The Practising Accountants Update 2024
Registering for The Practising Accountants’ Update at CPD Fest 2024 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 2024.
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: Corporate Insolvency Update 2024
Time: 09:00 – 10:40
Speaker: Tom Murray – Friel Stafford
Corporate and personal insolvency rates are on the rise in Ireland in 2024, with a further increase expected in 2025. The ongoing financial pressures are driven by rising interest rates, higher costs of doing business, as well as global geopolitical tensions. As a result, practicing accountants are more essential than ever in guiding clients through these financially challenging times.
Successfully navigating these situations with clients not only supports their immediate needs but also builds a foundation for long-term retention.
This course equips practicing accountants with the knowledge and tools to confidently assist clients in identifying and managing corporate restructuring and insolvencies. By understanding the current economic climate and the specific steps required for navigating insolvency, accountants will be better prepared to support clients through difficult financial times.
In this session Tom Murray will cover the following topics:
- A Step-by-Step Guide for Practicing Accountants in managing corporate insolvency
- SCARP or Examinership: Selecting the most effective option for your client’s unique circumstances
- Liquidation Process: Comprehensive guide from initiation to completion
- Creditors Meetings – how a creditor’s approach same
- Sector-Specific Strategies: Special insights for the hospitality industry
- Directors’ Responsibilities and Implications: Key considerations for directors entering insolvency proceedings
- Creditors’ Rights and Information Needs: What creditors should understand when a customer enters an insolvency process
- Insolvency Law Updates: Including the latest in case law
- CEA Compliance and Liquidator Supervision\
This session is tailored for general practicing accountants with corporate clients facing increased financial challenges.
Course Level: Intermediate
Session 2: Company Law Updates for Accountants in Practice 2025
Time: 11:00 – 12:40
Speaker: Brian Walker, Alison Walker – The Law Library
In this session, Brian Walker and Alison Walker active practising barristers specialising in Company and Commercial Law will talk us through the most recent changes and updates in Company Law.
Company Law doesn’t stand still, and changes are coming and in particular what’s coming next for company directors. Brian and Alison eat sleep and drink Company Law and will explain What’s Coming Next in easy practical terms in an interactive session where you can raise questions as the session progresses.
Topics covered include:
- The Companies Act 2014 Updates
- The proposed new Companies Act 2024
- The Companies (Corporate Enforcement Authority) Act 2021
- New enforcement action from the CEA
- EPO, European Prosecutors Office,
- Proposed New AML Sixth Directive on the Way
- The Companies (Rescue process for Small and Micro Companies Act) 2021
- Corporate Governance of the Future
- Section 363 new two-step regime retaining audit exemption when companies are late
- CRO enforcement, What’s Happening on the ground
- New registration of beneficial ownership Regulations
- Unliquidated insolvent dissolved Companies, options to appoint an inspector
- Other remedies under the Companies Act 2014 for insolvent companies
- Enhanced provisions to strike off companies
- New Late Filing Regime for Liquidators
- Shareholder Disputes, Current Trends
- The Ten Big Issues in the New Company Law
- Key Predictions for 2025
Course level: Intermediate
Session 3: HR & Employment Update – December 2024
Time: 13:40 – 15:20
Speakers: Yvonne Clarke – RBK
The session will provide an overview of the updates and changes in Employment Law in 2024 and a review of same along with what is coming down the line in 2025.
It is important for employers to ensure they remain up to date and compliant with the latest updates to employment legislation. Staying informed about changes in employment law helps employers proactively manage risks, refine HR practices, and maintain a fair, compliant, and productive workplace. This not only protects the organisation from potential litigation but also enhances its reputation and fosters better employee relations.
It will cover the relevant pieces of legislation governing remote working, collective redundancies, pensions, maternity protection and parents leave and key employment law cases and key learnings from these for employers.
In this session Yvonne Clarke will cover the following topics,
- Extension of Parents Leave & Parents Benefits as of August 2024
- The right to request remote working and the right to request flexible working arrangements for caring purposes under the Code of Practice – The Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023
- Expansion of the Employment Permit System & Employment Permits Bill 2022
- Collective Redundancies – The Employment (Collective Redundancies and Miscellaneous Provisions) and Companies (Amendment) Act 2024
- Pensions – Auto Enrolment Update – HR Considerations
Other changes coming down the line:
- The Pay Transparency Directive: What does it mean for Irish employers?
- Maternity Protection (Amendment) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2024
- General Scheme of the Employment (Restriction of Certain Mandatory Retirement Ages) Bill 2024
- Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 – Employee Threshold 150+ in 2024
- Directive (EU) 2022/2941 on Adequate Minimum Wages
- Implementation of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act in Ireland
By attending this session, you will learn about updates to employment legislation. Employers can then ensure they are compliant with the latest regulations, reducing the risk of possible litigation, fines, and penalties
This session will allow employers to refine their practices and policies to align with the latest legal requirements. This can lead to better employee management, reducing turnover and enhancing employee satisfaction
Attending this webinar will also help employers identify areas where their managers and HR staff may need further training to ensure their organisation maintains high standards of compliance
Course level: Intermediate
Session 4: Burnout in the Workplace
Time: 15:40 – 17:20
Speaker: Edel Walsh – Edel Walsh Coaching and Consulting
In this webinar, Burnout in the Workplace we will explore and tackle one of the most significant challenges in modern professional life. You will understand what burnout is, its causes, and the signs to watch out for before it takes over. The session will guide you through practical steps to regain control of your work-life balance, explore your values, and address workload, control, and relationship issues. Additionally, learn how leadership can play a pivotal role in transforming burnout-prone teams into productive, motivated ones.
