered Accountant with the view that this
was a universally respected qualification and
would help me in whatever I decided I really
wanted to do with my life! The rest is history.
I trained with Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC)
and then moved to my current firm (formerly
Campos & Stratis, now RGL Forensics) shortly
after qualifying in 1989. In that time, we have
grown from 6 people in the London office to
around 60 staff in the UK across Manchester
and London. We also have 25 other offices
around the world. I qualified as ACA, now
FCA and am also a member of the Academy
of Experts and the Chartered Institute of
Arbitrators as well as an Accredited Mediator.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
Without doubt, two aspects. Firstly, I love the
work – the variety, the intellectual challenge
and the fact that even after 30+ years of
working in the profession, I am still taken
outside my comfort zone at times, thereby
expanding it. Secondly, I thoroughly respect
and admire the skills, talents and personalities
of my colleagues and very much enjoy working
with them.
What is likely to be the most challenging aspect
of the UK’s Brexit vote on your industry?
It is still really too early to say, and by the
time these answers have been published, who
knows what else might have happened in the
current fast-moving political and economic
environment in which we find ourselves. I think
the biggest issue would be any exit from the
UK as a global financial and legal centre by
businesses and people. This could change the
complexion of the client and talent pools in
which we have been accustomed to working.
How do you see the role of an Accountant
changing over the next 5-10 years, and how is
your firm preparing?
People and businesses will still need advice and
I consider accountants will still be required.
However, technology e.g. blockchain and
the availability of data is going to change
how we interact and work. I believe therefore
that accountants will need to embrace
technology even more than they already have.
At RGL Forensics, we are looking to increase
recruitment of data analysts into the firm,
as well as investigating and researching the
opportunities for diversifying our practice to
serve the needs of current and future clients.
If you were to offer one piece of advice to
trainees today, what would it be?
This is cheating a bit as its one piece of advice
with three parts to it! I would say knuckle down
and get the exams passed as soon as you can.
Once they are done, take every opportunity
offered to you professionally and when you are
given these chances, embrace them and do
your utmost to produce the best work product
you can, every single time.
5
Five perspectives on exam results – pass or fail
1
Celebrate
2
Get off the canvas
If you passed an exam – eat something nice,
drink something strong, dance and be merry,
for you are one step closer to glory and have
achieved something which is both difficult and
precious. If you didn’t pass – celebrate still: for
when you resit you will be so much better than
all the first-time sitters you will laugh at their
witless ignorance and passing will be easy.
If you failed an exam – shrug it off. Laugh at
it. Give it the Agincourt salute. Then register
for your resit and get the books back out. I
failed an exam at the final hurdle myself – so
what? I don’t carry a stain of failure on my skin.
Even if you fail and lose your job because of
it – be thankful for the fact that you have been
released from a firm which wasn’t for you. Get
another job, resit, pass, qualify and enjoy a
better job and a better life.
3
Shop around
Don’t feel chained to your existing tuition
provider – particularly if you have failed with
your existing one. Why go back for more of the
same? A different tutor at a different college
with a fresh approach can be the difference.
There is lots of choice out there so look around
and don’t feel chained to one of the ‘big two’
colleges.
6
4
Scan beyond the
horizon
5
Remember
perspective
Try and see what’s ahead – not on the horizon
but over it. If you have passed and qualified –
look at your options, both within and outside
your current organisation. Don’t relax into
your current role and wake up 20 years later
realising you are trapped on an escalator to
death. I trained in audit with PwC but I now
own my own accountancy training college –
iCount – which certainly wasn’t anywhere on
my horizon when I qualified. Be open to all
possibilities and take a risk. A ship is always safe
at the shore – but that is not what it is built for.
If you passed your exam be humble – it’s only
an exam. If you failed be phlegmatic – it’s only
an exam. Hug your loved ones, play some
sport, revel in your health. Get up early and
watch a morning seep into day. Look around
you and be grateful. Keep your bowels open
and your fingernails clean – the rest will take
care of itself.
Andrew Booth ACA PhD
Partner, iCount Training, Manchester
ICAEW Specialists
Accounting & Assurance – Certificate Level
My top tip for both exams would be to practice
as many questions as possible – if you have
the time, go through your question banks
twice. I would recommend diving straight into
practicing questions rather than rewriting your
notes from college because not only does this
familiarise yourself with the type of questions in
the exam and help with your timing but it also
allows you to highlight any areas of weakness.
You will quickly find topics that you are
comfortable with and you can pick up marks
easily here but don’t neglect the harder topics,
make sure you keep practising those trickier
questions and refer back to your notes and
study manual if you haven’t quite grasped the
content yet. You will quickly master these areas
with practice and you will learn how to answer
the questions presented to you in the exam.
