Ronan Murphy, PWC:
Threat: One of the biggest challenges we face as an industry is to ensure that our services continue to match the needs and requirements of our clients. PwC’s 2012 CEO Pulse survey highlighted that significant change will continue to take place in Irish business. Our clients’ needs are evolving and to remain relevant and add value we need to evolve also. This includes helping our clients improve their resilience as they seek growth opportunities; playing our part in restoring public trust; delivering efficiencies through IT and digital media as well doing everything we can to ensure we continue to recruit and retain the best people.

Opportunity: Ireland’s return to growth is critical as we seek to rebuild our economy and emerge from recession. Supporting our exporting sector and helping companies commercialise their innovations are areas of significant opportunity for our industry. The profession is also in a unique position to sell the Irish message that we are open for business offering global companies a pro-business environment.

Terence O’Rourke, KPMG:
Threat: The economy continues to be the biggest threat facing the industry and Irish business generally. We have seen definite signs of weakening in the economy in 2012 and, so far, this year is proving to be more challenging than 2011. In addition, the ongoing uncertainty around the eurozone and the possibility of a downturn globally further impacts on Ireland’s ability to get back to sustainable growth. However, as ever, there are parts of our firm that continue to be very busy advising clients as they restructure their businesses and work their way out of the ongoing banking and economic crisis.

Specifically, in terms of our industry there is also the challenge of responding to and dealing with the potential impact of the EU audit reform proposals which could pose a threat to the business models of those in the profession who audit the big corporates.

Opportunity: There continues to be opportunity in the marketplace for excellent advisers and those who are agile and adaptable to the changing needs of the clients. We are seeing continuing client demand for advice for such services as restructuring debt, cost management, business process improvement etc.

There is also considerable tender activity across all services as clients look for value for money so we see opportunity for those in our industry who can provide the highest quality service and who are reengineering their business models to be as efficient as possible.

Other areas with potential for growth include advising on big data/data analytics, outsourcing and offshoring as well as the whole area of best practice procurement.

Finally, we are also positioning ourselves to be well placed to serve those clients emerging from the world’s growth economies who are looking to invest in Ireland.

Brendan Jennings, Deloitte:
Threat: Inappropriate regulatory changes – we are now at an important time in terms of the EU proposals on audit reform. Deloitte supports efforts to bring about change that will enhance audit quality and trust in financial reporting, strengthen the independence of the auditor and role of the audit committee, and foster enhanced competition to mitigate concentration risk. Audit reforms are necessary but they need to be the right changes.

Currently much of the narrative focuses on mandatory rotation of audits as an answer, and we believe that mandatory rotation will not contribute to enhanced audit quality and that there are better alternatives, for example enhancing the audit committee’s role. We need to ensure that the changes contribute to increased audit quality, but also that they are positive not just for our industry but, for Ireland Inc and those companies, both domestic and multinational, that contribute to and operate in the Irish economy. We believe there needs to be a balanced and informed debate in Ireland and if the goal is to achieve real, lasting improvements in audit quality, there must be room in the current debate for this discussion and for innovative solutions. The audit profession is fully engaged in efforts designed to enhance audit quality and the public trust in the financial system and Deloitte stands ready to expand its role to meet evolving social expectations.

Opportunity: Despite the challenges of recent times, I am confident that professional services firms can contribute greatly to Ireland’s economic recovery and future prosperity, and this in itself is a significant opportunity for the industry.

There are a number of roles for all of us in the industry in this regard. Firstly, in terms of working alongside clients to assist them in addressing the challenges they may currently be experiencing. In addition to this, we must also be supporting them as their focus turns to driving growth in their organisations.

I also believe that professional services firms are uniquely placed to promote business in Ireland, and the benefits of doing business here. To this end, Deloitte is playing its part. To cite just some examples, we have produced ‘Investing in Ireland’, a guide which provides key information for companies looking to invest in Ireland. In addition we have a number of dedicated Irish contacts at the Deloitte International Core of Excellence desks (ICE) which are in numerous locations in the US and in Asia Pacific.

Mike McKerr, Ernst & Young:
Threat: In terms of auditing, there is an ongoing issue facing the profession regarding a perception gap which exists around the role of the audit. This is something that the profession must address. Earlier this year, Chartered Accountants Ireland issued a discussion paper entitled ‘Future of Statutory Audit’ to initiate debate on whether the scope and role of the audit should change to meet the evolving regulatory environment and the needs of the various stakeholders. The profession continues to engage on this issue. In terms of the EU green paper into audit reform, it is disappointing that some of the more extreme draft proposals from the Commission fail to reflect the thoughtful input from many stakeholders who expressed practical concerns during the consultation process. Were these draft proposals to come into effect we believe, especially when taken together, they would damage audit quality, increase the cost of audit and add to economic uncertainty while providing no added value.

