The Technical Mix 2026
Registering for The Technical Mix at CPD Fest 2026 couldn’t be more straightforward. We have three packages for you to choose from – 8 hours, 16 hours and 24 hours of CPD – allowing you to customise the event to your own specific needs. Once purchased, pick ‘n’ mix the topics of most interest and relevance to you from any of the sessions running across the week of CPD Fest 2026.
CPD Fest Packages:
The 12 Gifts Of CPD Fest
Over the coming weeks we are going to give you advance access to hugely valuable extracts from the note packs The CPD Fest & The Essential Advisors’ Mix.
With The 12 Gifts of CPD Fest you will get guides, financial statements, checklists, tools, tax papers, letters of engagement and reports all the way up to and including the kitchen sink!
Registration for The 12 Gifts Of CPD Fest is free, quick and straight forward and you can do so here:
Event Details:
Session 1: Rightsizing Debt in Challenging Times
Time: 09:00 – 10:40
Speaker: Claire Kelly – My Debt Solution
You recognise corporate insolvency – would you recognise personal insolvency and the appropriate solutions?
Accountants know their clients can have bad/challenging as well as good times. More than ever, as interest rates again increase, costs go up and affordability is tighter, it is important to be able to proactively recommend to clients to have specialist advice early in the process.
Recovery and getting back on track financially is easier the earlier you engage, but harder the closer you come to loosing your home, permanently damaging your relationships and when you are under severe financial & emotional stress.
As a trusted advisor, you have a unique position and insight to your clients and this knowledge will equip you with the skills to advise in this area. Maybe your client is the creditor and doesn’t understand the paperwork and process they are expected to engage with; not engaging or missing deadlines places them at a disadvantage both on participation and in receiving their share of what is available, you can help them not to miss out. This webinar will show you the benefits of personal insolvency, how it acts as a reset button financially, the key steps in the process and when to recommend.
Claire Kelly will cover the following topics during this webinar:
- What Personal insolvency is & key solutions
- Role of the PIP in the process
- What is expected of the Debtor
- The paperwork & tripwires in the process
- Case outcomes and the accountants role
This session will enable you to watch out for red flags that indicate financial distress, know that solutions exist and how your client can access them, key process requirements and what can be achieved. Also when business is going well, the safeguards which can help mitigate personal risk if things go wrong later.
This session will be of particular interest to Accountants, Tax advisors, Corporate insolvency Advisors.
Course Level: Intermediate
Session 2: The Application of Forensic Accounting Skills in Practice and Industry
Time: 11:00 – 12:40
Speakers: Dermot Madden – Madden & Co
There are many issues which involve forensic thinking, company law and taxation, and their inter-relationships, which professionals need to keep in mind, as they advise clients, or work as professional accountants in industry.
Being aware of such relationships will enhance the professional’s critical thinking as he or she ponder issues or advise on potential courses of action.
This will enhance their ability to add value to their work for their clients or employers.
Dermot Madden will cover the following topics during this webinar:
- What exactly is forensic accounting?
- Forensic Accounting compared to Auditing
- Experience Required and Critical Skills
- Communication Skills – Written & Verbal
- Spotting Fraudulent Behaviour
- Types of Engagements
- Writing reports as an expert
- Courtroom Performance and Bias
- Application across practice and industry
- Legal and regulatory environment
- Tax Forensics
- Application of Forensic Thinking to AML
- Client acceptance
- Evidence Based Thinking
This session will be of particular interest to:
- Qualified Accountants who wish to practice in this niche area
- Other interested accountants who wish to develop their forensic skills
Session 3: Law Society Update and Key Solicitors Accounts Issues 2026
Time: 13:40 – 15:20
Speakers: Stephanie Furey – The Law Society, Lindsay Webber – OmniPro
In the first part of this session, Stephanie Furey will concentrate on the recent changes to the Solicitors Accounts Regulations which came into operation on 1st July 2023. The talk will give an insight into the Compensation Fund and the role of the reporting accountants. It will also highlight the types of issues that the Law Society investigating accountants encounter in the course of their inspections of solicitor’s accounts and identify risk factors when reporting on solicitors’ accounts.
