For the Dutch version, click here Who am I? I am Joep Groenen, 21 years old and living for 21 years in the beautiful city of Tilburg. Since November 2020 I have moved into my room and I like it. Currently, I am in year three of the bachelor Business Economics. This means that in February I will start with the last three courses and my thesis. After finishing my bachelor’s I would like to do a master’s in finance or accountancy, but I am not sure yet which of the two I prefer. Before my board year, I was still convinced about an accountancy master, but since I started, I have become more interested in finance. Luckily I still have some time to figure it out! Within A&F, I started with the Activities Committee, after which I joined the Accounting Expedition Committee, just like my buddy Myron. After this fun committee, I decided to become a board member. Why did I decide to do a year on the board? If I’m honest, I hesitated for a long time to become a board member. Of course, it is important to consider your choice carefully. I have talked to many people, but also looked at myself and what I wanted. What finally convinced me were a few things. First, I wanted to study for at least one more year. I didn’t see myself working at the age of 22 and I wanted to fill in an extra year in a way that would help me now, but especially in the future. I also noticed that I was ready for a break from study life. Secondly, I wanted to develop myself. I noticed that I tended to develop myself not only in the educational field. I especially liked the development in planning and prioritization. I also wanted to develop myself socially, in a board year you work very closely in a team and you deal with many different people. Because of this, you learn to deal with everyone. This is also the reason why I initially started doing a committee at A&F. I wanted to distinguish myself. There are plenty of people who want to do a master’s in Accountancy or Finance, but how can I make sure that I stand out? With a year board year, this works pretty well! Besides making your CV stand out, you also learn an incredible amount that you would never learn at university. You learn various soft skills, such as keeping a diary. Before my board year, I never used an agenda, but now I can’t live without one. As a result, my days are much more organized and I know better what my priorities are. Of course, a board year is also great fun. You have a lot of drinks with other board members and you work at the rooms every day, where a DoMiBo is not missing! How do I feel about starting in winter? At first, starting in the winter scared me a bit, because of course mid-academic year I’m taking a sort of gap year, while of course, I don’t have a degree yet. In the end, this is not so bad. Through my conversations with Martine, who chose the same time, I learned that it could be an advantage. When I enter semester two of year three, I still have half a year to settle into my study life. In general, the load of a bachelor is quieter than a master. So I won’t start my master’s until I have completely picked up the study rhythm again. Furthermore, I still have that half year of bachelor’s to think carefully about the choice of my master! What does a Vice-Chairman do at all? The question is if I perform anything at all in a day I get mostly from friends and family. The answer is yes, I definitely perform something every day and no, it’s not just breaking out and lying on the couches! As Vice-Chairman, I am responsible for several fixed things. For example, I am the sparring partner of the president. This was first Richard and now Lotte. With Lotte, I have a weekly Vice/Vo meeting to talk about the various issues within A&F and Asset Tilburg. Furthermore, we always go through the General Board agenda together and see what our opinions are on the various topics. I will also take over several tasks from the chairman when he/she is absent. “The contact with so many different students is not only fun but also very educational. “ I also have my tasks, of course. For example, I am responsible for the internal policies of A&F. This includes filling the committees in the winter and the summer and being responsible for not only active but also passive members. I arrange study support in the form of guidelines, CoEE, and various training sessions. However, since last winter I share these tasks with the Education Committee. Furthermore, I organize the introduction activities for the master Accountancy and Finance, twice a year the board training and the Audit Activity together with our secretary Renate. Finally, within A&F I also make sure the website is up to date. I do this by uploading events, news, and pages. Personally, I enjoy doing this. Within Asset Tilburg I also have enough tasks. I am in three Asset organs: the Public Relations meeting, the Webmaster meeting, and the BE cluster. The Public Relations meeting is a weekly meeting with the Vice-Chairman of each department. Together we organize all informal events from Asset Tilburg. Think about the Welcome back party or the Grand Opening of the Asset Cafe. I have also helped to paint the walls of the Asset Cafe. Together we are responsible for Asset during the TOP week. For example, I have personally managed the Asset TOP party and the Asset TOP mentorship. I am the Vice of the PR meeting, which means I have to take over the meetings in the absence of Shaye
Interview with Patrick van Zwieten – Ambassador for the NBA
