North East conference debates future of accountancy profession

More than 80 accountants from across the country gathered for a conference in the North East to swap best practice on the changing shape of the accountancy profession.

Kreston International’s UK Conference, held at the Hilton Newcastle Gateshead Hotel, was hosted by North East accountants and business advisers Clive Owen & Co LLP on behalf of Kreston, which is one of the world’s largest accounting networks

The conference, on Friday, heard on all aspects of modern accounting from IT support and marketing to the use of social media in finance, as well as changes to accountancy reporting.

Margaret Gill, Clive Owen & Co’s marketing manager, said: “As a profession, we don’t just play a traditional role anymore and it’s not enough to rely on that if you want to grow and develop. We have to respond to what businesses want, such as IT support or skills in specialist sectors like education.

“It was really inspiring to share our ideas about the future of the profession at the conference, not only for the UK but for accountancy across the globe.

“Kreston International is one of the biggest accounting network’s in the world and it was an honour to host their UK conference in the North East.”

Kreston is a global network of independent accounting firms, each with its own client base and is ranked as the 13th largest accounting network. It operates in 105 countries with 21,000 professional and support staff.