On the 21st and 22nd of May 2025, the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand presented a conference for accountants and auditors throughout the region focusing on topics from AI to mental health to financial advisory and more. With 22 virtual conferences taking place across the two days, the opportunities to expand upon your knowledge were endless. The CAANZ partnered with some industry leaders to educate the attendees across a wide range of topics affecting the accounting industry, while sponsors like Advancetrack teamed up with CAANZ to bring this concept to life.
The conference offered auditors and accountants across the Tasman to engage with speakers using the Q&A feature where the host of each session would hand-pick the most relevant and informative questions to be answered. The chat function allowed attendees to bounce ideas off of one another while viewing each session and after all the talks were finished, there were networking opportunities for attendees to connect. With a wealth of information being dispersed across the two days, we’ve condensed a few talking points that stood out for the future of the accounting industry here in Australia and New Zealand.
On Wednesday the 21st of May, Edwyn Lai and Salaman Khokhar took attendees through the risks of cybersecurity within the auditing industry. Their presentation titled ‘Cybersecurity: Where we are; What More Can be Done? A Call for Auditors to Lean In’ delved into context, financial impact, evolving risks, and risk mitigation of a cybersecurity breach.
Key threats for Australian and New Zealand auditors are social engineering, data/privacy breaches, business email compromises, ransomware, AI and generative AI, shadow IT, and supply chain issues. To mitigate this risk, auditors need to be creating:
Speakers Cameron Lynch and Karen Draper took the attendees through AI with their talk titled ‘Behind the Hype: Practical AI Strategies for Accountants’. Cameron encouraged the viewers to take the time to understand AI including the security risks. To paraphrase - ‘if something is free, you are the product and AI is using your data’. Adoption to AI takes time and the will to understand it, including the security protocols that come with it. Train your staff, employ cybersecurity risk measures, and keep an open mind. Cameron took the attendees through a few examples of AI including Vercel which allows users to build websites using commands and ChatGPT to be used to create business plans including target market, location and next steps.
Karen used their time to show examples of how AI can help in the administrative side of your business. Using AI to scan invoices, input data, report on GST, create emails etc. They encouraged attendees to use AI to ‘round-out’ tasks rather than relying on it for full automation. Use AI to build morale, collate information and improve your workflow.
During the question and answer portion of the talk, both speakers did mention that AI is to be used as a secondary tool, making sure you are able to manage its output. AI is a multi-step tool so it’s important that you are there each step of the way managing the task and gaining efficiency while it aligns with your firm’s needs.
Vita Lo Presti and Sarah Pilling, founders of Bramble and Briar, an accounting firm located in Brunswick, Victoria challenged accountants to view their firm’s culture from a new angle. After working in the ‘big 4’ firms for a decade, they saw that women in the field were returning to work after giving birth and finding themselves in positions underneath their skill set. Determined to design a firm that prioritises flexibility, inclusivity and accountability, Bramble and Briar was born.
Their values are people first, valued aligned and flexibility mingled with integrity, impact, and approachability. Although unconventional to the traditional accounting office structure, they reported that their approach has found them incredible staff who are both talented and passionate about the industry. The staff they’ve recruited have come to them seeking employment based upon their values in an unusual turn of events but they credit this to their ethical and sustainable business practices.
When it comes to their clients, they make sure their clientele line up with their values. If a client pushes back on pricing, or makes unreasonable demands - they are happy to let them go to uphold the business’ values. Through this, they’ve found a client base that understands that they and their staff place a priority on their work/life balance. They’ve found that their staff have flourished when given autonomy, responsibility and guidance about topics that they are passionate about. By allocating tasks based upon their employee’s strengths, there becomes an ability for the business to flow successfully. What is the overarching key to their success? Communication.
Andrew Jepson, CEO & Founder of The FBP Team believes that once AI “takes over”, the only facet left for humans to work within will be financial business partnering. This is likely due to the fact that in order to successfully partner with financial businesses, you need to create a person to person relationship. Taking the time to develop strong professional relationships is a core value of FBP. Much like the similar route of business advisory services, FBP relies on approachability, great storytelling, and clear communication.
Andrew asked the attendees to reference Freytag’s Pyramid when brushing up on their storytelling skills. Asking the participants to approach a client with this model in mind, taking the client on a journey with an introduction, rise, climax, catastrophe and conclusion. Andrew asked the attendees to keep in mind when executing this method that it's not about what you do, it's about how you do it. Be engaging, informed, skilled, and trustworthy in your communication. Whether you’re working in a virtual team or building your financial business partnership skills in real life, connection is key.
Leah Mether presented an essential talk entitled ‘Soft is the New Hard: Why Human Skills are the Key to Your Success’ focused on identifying, fostering and improving your soft skills to ensure success within your firm. Starting off with a poll asking respondents to choose how they’re feeling, it asked the attendees to reflect on how they decide to show up to their work.
Leah went through the most common myths that they’ve encountered when training accountants:
Soft skills are not soft nor are they easy. Leah noted that in actuality, soft skills are often harder to learn than technical skills. Fostering your soft skills can be crucial to your success. Some examples of soft skills that Leah mentioned throughout their presentation are:
Technical skills are increasingly becoming automated which is a concern for accountants who have prioritised their technical skillset only. Soft skills will be the point of difference when investing in your employment for the future. Leah made a great point when noting that largely, soft skills have historically been undervalued. However, they encouraged the attendees to reject undervaluing soft skills going forward and to embrace them in order to truly secure success.