For the Dutch version, click here Patrick van Zwieten is Senior Accountant at BDO and also an ambassador for the NBA. In this interview he talks about his experiences in the accountancy profession, the importance of the NBA and gives his vision on the future within Accountancy. Can you tell us something about yourself? My name is Patrick van Zwieten and I have been working in the field of Accountancy for four and a half years now. I have a higher vocational education background, after which I followed the part-time master’s program at the University of Amsterdam. Within BDO, I work in the Audit & Assurance department where I primarily serve clients in the corperate segment. Why did you choose Accountancy? I found this a very difficult choice at first. I initially worked at ABN AMRO in the investment department for a while. This was more finance-related and that’s why I actually wanted to do a master’s in finance. I then decided to look around for more information by, among other things, taking part in various trial days at accountancy firms. I discovered that I didn’t really know what accountancy entailed and after the trial days I realized that I had a completely different idea of what accountancy actually entailed. The profession requires analytical skills, but also social skills and you have to be able to deal with deadlines. After this, I finally made the choice to go in this direction. What are the biggest differences between Finance and Accountancy? If I compare it to the RA audit practice in Accountancy, we have a project every five to six weeks and we visit the client. This concerns the audit of the financial statements and we speak to all layers of employees within the organization. This makes it very diverse and fun, something that is less applicable in Finance. In addition, you see many different companies, for example, last week I was at the office of a pharmaceutical company and next week I will visit a large clothing retailer. What does an average accountant’s work week look like? Actually, every week is different. It also varies a lot what function you have within the office. If you are just starting out, then you will often be working on an executive level. After a year or two or three, you often get more responsibility and start supporting and guiding starters. The longer you work in the company, the more you are allowed to lead the smaller teams and act as manager, while with the larger clients you still mainly have the executive task. This ensures a good balance. Besides the ‘standard’ work at BDO, we sometimes have a padel tournament with the office. This ensures that we can also meet up outside of work hours and build up a good relationship with colleagues. In addition, we are actually at the client’s office every working day. The audit consists of two parts: the interim part and the year-end part. During the interim part, we visit the client to gain knowledge of the client and the company’s process in order to analyze risks, but also to find points of departure for our audit. In the second year, which often starts around January, we really look at the figures. Using various techniques, we then check whether the annual accounts are actually correct. How has combining work and study worked out for you? In the beginning I found it quite hard. I started working full-time and also had a part-time master’s degree to complete. Especially in the first year I was searching for the right planning. I noticed that over time I could find my feet and things went better. This was also because everyone around me was going through the same process, both my colleagues and my fellow students. The office also helped me a lot, we get an extra day off before exams and we can ask for help if we find a course difficult. What are the opportunities after getting your master’s in accountancy? I think there are many possibilities once you have your degree. In the path of RA, you could grow within the office to partner, but in addition you also see that someone with an RA title is popular in the business, you are then Accountant in Business (AIB). This is for example in large companies to work in the finance department. Another possibility is to become CEO or CFO. So outside of the accountancy field, it offers a huge amount of opportunities in the job market. Can you tell us a little bit about NBA? The NBA is the Dutch Professional Organization of Accountants. There are over 22,000 registered accountants in the Netherlands today. These are both Chartered Accountants (RA) and Accounting Consultants (AA). They are all listed in the NBA register. This organization promotes the professional practice of accountants. They do this by drawing up rules of conduct, testing the knowledge of accountants and providing education. At the end of the practical training, there is a final exam that tests whether you are capable of acting as a starting professional practitioner. However, before that happens, you must first complete your theoretical training as a Chartered Accountant before you can complete the practical training as a Chartered Accountant. What is the role of the NBA within the field of Accountancy? The NBA plays a big role. On the one hand, it is the NBA’s job to monitor us and check whether the firms are meeting the quality requirements. But in addition to that, the NBA is in talks with the Ministry to draw up an accountant protocol. The offices will then be presented with guidelines with which they can check whether, for example, last year’s NOW scheme was rightly obtained. What does the NBA ambassadorship entail? There is a fair amount of shortage on the labor market within Accountancy and through the NBA ambassadorship they want to try and give a better insight into the profession of accountant
The Dutch accountancy sector: time for change
