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

ACTIVITY

Forvis Mazars in Ireland is proud to report another year of double-digit growth from both a revenue and a people perspective.

We have invested heavily in our teams and offerings in line with market trends and client requirements and continue to see strong demand for traditional service offerings such as audit, consulting and tax.

Our teams in financial services, outsourcing, deals and risk advisory also had a very busy year.

DEVELOPMENTS

The Forvis Mazars global network launched last June and is something we are really excited about.

We now have extensive coast-to-coast coverage in the US, allowing us to offer a truly integrated service to our clients with US operations, and we are confident that our significant footprint in the US will be a huge positive for our FDI-focused business.

Closer to home, we launched our new office in Cork and look forward to deepening our relationships in the region.

AI

The latest generation of AI tools are not only reshaping competition and market demands, but also presenting huge risks and strategic challenges for many of our clients.

At Forvis Mazars, we continue to proactively adapt to this in various ways, including the early development of a group AI strategy and investment of significant resources in our technology, infrastructure and innovation teams.

Our proprietary large language model platform has been in place for nearly two years now, and we have had a Director of AI and Innovation for more than five years.

We have developed a range of new digital services to support our clients as they embark on their own digital or AI transformation journeys.

At Forvis Mazars, we strongly believe in the value of technology and AI/Gen AI when used in an ethical and responsible manner.

We have been invited at an EU level to participate in a range of forums, such as the EU Commission General-Purpose  AI Code of Practice Group which seeks to provide guidance and direction on implementing the AI Act.

TRUMP EFFECT

Among the more significant concerns for the Irish economy at present is the scale of our trade deficit with the US and whether the Trump administration will seek to levy tariffs to address this.

It remains unclear how aggressively tariff policies will be pursued, particularly where they would likely cause inflation in the US, and this is likely to take some time to play out.

The risk for the Irish economy is that companies may defer investment and growth plans until the outlook becomes clearer, similar to what happened in the early days of the Brexit negotiations.

In the current environment, it is prudent that businesses reassess current plans and ensure that any investments are adequately capitalised to safeguard against any potential slowdown.

OUTLOOK

We have ambitious growth plans for the year and are investing heavily in our teams, technology and service line development.

Global inflation has eased, and, notwithstanding the prevailing geopolitical risks, commentators are generally positive about Ireland’s ability to navigate policy uncertainty.

Ireland remains a very attractive destination for FDI, with strong fundamentals.

On the downside, the labour market remains extremely tight and we have challenges with our infrastructure that require urgent attention, but in the round our clients are cautiously optimistic about the year ahead.