Finally, as we see demand for our services rebound, a key threat for the entire profession is access to talented new people to convince them that great career opportunities exist within the Irish professional services. Over the past 12 months we’ve been hiring new recruits with specialist sector backgrounds including cleantech, aviation, transport and healthcare. We need to promote all the opportunities for young people in our profession to reverse the recent migration and ensure the talent exists to meet the market demand.

Whilst domestic economic concerns remain an obvious concern for businesses across Ireland including professional services – the country’s highly globalised economy leaves us vulnerable to the ongoing eurozone crisis. Credit conditions remain very tight and according to a report by the Irish Central Bank, businesses face one of the highest rejection rates on bank loan applications across the eurozone. This is likely to restrict business investment significantly.

Opportunity: We expect to see continued growth across all service lines particularly in our advisory, TAS and assurance practice. The pace of change for our profession is set to continue as lessons are learned from the global financial crisis and the regulatory framework is thoroughly debated and challenged. Change brings opportunity for growth in terms of developing new, innovative services and also altering market share for those agile enough to be first to market.

We continue to experience increased demand for advisory services as the public and private sectors continue to strive for both greater efficiency and effectiveness. We expect to see an increase in demand to help clients optimise the results of major change programmes.

With foreign direct investment and corporate profitability holding up well, tax and assurance services remain in demand.

We anticipate growth in transaction services as the continuing demand for corporate recovery services is supplemented by a trend towards a more normal market for corporate transactions increasing demand for M&A and due diligence services.

While many accounting firms struggled to access strong pools of talented employees in the past, today the industry is much better positioned. The pipeline of new accounting college students has rebuilt strongly in recent years. Over the last two years we have increased our graduate recruitment to just over 150 new graduate positions. As a result, we are finding that talent, once an issue which constricted opportunity, is now a factor in creating opportunity for our business.

Paul McCann, Grant Thornton:
Threat: Grant Thornton believes that the accounting industry needs to demonstrate clearly it has taken on board criticisms made of its failings during the financial crisis, and work to restore public and investor confidence in the vital work that auditors perform. We see the reform proposals being advocated by EU commissioner Michel Barnier as a key part of this process, and particularly important in an Irish context where the country’s banking collapse has damaged perception of the robustness of Irish financial regulation and oversight.

The industry also needs to focus on supporting Irish companies with an export agenda as these are the businesses that will be able to grow in the current environment, where domestic demand is weak.

Opportunity: Grant Thornton is confident Ireland will overcome its current economic challenges and therefore firms need to position themselves to benefit from future growth opportunities as they emerge. Many Irish companies have resized their balance sheets and trimmed their cost base so they are operating extremely efficiently. These clients will be well positioned to benefit from the upswing in economic activity and the expansion and M&A opportunities that is likely to present.

At Grant Thornton we believe strongly that clients value sector expertise and see an opportunity for us to grow our business by ensuring that we continue to enhance the depth of our sector-led offering.

Derry Gray, BDO:
Threat: The lack of government expenditure and the knock on effect this has on the economy is still a major concern.

Opportunity: The area of recovery and insolvency remains strong, however outside of this, and with an increased focus within Europe and here in Ireland on corporate governance issues, more and more organisations are driving for best practice and we have seen a significant rise in demand for our internal audit and risk advisory services to support this drive. FDI work continues to remain strong and BDO, with significant clients in this area, continue to target this service as an area for growth.

Jim Mulqueen, RSM Farrell Grant Sparks:
Threat: There a number of threats within the industry, and the over-riding one is the delayed recovery of the Irish economy, particularly in the context of the world economy not having grown as many originally forecast. The knock-on effect of this leads to a continued lack of consumer confidence as regards spending and borrowing, investors remaining largely risk averse and banks not being prepared to lend significantly in the absence of the economy improving and the current risk assessment regime imposed on them by the regulators. Of course, the regulatory regime for accountants and the continued pressure on margins are other significant threats for the industry which have not gone away.