Above all seek help from your peers, your office
colleagues and your fellow MCASS members –
we’ve all been there and know how helpful it
can be to talk through a difficult concept. After
all, most of us sitting the first two ACA exams
had never studied Accounting/Assurance before
and understand how daunting it can be!
One to remember for Accounting: DEAD CLIC
(Debits increase Expenses, Assets and Drawings
– Credits increase Liabilities, Income and
Capital.
Emma Hutchings, Audit Trainee, BDO LLP
Recent articles
Economia articles
Business activity has so far withstood the shock of Britain’s vote to leave the EU, according to the Bank of England
(BoE)
http://economia.icaew.com/news/july-2016/eu-exit-did-not-impact-business-activity-boe-says
Britain faces ‘severe’ confidence effects on spending and business investment over the next three years following
the EU referendum, a new report argues
http://economia.icaew.com/news/july-2016/uk-economy-to-see-anaemic-growth-after-eu-exit
Brexit and Economia
ICAEW Chairman article
MoorgatePlace blog
http://www.ion.icaew.com/MoorgatePlace/post/A-vote-to-leave-4C9C384A2D8D4C8A82F1B4C6E6DDC67B?u
tm_source=Eurefstudentemail&utm_medium=link&utm_content=june28&utm_campaign=CEOblogEUref
Other articles
Developing a niche for your firm to differentiate from the competition
http://economia.icaew.com/business/june-2016/a-bit-special
Sport policies this summer
http://economia.icaew.com/business/june-2016/how-will-sports-affect-productivity-in-accountancy-firms
Duty of care towards clients, identifying problems and support
http://economia.icaew.com/business/june-2016/identifying-mental-health-issues
7
Events
Events review
MCASS Summer BBQ – Review
Post June exam festivities kicked off in fine
style at the MCASS Summer BBQ, held at The
Lawn Club in Spinningfields, on the 8th June.
Over 80 attended the event on the
Wednesday evening and all were fortunate
enough to be treated to sunshine (post
showers, naturally). At approximately 19.30,
the Lawn Club roared up their BBQ’s and
soon we were offered fine beef burgers and
sizzling chicken (bread crumbed and Cajun
spiced legs) were accompanied by a colourful
array of sides were available for consumption.
To help down the food were some free
drinks! Each attendee were offered two
tokens on arrival, which were exchangeable
for beer, wine and soft drinks. By 8pm,
however, left over tokens were distributed
around. The large contingent from KPMG
were seen to be scooping them up!
A massive thanks to Marks Sattin for
sponsoring the event.
8
MCASS SpeedQuiz – Review
On 11 May MCASS and MYTSG held a Speed
Quiz, sponsored by Hays, at the Living Rooms.
The style was different to the usual pub
quiz, involving tablets to send in immediate
responses, with points for correct answers and
time taken to respond.
Bonus questions, whereby the first team to
answer correctly jumped to the top of the
leader board, were dropped in at random over
the course of the night, meaning no team
could take it easy after building a high score!
Thanks go to Hays for sponsoring the event
and providing winning team and raffle prizes,
the Living Rooms for the food and venue,
and the Quizmaster for keeping everyone
engrossed for the whole evening, with extra
facts and a variety of question styles.
Upcoming review
Summer games
The annual MCASS Summer Games was held
on 30 July at Sport City and was a resounding
success with 10 teams entering and around 150
participants.
The day kicked off with a football and netball
tournament held simultaneously with PWC
winning the football and CLB Coopers beating
Shoosmiths in an exciting final in the netball.
After a swift packed lunch it was on to the
dodgeball and tug of war competitions, with
KPMG winning both.
The competition was drawn to a close with various
track and field events which produced some
incredible performances; don’t worry, we’ll bring a
longer tape measure for the javelin next year!
CLB Coopers were crowned winners, pipping
Shoosmiths to the trophy by only 4 points.
It was refreshing to see the accountants (at
their own MCASS games) beat the solicitors
to the trophy, considering MTSG were worthy
winnners in both 2015 and 2014!
After a long day of competition it was off to
Artisan in town for some refreshments!
MCASS would like to thank everyone who took
part and contributed to a great day with a
fantastic atmosphere! And thank you once again
to Michael Page for supporting the day.
CABA
MCASS will soon be holding an event with the
Chartered Accountants Benevolent Association
(CABA) on 6 October at a location TBC. The
event will be run by CABA’s professional
team with the aim of helping us to deal with
different stresses and pressures from work/their
studies. Here is a rough outline of the event:
Build your resilience/mindful resilience
The way you react to challenges and setbacks
is a reflection of how resilient you are. Resilient
people don’t dwell on the fact that things don’t
always go quite as planned. They simply learn
from their experiences and move forward.
