Michael Costello Finance Dublin Commentary
Michael Costello Finance Dublin Commentary
The Managing Partners of Ireland’s seven largest accountancy firms comment on their latest results, look back at the Irish accountancy market in 2020-2021 and give their outlook for the market, including the major threats and opportunities, for the remainder of 2022 and beyond.
Michael was invited to discuss the growth of the business in 2020-2021 and the sustained post-COVID rebound in the Irish accountancy market.
Commenting on BDO's latest results, Michael noted that, "In 2021, the Firm delivered a strong set of results across all our service lines. Our clients had a strong 2021 which led to an increase in demand for our services, we have been successful in expanding our services into new areas and industries which has generated sustainable, incremental growth."
According to Michael, it was imperative to keep our clients and employees front and centre, in a light of the industries business conditions in 2020-2021. "Our priority, as we navigated through the pandemic, was to do everything we could to protect our people and deliver the highest possible service for our clients. By keeping our clients and people front and centre of our work, we looked after each other and maintained our growth. Like most organisations, we noted the strengthening employee market last year and it is critical to continue to attract and retain the best new and experienced talent."
We remain cautiously optimistic about the year ahead notwithstanding the well-publicised global and local economic challenges, said Michael. "We hope that the worst of COVID-19 is now behind us, and we can build on the positive outcomes - such as an increased focus on personal wellbeing and work life balance, plus the innovative technologies we all embraced."
"The Firm will continue to closely monitor rising costs but overall, we expext our clients to perform well and maintain high demand of our services. We have a diversified service offering and see strong potential for all areas of our business lines i.e., audit, tax, advisory and consulting."
"We are committed to supporting our growth by investing in our people, our brand and innovation. We are also icreasing our investment in Sustainability and our CSR programs, especially relating to ESG. Apart from a diverse service offering, the industry sectors where we are strong are expected to outperform the wider economy. We will continue to be guided by our core purpose of achieving success for our clients and together we look forward to a possitive year ahead."
Content adapted from Finance Dublin August Issue: Vol: 27 | Issue: 5.