For the Dutch version, click here “These are turbulent times within the accounting sector.” This is one of the headlines that have been published around the Dutch accountancy field in the past few years. Last year, the Minister of Finance appointed two quartermasters to guide the sector through these “turbulent” times. What was the reason for their appointment? And what is the task and progress of the quartermasters? In this article, we will update you on these developments within accountancy! Concerns about the quality of statutory audits Let’s start at the beginning: November 21, 2018. On that day, the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) published a report in which they exposed vulnerabilities in the structure of the accountancy sector for public-interest entities [1]. In the report, the AFM concludes that there are several sources of market failure lurking within the current structure of the accountancy sector. We speak of a market failure when market forces in the sector lead to insufficient audit firms serving the public interest. The AFM identifies five structural features that trigger market failure. The first three features have to do with the fact that the current earning, partner, and business model of the accountancy organizations can give the accountant wrong incentives. The AFM indicates that audit firms may be less critical in their statutory audits because they are appointed and paid by the organizations they audit. The AFM also sees a risk in the decreasing degree of independence of audit firms due to long contract terms, connectedness, and the provision of non-audit services to companies to be audited. Moreover, the AFM considers the partner model as a potential source of market failure. An accountant who is also a partner will want to serve the public interest as well as commercial interests. The partner thus takes on different roles, due to which the audit quality can be harmed. In addition to these three structural features, the AFM mentions the supply and demand side of the accountancy sector. On the one hand, a statutory audit is so-called credence good, a good whose quality is difficult to observe. This creates a potential market failure on the demand side of the accountancy sector. On the other hand, the AFM argues that market failures on the supply side can halt competition on audit quality. All in all, the AFM states that the current structure of the accountancy sector leaves room for market failures, which can negatively affect the quality of statutory audits. On the same day as the publication of the AFM report, the Minister of Finance, Wopke Hoekstra, sent a letter to the House of Representatives [2]. In response to the report by the AFM and a previously published report by the Monitoring Committee Accountancy (MCA), a committee set up by the NBA [3], Hoekstra wants to set up an independent committee. This committee will conduct further research and publish advice on increasing the audit quality and how possible legislative changes could bring this about. The two quartermasters and their tasks In January 2020, the Future Accountancy Committee (CTA) reported on their findings in the report “Vertrouwen op controle” [4]. Furthermore, the committee makes 22 recommendations to raise the level of statutory audits on three points: the individual audit process, quality control within audit firms, and other factors (such as culture and remuneration). Based on the report, the Ministry of Finance comes up with a package of measures. Some examples of measures are shifting supervision to the AFM, drafting criteria for measuring quality, and improving internal supervision within audit firms. In addition, it is also intended to appoint a quartermaster to keep an eye on the progress of the measures. “In the report, the AFM concludes that there are several sources of market failure lurking within the current structure of the accountancy sector.” In April 2020, Hoekstra announced the names of the two quartermasters: Marlies de Vries (assistant professor Accounting, Auditing, and Control at Nyenrode Business University) and Chris Fonteijn (former chairman of the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets board) [5]. Together they have three and a half years to fulfill their task as quartermasters. This task is twofold. On the one hand, the quartermasters will use their terms to carry out some of the steps in the package of measures of the Ministry of Finance. This includes developing audit quality indicators (AQIs), conducting research into audit-only and joint audit models, and experimenting with the intermediate model. You can read more about these different models below. On the other hand, the quartermasters are also expected to monitor the progress of the overall package of measures and inform the minister about it. The first results We are now more than one year later; a good time to consider the progress of the quartermasters. In September 2020, de Vries and Fonteijn shared their action plan [6]. They divided their task into five themes: monitoring progress, developing AQIs, researching various structural models, safeguarding culture change, and improving audit quality. Developing AQIs is a high priority. Consequently, four working groups were immediately launched in September 2020, each focusing on a different issue. In the meantime, another working group is setting up an experiment with the intermediate model. This is a model in which an expert third party is involved in the appointment and management of the auditor, to promote independence and improve the quality of the audit. Furthermore, preparations were made for the research on the joint audit model and the audit-only model. The audit-only model means that audit firms are no longer allowed to offer non-audit services to the organizations to be audited. In a joint audit, two audit firms become responsible for the audit report of one company or organization. The idea behind this is that the two audit firms keep a close eye on each other, which increases the quality of the audit. The quartermasters also tell about their progress in the field of cultural change in their first progress report [7]. De Vries and Fonteijn indicate