Stephanie Furey will cover the following topics during this webinar:
- The responsibility of the Law Society to protect both clients and the legal profession
- Examples of issues that give rise to claims on the Compensation Fund
- Solicitors Accounts Regulation 2023
- Focus on key changes
By attending this session, you will understand why reporting accountants are integral to the regulation of solicitors and protecting the public. You will learn what has changed under the Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2023 and be able to confidently report on a solicitor’s compliance with same.
This session will benefit any practitioner with solicitors as clients and are required to report to the Law Society on same.
In the second part of the session, Lindsay Webber will cover the following topics:
- The Legislative Requirements – Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2023
- The Law Society Accountants Report & Reporting of Breaches of the SARs
- Planning a Solicitors Engagement & the Requirements of the Reporting Accountant
By attending this session, you will obtain an understanding of the key changes to the Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2023 & the impact on your work.
Course Level: Intermediate
Session 4: Audit Under Review: IAASA Findings, New Standards and What's Next
Time: 15:40 – 17:20
Speaker: Lindsay Webber, Lungi Sepotokele – OmniPro
IAASA’s latest audit inspection findings have put a spotlight on recurring quality issues across Irish audit firms, from risk assessment to the audit of accounting estimates. At the same time, a new suite of auditing standards is reshaping what a compliant audit file needs to look like. This webinar gives you a clear picture of where IAASA is focusing its attention, how this impacts SME audit firms, and what you need to do differently to stay ahead of it.
Lindsay Webber and Lungi Sepotokele will cover the following topics during this webinar:
- Key themes from IAASA’s recent audit quality inspection reports
- Common root causes of audit file deficiencies
- Overview of new and revised auditing standards and their effective dates
- Practical changes needed to audit documentation and procedures
- What the Institute expects to see in your next monitoring visit
By attending this session you will understand IAASA’s current inspection priorities and know what practical steps to take to strengthen your audit files against them.
This session will be of particular interest to auditors and audit quality managers in practice.
Course Level: Intermediate
CPD Course Facilitators
Orla Carolan – Glas Consulting
Orla is a Chartered Certified Accountant (FCCA) and Managing Director of Glas Consulting, a consulting company that provides sustainability services including training, compliance and sustainability reporting advisory services to large organisations and SMEs.
Orla is currently working with the EFRAG secretariat on the programme of updates to the ESRS reporting standards which are due to be delivered to the EC later in 2025. During her time at Grant Thornton Orla also worked with EFRAG on the development of the ESRS sector standards under the CSRD.
Orla previously held senior roles at Future Planet, Grant Thornton and JPMorgan Hedge Fund Services in consulting, sustainability and financial & regulatory reporting.
Orla is a qualified trainer (QQI accredited) and currently lectures for CAI, TUD and other CPD and training bodies in sustainability and sustainability reporting.
Orla holds a B.A. in Business and Economics (TCD), is an ACCA member and a Certified Investment Fund Director (CIFD) and member of the IFDA working group on sustainability.
Claire Kelly - My Debt Solution
Claire Kelly, Auditor & Personal Insolvency Practitioner based in Newbridge, benefits from both experience in accounting & auditing, and expanded her practice into providing solutions to clients in the area of Personal Insolvency since the legislation was introduced 6 years ago.
She is an active member of the Association of Personal Insolvency Practitioners (APIP) the professional representative body of PIPs, having held the position of Chair of APIP in 2020, and has been active at committee level for several years including representing the profession for media activities working with the Insolvency Service of Ireland and their communications team for the ABHAILE scheme which provides funding for debtors at risk of losing their home.
Her team operate a balance of professionalism and empathy for insolvency clients providing expert advice and a realistic assessment of how their debt problems can be restructured working between the Debtors and the banks.
Dermot Madden - Madden & Co
Dermot Madden has over forty years’ experience working at senior levels in the Irish Revenue Commissioners and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (“ODCE”). Now the Corporate Enforcement Agency (“CEA”).
He is a former Commissioned Inspector of Taxes who lead the DIRT enquiry audits on behalf of the Revenue Commissioners.
The DIRT enquiry followed the revelation that all major Irish banks had operated tax free fraudulent bank accounts for many years up until the late 1990’s.
He was the senior Forensic Accountant in the ODCE for over fourteen years.
He has substantial and unique courtroom experience in giving expert witness testimony.
