Accountancy hub adding up for city

Cork has traditionally been home to offices of each of the big four accountancy firms, plus many medium and small practices, and now boasts shared service centres for large multinationals and outsourcing firms.

The city has started creating a centre of excellence — its own accounting hub.

Interviewing some of the firms that hire Bachelor in Business in Accounting graduates from Cork Institute of Technology, we find some of the reasons why accounting firms based in Cork have been successful.

Accountants have stepped out of their traditional position of back-office support, into the centre of commercial functions. While individual accountants still have their own specialisms, they are now using what Deloitte refers to as a “multidimensional approach” to addressing client issues.

Crowley DFK says the benefit of multidisciplinary teams is to “provide strategic, practical, and industry-focused solutions” for its clients.

The new Dell finance shared service centre in Cork, for example, has “less walls and more café tables and open couches to meet up in small teams to brainstorm about a problem”.

If accountants can identify clients’ needs and satisfy them in effective and innovative ways, client retention rates will remain higher.

The recession has resulted in what Quintas describes as a “rebalancing in terms of where (accountants’) time and effort is required”.

There has been an increased uptake of advisory services such as restructuring, debt advisory, regulation, governance, and compliance, as well as business start-up advice.

PwC has set up a business advisory team to ensure it provides the full breadth of advisory services to clients.

Banks are putting businesses under pressure for weekly and monthly financial information, which means accountancy firms’ involvement with clients has increased significantly. Brookfield Retail Management, an outsourcing firm, contends that the volume and range of information it provides to clients has increased significantly in the last three years.

Not only are clients looking for different services, they now expect better value for money. Accountants must provide sensible business improvement solutions. Clients know their accountants will fulfil their statutory year-end compliance but this is not what adds value to their day-to-day business operations.

CACM “helps clients plan for the future, protect their business, and be well prepared for any changes coming down the road”.

Accountants need to know the ins and outs, ups and downs of their clients’ businesses. To capitalise on this, specialist divisions within accountancy firms have emerged.

KPMG, for example, set up a dedicated department to serve the intellectual property needs of clients. Crowley DFK found that by specialising in particular sectors, in its case the food, agriculture, and public sector, it has been able to build up considerable expertise.

PwC has established a financial services team in its Cork office which serves a number of important local clients in the financial services and funds area.

In 2010 Deloitte acquired a technology consulting company as it sees this as an area in which there is an increased demand for services.

All of the firms interviewed stressed the potential of engaging with social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter. KPMG says social media is useful when time is limited and information needs to be communicated to a wide audience.

Quintas uses forums to communicate “real-time” with clients. CACM provides updates to clients through its monthly ezine. PwC has launched iPhone, Android, and Blackberry apps.

All of the accountants interviewed agreed that it is by utilising a mix of new and traditional methods of communication that they can convey their message to their customers’ best. They stressed the importance of not forgetting the value clients place on face-to-face contact.

By changing the way in which they work, expanding the services provided, specialising in particular sectors, and incorporating new social media in their methods of communicating with clients, Cork’s accountants are building up their profile and expertise.

The future of accounting in Cork looks bright.

Sylvia Dempsey is a lecturer and research supervisor for the Master’s in Business (Research) in CIT. She is a chartered accountant.

Ruth Vance is a lecturer and research supervisor for the Master’s in Business (Taught) in CIT. She is a management accountant.