EFAA 2023 International Conference

25 May 2023
OCC, Avenida Barbosa du Bocage, 45 | 1049-013 Lisbon

The accountancy profession is navigating challenging times: the regulatory framework is becoming increasingly complex and stringent; automation and AI are threatening to take over more traditional accounting duties and, as a consequence, upskilling existing people and attracting new talent are becoming vital to the growth and prosperity of the profession.

In order to respond to these challenges, accountants need to diversify their skills by familiarizing themselves with digital technologies and by providing non-traditional services such as sustainability advising, reporting and assurance.

Professional Accountancy Organizations (PAOs) play a key role in supporting and accompanying small- and medium-sized practices (SMPs) in upskilling their people and attracting new talent – by providing information, ideas and insights, but also by promoting the key role the accountancy profession plays for the well-being of society in general.

The photos of the event are available here.
The video of the morning session is available here.
The video of the afternoon session is available here. 

9:30 REGISTRATION

10:00  OPENING REMARKS

Paula Franco, OCC President, Portugal
Salvador Marín, EFAA President
Asmaa Resmouki, IFAC President

10:45 SESSION ONE – Scene Setting: Trends in the Labour Market, Economy and Society

Mike Suffield, Director – Policy & Insights, ACCA, UK [slides]
Berry Wammes, CEO, NBA, the Netherlands [slides]
Moderator: Ardiana Buniaku, Executive Director, SCAAK, Kosovo

12:00 Lunch break

13:15 SESSION TWO – Role of the Professional Accountancy Organizations in Attracting, Retaining and Upskilling SMP Members

Stephen Heathcote, CEO, Prime Global, UK [slides]
Carlos Menezes, Professor of Accounting, University of Minho, Portugal [slides]
Moderator: Paul Thompson, Technical Director, EFAA

14:15 SESSION THREE – How SMPs Can Best Attract, Retain and Upskill Talent

Keynote: Monica Foerster, Chair of the IFAC SMP Advisory Group (SMPAG) [slides]

Panel discussion:
Monica Foerster, Chair of the IFAC SMP Advisory Group (SMPAG)
Marcus Tuschen, Partner at Tuschen und Partner, Germany
George Josephakis, Managing Director at G. Josephakis Audit Ltd, Cyprus
Moderator: Aleksander Štefanac, Owner and General Manager at Facta d.o.o., Slovenia

15:45 CLOSING REMARKS

Paula Franco, OCC President, Portugal
Salvador Marín, EFAA President

16:00 NETWORKING