He has authored grounding affidavits in major white collar criminal cases.
He has lectured and examined Forensic Accounting in Trinity College Dublin.
He will bring his unique experiences, insights and advices to accounting and auditing professionals, to enhance their understanding of what good forensic thinking and reporting is.
Seamus McGrath – The Law Society
Seamus is Head of the Society’s Financial Regulation Department and leads a team of 11 investigating accountants. Seamus has overall responsibility for the investigation of solicitors’ practices, the management of the administration of the Society’s Compensation Fund and of reporting accountants’ reports as well as the management of secretarial service to the Regulation of Practice Committee.
Elaine Jackson - OmniPro Practice Support
As a member of our Practice Support team, Elaine’s focus is on providing firm’s with assistance and training in the following areas; Anti-Money Laundering, Audit Testing and Walk Through Procedures, Audit Planning and Efficiency, OmniPro Audit Working Paper Demos, Preparing for Monitoring Visits and Post Monitoring Visit follow-ups.
Elaine has over 15 years Accountancy Practice experience which has provided her with a wealth of knowledge across all industries and sectors. Elaine is an AITI Chartered Tax Advisor, a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Diploma in Corporate Finance.
In her previous roles, Elaine has experienced a number of ACA and ACCA monitoring reviews. This experience has provided Elaine with a great understanding and appreciation for the challenges facing Accountants in practice today.
Stephanie Furey – The Law Society
Stephanie is a Chartered Accountant who qualified in 2017. She has been an investigating accountant with the Law Society since 2021. Her role involves carrying out regulatory inspections of solicitors’ firms. In her role, Stephanie is dedicated to safeguarding and supporting the solicitors’ profession by ensuring compliance with professional standards, the Solicitors Accounts Regulations, and anti-money laundering legislation.
Lindsay Webber - OmniPro Strategic Solutions
As a member of our Strategic Solutions team, Lindsay’s focus is on helping practices achieve on-going best practice compliance, providing in-house training, technical assistance, and file reviews.
Lindsay is a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants and Chartered Accountants Ireland. She trained with KPMG in Johannesburg and specialised in external audit of financial services companies. She then spent six years lecturing audit and financial reporting to under-grad and post-grad students at Rhodes University in South Africa before moving to Ireland and returning to practice in a small, and then a medium sized firm where she was an audit manager. Altogether, she has over six years external audit experience along with over six years academic experience specialising in Audit and Financial Accounting. She is passionate about combining her academic and practice backgrounds to provide technical information in a useful and practical way.
Outside of her accounting qualifications Lindsay holds a PGDiploma in Higher Education from Rhodes University and graduated with distinction from the MBA course at Trinity College Dublin. She is currently working towards a Diploma in Forensic Accounting through Chartered Accountants Ireland.
Lungi Sepotokele CA(SA) - OmniPro Strategic Solutions
Lungi trained with PwC in Johannesburg and specialised in external audit of mining companies. She completed part of her training as an academic at Wits University where she completed her Master of Commerce degree. Lungi has worked in external audit in Canada as an audit senior and Ireland as an audit manager.
Outside of her accounting qualifications Lungi is a hobby baker who volunteers by baking for the homeless in Dublin City
Rory O'Neill - The Law Society
Rory is a Fellow Chartered Accountant and is the Financial Controller of the Compensation Fund of the Law Society. Prior to this Rory, spent 14 years as an investigating accountant, carrying out over 500 investigations and has been involved in a number of contentious matters before the High Court and Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
He has been consulted in relation to regulatory matters on state projects and is extensively involved in raising the profession’s awareness of cybercrime and property fraud and the risk they pose to their practices.
Rory also worked for over 10 years in private practice gaining valuable experience in accounts preparation and audit of small to medium size enterprises, including reporting on solicitors’ practices.
Colm Owens - OmniPro Practice Support
As a member of our Practice Support team, Colm’s focus is on helping practices achieve on-going best practice compliance, prepare for monitoring visits and assist with post-monitoring visits follow-ups.
Having spent the 6 years prior to joining OmniPro as a quality reviewer with Chartered Accountants Ireland Colm has a unique insight into how firms operate, the challenges facing firms and how firms are responding to current issues facing them and the profession.
The Technical Mix 2026 is brought to you in association with ...