Choosing a Minor during the Bachelor Business Administration & IBA
For the Dutch version, click here The study Business Administration introduces you to many different facets of a business. The four pillars that the study mainly focuses on are accounting, finance, marketing, and management. However, this wide range of subjects can also result in students not seeing the wood for the trees anymore, as most of the time, not all the courses spark their interest. To prevent this, Tilburg University allows students to choose their own courses during their minor, in a direction that interests the student the most. This article explains the rationale behind students’ choices for both the Accountancy minor and the Finance minor at Tilburg University. Various options In the first semester of year 3, business economics and IBA students have various ways to fill their first term. You can go on exchange abroad to a partner university, do an internship or take a minor at Tilburg University. All these options have their own added value. In exchange, you develop certain independence and learn to cope in an unfamiliar, international environment. If you are curious about the business world and want to gain your first experience here early on, an internship may be the perfect opportunity for you. If these options do not appeal to you, there is the option of taking a minor at Tilburg University to complete several courses of your choice. For both Accountancy and Finance, the university has compiled a minor that focuses on one of these subjects. If a student is interested in more than one of these subjects, they can also choose to compose the minor themselves. Minor in Accounting The minor in accounting focuses on the “language of business”, the financial audit, and management accounting. During this minor, students take three courses: Auditing & Accounting Information Systems, Intermediate Financial Accounting, Intermediate Management Accounting. Bo Janssen chose this minor during her third year as a Business Administration student: “I always found the accounting-related courses given during the bachelor’s degree interesting and was curious whether I might want to do something with this later on.” According to Bo, the subjects that came along with this did make the field of Accountancy a bit clearer: “The minor consisted of three subjects, each covering a different topic within Accountancy. You get, just a bit more detailed than in the rest of the bachelor, a picture of what Accountancy is really about.”However, according to Bo, there were also some disadvantages about the minor: “I did find it difficult to judge from the theory of the minor alone whether I would actually like the profession of accountancy. Therefore, I think it’s good to discover what the field of Accountancy looks like in practice, to really experience where you could end up.” In addition to the three Accountancy courses, the minor does require the completion of the required 30 credits, which means choosing at least two additional courses. Bo did this with an eye to the future: “Because I was thinking of taking the master’s in Accountancy after my bachelor’s, I chose to take two deficiency courses in addition to the required minor courses. You have to pass these deficiency courses before you start the postmaster. That way I didn’t have to take them into account later in my studies.” Meanwhile, Bo has started the master Accountancy: “Now that I have started my master Accountancy, I notice that I encounter several things that I recognize from the Minor. Although you certainly don’t need the minor courses as a building block for the master, it is nice to see different concepts from the minor come back and be dealt with more extensively this time.” Minor in Finance The Finance minor dives deeper into the content of the courses Finance 1 and 2 of the IBA and Business Economics bachelor’s degree. The focus is on investments as well as valuing and assessing financial decision-making. Anne Kemps and Sjors Seinen both chose to follow this minor. Anne was mainly triggered by her interest in previous courses in the bachelor: “During the first two years, Finance interested me the most, but because the economical scope of the bachelor is very wide, I could only follow a few Finance courses. Therefore, I chose to follow courses from the minor in Finance so that I could get a better understanding of this subject, as this would enable me to decide whether I wanted to delve deeper into this field during my master’s.” The Finance minor also consists of three courses: Financial History and Intermediation, Financial Management, and Risk Management. Sjors was able to confirm his interest in Finance while following these courses: “Whereas Financial History and Intermediation was primarily focused on theory, the other two courses directed a great deal of attention to practical applications. After covering the basic concepts comprehensively during the first few weeks, I started to connect underlying principles and better understand financial markets than beforehand. As we dove deeper into the course material, I became increasingly interested: concepts such as asset-pricing models and derivatives motivated me to go beyond the teaching materials to find out more, which is something I had never done before. This spike in interest, primarily fuelled by Finance minor curriculum, led me to believe that Finance is my passion.” As for Anne, her interest in Finance was also confirmed, resulting in her choice to start the Master Finance: “In the Master Finance I now notice that the same topics are brought up again. You are not expected to know the subjects from the minor, nor are they specified as required subjects. It is therefore not necessary to take the minor if you want to start the master, but it already gives you a lot of insights into the subjects that will also be dealt with in the master.” All in all, as a business economics student in year three, you are given multiple options for the first semester. Besides broadening your horizons abroad or doing an internship at a company to gain practical experience, you
