Managing partners in leading Accountancy & Business Advisory practices discuss activity, in-demand service lines, and the business outlook

ACTIVITY

Business has been strong over the past year, with growth across all of our service areas.

We have continued to see an increase in demand for tax compliance services and our niche areas of pension audits, property management audits and international tax queries.

There continue to be lots of enquiries from abroad regarding international payroll services, foreign companies setting up business operations in Ireland and other tax-related queries.

DEVELOPMENTS

I was appointed as managing partner of OSK last year, having joined the firm over 20 years ago.

I oversee all aspects of the firm’s operations, working closely with our team to maintain our commitment to delivering exceptional service and value to our clients.

Additionally, I spearhead our strategic initiatives and business development efforts.

Our approach to date has been to grow our firm organically and build a strong team within OSK.

TECHNOLOGY

In general, new technologies have assisted in improving the service to clients through streamlining operations, boosting productivity and providing our team with the tools for data analysis and decision-making.

Our commitment to investing in IT infrastructure and cybersecurity over the past few years has positioned us to maintain a leading edge.

This allows us to deliver the best possible service from cloud-based accounting systems to speeding up the turnaround on audit and accounting jobs, improving security and ensuring our clients have the most up-to-date reporting available.

While AI has its advantages, it’s crucial for accounting and tax professionals to have a solid understanding of accounting and tax principles.

At OSK, we prioritise providing our trainee staff with a thorough understanding of these fundamentals during their training.

TRUMP EFFECT

Changes to the global political and economic landscape caused by the Trump administration is affecting business confidence.

For this reason, Ireland needs to remain competitive to support business confidence and growth.

Continued investment in housing and supporting infrastructures is vital to attract a skilled workforce and maintain confidence to invest.

In this context, the government must continue to offer incentives that support SME expansion and investment.