Edel Walsh will cover the following topics during this webinar:
What is Burnout?
- The causes of burnout
- The signs of burnout
- The impact of burnout
Making a plan to control your work life.
- Exploring your values
- Solving workload problems
- Solving control issues
- Solving relationships issues
Leadership
- How can leadership transform burnout teams?
Attendees will also create actionable plans to address key factors like workload, control, relationships, and values.
Additionally, the webinar will explore how leadership can play a transformative role in preventing burnout and building more resilient, motivated teams.
Overall, the session will equip attendees with the tools to foster a healthier, more productive work environment.
Course Level: Foundation
CPD Course Facilitators
Maura Dolan - LECI
Maura is a highly accredited Senior Practitioner and Master Coach, Trainer and Facilitator with over 18 years’ experience coaching at C Suite to middle management high potential level. Maura’s clients include Professional firms, State and Semi-State Sector, Multi-national, and indigenous Irish companies, such as HSE, AGS and Revenue, Not-For-Profit, Academic, Financial Institutions, Pharmaceutical, Construction, Retail, Marketing/Branding, FMCG.
Maura’s coaching practice focuses on releasing potential, enhancing leadership skills and developing mental mastery and fitness. Her coaching programs and expertise are complemented by her dedication to achieving sustainable change and performance improvement.
Tom Murray – Friel Stafford
Tom qualified as a Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA) in 1997 whilst working with Chase Manhattan Bank. Tom has over 20 years experience in accounting and business roles.
Before moving into Corporate Recovery and Insolvency with Friel Stafford in 2003, Tom developed wide ranging experience in finance roles with a number of leading financial institutions in a number of diverse areas including Corporate Treasury, Corporate Finance and Corporate Accounting.
He is one of Ireland’s most experienced corporate recovery and turnaround practitioners and was one of the first Personal Insolvency Practitioners licensed in Ireland.
He also is an experienced Corporate Financier with particular interest and expertise in the area of equity and debt fund raising, and the buying and selling of businesses.
He has extensive experience of all areas of Litigation Support and Expert witness. He has worked with private clients, SMEs, national companies, multi-nationals, county councils and various Government and Regulatory agencies in defending and bringing proceedings.
He is heavily involved with the ACCA accountancy body and is a past President of ACCA Ireland. He represented ACCA Ireland at the ACCA International Assembly in 2011. He was nominated in January 2021 by ACCA to represent it on the the CCABI insolvency Committee.
He is engaged by the three leading Accountancy bodies in Ireland as a lecturer for their CPD (Continuous Professional Development) in the area of Corporate Recovery, Insolvency and Personal Bankruptcy. Tom has written and presented two of the six modules in the Diploma in Insolvency run by Chartered Accountants Ireland.
He has contributed technical articles on Corporate Recovery and Insolvency for the magazines of the three leading Accountancy bodies in Ireland. He is currently writing a monthly column in this area for Accounting and Business Ireland – the magazine of ACCA Ireland.
He was asked to make numerous media appearance as an Insolvency expert and has appeared on RTE’s main news bulletins, TV3, Sky News, Newstalk and Today FM for comments on insolvency issues and business matters.
Brian Walker - The Bar of Ireland
Brian Walker is practicing barrister. He has nearly 45 years experience of company law and company secretarial practice, having previously worked with the accountancy firms of KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
He has been CPD lecturer in company law to the main accountancy bodies for the past thirty years. His approach to company law is straightforward, direct and easily understood. He will focus on changes in company and commercial law and the most important issues that arise daily for accountants, auditors and company directors.
Alison Walker - The Bar of Ireland
Alison Walker is a practising barrister who specialises in Company Law.
Alison is an Accredited Mediator and a member of the ADR Committee of the Bar of Ireland.
BCL, UCD
Barrister-at-Law Degree, The Honourable Society of King’s Inns
Yvonne Clarke - RBK
Yvonne is MCIPD Accredited, with an MSc in HRM Leadership and she is also a Certified Workplace Mediator (The Mediators’ Institute of Ireland). Yvonne has a personal and practical approach and is experienced in working collaboratively with clients managing multiple, disparate activities, projects and transformation programmes ensuring people strategies are aligned with Business Strategic direction and Business Needs.
With over 22 years’ experience in all areas of Human Resource Management, she has worked in business areas such as Logistics, Manufacturing / Recycling, Not-For-Profit/Charity, Health and Social Care, Education and Corporate Functions such as Finance, IT, Quality & Corporate Governance and Strategic Planning & Development.
Edel Walsh - Edel Walsh Coaching and Consulting
Edel Walsh is the owner of Edel Walsh Coaching and Consulting.
She specialises in mental health and well-being coaching and workplace well-being coaching.
Edel is also a student mentor and coach supporting professional accountancy students through their exams. Edel supports her student clients get their exams as quickly as possible while maintaining balance and prioritizing their well-being.
Her corporate career started in KPMG where qualified as a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser. From there, Edel moved into professional education where she held senior lecturer and examinership roles within the professional accountancy bodies.
Barry Crushell – Crushell & Co
Barry is a former army officer, who served with the United Nations on multiple deployments. He trained with leading law firm Arthur Cox, before going on to establish the Dublin and London offices of a US law firm. Barry holds a BA in Law and Politics, LLM in Business Law, LLM in Dispute Resolution, MPhil in Linguistics and an Advanced Diploma in Employment Law.
His Doctorate in Law thesis examines the case conditions that typically lead to a successful claim before the Workplace Relations Commission. Barry is qualified to practice law in Ireland, Northern Ireland and England and Wales and is a member of the American Bar Association.
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