Opportunity: There main area that we see as having the greatest opportunity within the industry for us is continuing to work closely with distressed and challenged businesses in helping them through difficult circumstances, and assisting them with their restructuring and recovery strategies. We also see considerable opportunity in working with international companies seeking to invest in Ireland and expanding their existing Irish operations.

Mark Kennedy, Mazars:
Threat: The need for experienced business professionals is greater than ever. While providing audit, tax, advisory and other services, we believe that there is a real opportunity for our profession to make a significant contribution to help rebuild Irish business and the economy in a proactive way.

Opportunity: There has been a significant erosion of confidence in many institutions and professionals, as a consequence of the economic events of the last five years. This has been damaging for all professionals including the accounting profession. From the perspective of audit, the EU commissioners proposals for a reform of the sector represent one route to restoring confidence in the profession. Mazars supports this effort and the direction of the proposals made by Commissioner Barnier.

John Glennon, Baker Tilly Ryan Glennon:
Threat: The first major challenge to the industry is to rebuild trust by educating the public and our stakeholders of our value, the profession must be seen to address clear public concerns. I think accountants must provide a business wide view of an organisation's risk, performance and prospects, encompassing financial and non-financial indicators, of business status and potential.

The second major challenge to the industry is the development of a global operating model which is becoming a priority for the profession.

Opportunity: I believe the biggest opportunity for the profession is to meet the public’s need for integrity while taking a broader leadership role in business and within the economy, helping it to plan for the ‘new normal.’
While expectations for good corporate governance in capital markets are clearly understood and upheld through strong regulatory oversight, the role of government in the oversight of small and medium sized entities (SMEs) is less clear. The objective of reducing ‘red tape’ and ‘regulatory burden’ is well founded when used to remove a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to regulation . However, it is important that certain checks and balances remain in place, so that growing businesses establish good management practices as they become economically significant. The annual audit for a small or medium sized business provides opportunity for an owner-manager to receive an external ‘health check’ on the reliability of the financial information they use for decision-making purposes, including the way transactions are captured, measured, recorded and evaluated, by comparison to recognised reporting frameworks. As smaller businesses rarely employ internal experts, the external audit is often a cost effective trigger for identifying where expert advice might be needed. Consequently the external audit has an important role as a business grows, and responds to the increasing level of interest from external stakeholders in an entity’s financial position.

Andy Quinn, Moore Stephens:
Threat: Lack of credit and slowness of debt resolution within the domestic economy.
Opportunity: The continuing specialistion into niche areas such as FDI, IT and credit union sectors.

Willie Fahey, IFAC:
Threat: The biggest threat to the industry at present is the ever increasing price competition amongst firms and the technological development of products which increase the ability of the client to complete compliance related activities without professional input. Compliance services are fast becoming a commodity to be purchased at the lowest possible cost point. While this creates an opportunity for start-up firms to gain market share based on low cost services, established providers with realistic cost bases will experience downward pressure on fees.

Opportunity: Clients require high level service provision to ensure they are effectively managing their business in the current economic environment. Firms who develop the ability to add real value to their clients business, and become a trusted business advisor as opposed to a compliance service provider, will obtain growth in the SME sector. This growth will most likely come at the expense of practices who fail to see the shift in the industry, and continue to base their business model on compliance services.

Liam Rattigan, Russell Brennan Keane:
Threat: Within a contracting / static economy business rules have changed beyond recognition bringing with it more business and professional risk to contend with. The specific threats we perceive include: a contracting Irish and Euro economy, ongoing lack of credit, uncertainty/reduced business confidence and falling numbers entering undergraduate business schools.

Opportunity: Competing with the top firms in the market on expertise and value is the major opportunity for Russell Brennan Keane. The industry needs to consolidate somewhat and protect falling margins.

Pat Lawlor, JPA Brenson Lawlor:
Threat: The ongoing banking crises with banks failing to deal fully with the SME sector.
Opportunity: Identification of export opportunities for food, IT and leisure to Asia and the Middle East. Consulting services for our SME services.

Tadhg O'Sullivan, OSK:
Threat: Recessionary impact on clients is forcing compliance fees down.
Opportunity: (1) Tax planning – both corporate and personal tax. (2) Development of sector specialisms.

Gerry McInerney, McInerney Saunders:
Threat: Failure to adapt to client’s changing needs as they seek to compete in a constantly changing environment.

Opportunity: I believe that by staying close to clients we will identify opportunities to assist them in addressing their most pressing issues. Where clients regard us as their trusted advisers we have that responsibility.