Our resilience sessions explore ways of
boosting your self-confidence and coping more
effectively with setbacks, both in and out of the
workplace.
You’ll explore the tools you need to develop a
resilient attitude and examine the differences
between pressure (which can be positive and
motivating) and stress (a natural reaction to
too much pressure).
After completing this session you’ll be able to:
Ross Taylor, EY
Charity spin
Save the date – On Thursday 15 September
we’ll be holding a Charity Spin, at Spin Factory
(opposite Salford Central Station). All proceeds
will go to The Children’s Adventure Farm
charity. Aritsan will also host a pop-up bar for
some post exercise refreshments!
Event booking now LIVE via this link:
eventbrite.co.uk/e/mcass-charity-spin-for-cafttickets-26418662932?aff=es2
Bowling
On Wednesday 9 November MCASS will be
holding a Bowling Night. With advanced
exams taking place over the first three days
that week, this will be a chance to relax and
team up for some friendly competition!
Keep an eye on the twitter page and the
ICAEW Events site for further details.
Recognise the
difference between
pressure and stress
Identify what
causes you stress
Build your resilience/
mindful resilience
Use a range of tools
and techniques,
including mindfulness
strategies to increase
your resilience
Understand the
foundations of
resilience
Assess your
personal level of
resilience
Design a plan to
continue to build
your resilience
Keep an eye on your inbox, LinkedIn or our
Twitter feeds for details which will be released
when confirmed!
9
Annual Ball
9 September 2016
MCASS is holding its annual ball on Friday 9 September at the Midland Hotel, Manchester. It will have a
masquerade theme, so the more creative the better!
The Ball is a celebration and recognition of all the success and hard work by trainees over the past year and a
chance to meet ‘en masse’.
With over 300 tickets sold thus far, it promises to be a fantastic evening, ensure you visit the portal below to get
yours before the 22 August deadline.
www.eventsforce.net/assuredevents/111/register
Trustees
Name: Rachel Aldcroft
Job title: Manager
Firm: Mazars LLP
Committee position:
President
 linkedin.com/in/rachel-aldcroft-0a16b025
Name: Simone Masterson
Job title: Audit Semi Senior
Firm: BDO LLP
Committee position:
Chair
 linkedin.com/in/simone-masterson-a464687a
Name: Nikki Childs
Job title: Audit Assistant
Firm: KPMG
Committee position:
Secretary
 linkedin.com/in/nichola-childs-38073044
Name: Aisha Anwar
Job title: Audit Senior
Firm: CLB Coopers
Committee position:
Vice-President
 linkedin.com/in/aisha-anwar-26b90945
Name: Michael Angelo
Berger
Job title: Associate
Firm: Grant Thornton
Committee position:
Vice-Chair
 linkedin.com/in/michael-angelo-berger-b0b9255b
Name: Justinas Pocevicius
Job title: Forensic accountant
Firm: RGL forensics
Committee position:
Treasurer
 linkedin.com/in/justinas-pocevicius-729a9b69
11
Committee
Name: Charles Whitaker
Job title: Senior in Assurance
Firm: EY LLP
Committee position:
Sports Secretary
 linkedin.com/in/charles-whitaker-49177b86
Name: Eimear Gunn
Job title: ACA Corporate
trainee
Firm: Booth Ainsworth LLP
Committee position:
Social Secretary
 linkedin.com/in/eimear-gunn-370804a0
Name: Emma Hutchings
Job title: Graduate Audit
Trainee
Firm: BDO LLP
Committee position:
Events Coordinator
 linkedin.com/in/emmavictoriahutchings
Name: Laura Hepple
Job title: Audit Trainee
Firm: Mazars LLP
Committee position:
Tuition Provider Relationship
Manager
 linkedin.com/in/laura-hepple-17234549
Name: Louise Sleightholm
Job title: Audit Trainee
Firm: BDO
Committee position:
Networking Secretary
 linkedin.com/in/louise-sleightholm-9a1088a2
Name: Matthew Holt
Job title: Audit Assistant
Firm: Crowe Clark Whitehill
Committee position:
Communications Secretary
 linkedin.com/in/matthew-holt-45a79079
Name: Michael McCullough
Job title: Assistant
Accountant
Firm: RSM
Committee position:
Communications Secretary
 linkedin.com/in/michael-mccullough-447098aa
Name: Ross Taylor
Job title: Assistant Tax
Adviser
Firm: EY
Committee position:
Sports Secretary
 linkedin.com/in/rosstaylor2
Name: Lauren-Jade Roberts
Job title: Corporate Finance
Executive
Firm: HURST & Company
Accountants
Committee position:
Networking Secretary
 linkedin.com/in/laurenjaderoberts
© ICAEW 2016. MSDPLN14976 08/16