Frank O’Keeffe and Mike McKerr, EY Ireland. Image: Maxwell Photography
Investments in talent and technology are already paying dividends for the Irish division of EY.
EY Ireland has reported a 28pc increase in revenues to €316m for the financial year 2018, and revealed that a focus on emerging technologies and talent is playing a key role.
During the financial year, EY reported a 14pc increase in headcount to 2,245 employees in the Republic of Ireland.
‘Disruption of the tax profession is not coming from a start-up or an app, rather from tax authorities investing in technology’
– FRANK O’KEEFFE
Globally, EY reported annual revenues of $34.8bn for 2018, a 7.4pc increase over financial year 2017 revenues.
For the fifth consecutive year, the accounting and consulting player reported double-digit growth across four service lines in Ireland, including assurance, consultancy, tax and transaction advisory services.
The company also announced a raft of jobs this year, including 520 new roles in July as part of a strategy to invest heavily in talent, technology and real estate in anticipation of the expanding needs of its clients.
The cutting edge of the accountant’s pen
“We are redefining how we use technology across both our traditional and new services,” said EY managing partner Frank O’Keeffe. “We made a number of key hires in emerging technology in Ireland in financial year 2018, building on the strength of our now 130-strong data analytics and technology team.
“As part of our innovation drive, we will continue to focus on areas like financial services, cyber, risk management, managed services, software, digital tax and digital audit, and we anticipate a significant increase in the number of people we employ in these areas in Ireland over the next two years.”
O’Keeffe pointed to the digital transformation of the tax profession as well as significant regulatory and technological changes that could change the traditional accounting business forever. “Disruption of the tax profession is not coming from a start-up or an app, rather from tax authorities investing in technology and capabilities, allowing them to examine data in new ways, leading to demands for more data, more quickly, to the same levels of accuracy.
“We’ve just launched our cutting-edge Connected Tax offering that uses a combination of data management, visual analytics, AI and robotics. Connected Tax will fundamentally change how we deliver tax compliance and reporting services to help our clients respond to immediate demands, with the flexibility to facilitate ongoing change.”