Let’s report & audit towards a greener Europe
For the Dutch version, click here On April 21, the European Commission adopted a new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) [1]. This new non-financial reporting requirement for European companies marks the next step in the upcoming trend of sustainability reporting. In this article, you will read more about sustainability reporting in the European Union and the role that accountants play in it. CSRD The newly adopted CSRD is part of the European Green Deal, which represents the European Union’s (EU) strategy to become climate-neutral by 2050 and protect the well-being of both Europe’s citizens and nature. To achieve this, European companies are expected to adapt their business models to this. The new CSRD is designed to ensure that companies report reliable and comparable information on their progress towards a sustainable business. With the CSRD, greenwashing, the unjust claim of being environmentally friendly, is expected to be prevented [2]. The CSRD is not the EU’s first effort to increase transparency regarding the social and environmental impact that European companies have on their surroundings. In 2014, the European Commission took the first step by adopting a Non-financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) [3]. This directive requires large public-interest entities with more than 500 employees to report on several social and environmental themes. Examples of these themes are environmental protection, human rights, anti-corruption, and diversity. The information required by the EU’s NFRD is not subject to a mandatory audit by an independent third party. Nevertheless, in the Netherlands, such non-financial information is indirectly part of the financial audit, as the information is integrated with the annual report. An accountant is required to read the annual report and consider whether it contains information that is materially inconsistent with the financial statements. With the CSRD, the EU takes the current directive a step further. From 2023 onwards, all companies subject to the CSRD must report on sustainability according to the European Sustainability Reporting Standards. These reporting standards can be seen as the IFRS for sustainability reporting and are expected to be published in the fall of 2022. The European Sustainability Reporting Standards will build upon existing reporting frameworks, such as the guidelines by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). GRI is a non-profit organization, who issued the first framework for sustainability reporting in 2001. Since then, GRI’s guidelines have grown to be the most popular reporting framework for corporate responsibility reporting [4]. “With the CSRD, greenwashing, the unjust claim of being environmentally friendly, is expected to be prevented”. All large companies and listed companies in the EU will become subject to the CSRD1. A company qualifies as large when it meets at least two of the following three criteria: more than 250 employees, a revenue of more than €40 million, and more than €20 million in assets. Due to this new requirement, it is expected that more than 39,000 extra companies in the EU will become subject to the non-financial reporting requirement. Next to the expansion of companies due to the directive, the CSRD also poses several new reporting requirements. For example, the concept of double materiality is introduced. This means that the companies must consider the impact of sustainability risk, such as climate change, on the company itself, as well as the impact of the company on its surroundings. Moreover, companies are expected to share more forward-looking information, such as their targets and plans. All reporting must also be in line with the EU Taxonomy Regulation1. This regulation is newly introduced too and aims to indicate which economic activities may be labeled as “green” according to the EU. Another new requirement dictates a mandatory audit by an independent third party from 2023 onwards. More specifically, the CSRD requires a limited level of assurance. A limited level of assurance means that the assurance provider must indicate that nothing has come to their attention that implies that the information is materially misstated. A higher level of assurance is required for the financial statements, namely a reasonable level of assurance. Nevertheless, the EU has already expressed its desire to raise sustainability reporting to the same level as financial reporting1. The role of accountants Currently, assurance on sustainability reporting is generally provided by the same accountant, giving assurance on the financial statements. Since sustainability information is part of the annual report, this is the preferred method in the Netherlands. In 2019, the Big Four accounting firms provided assurance for 91% of the sustainability information at listed companies in the Netherlands. Outside of the Netherlands, it is more common than other accounting firms or verification firms to provide assurance on sustainability information [5]. Given the adoption of the CSRD and the increasing focus on sustainability of investors, it is likely that the demand for assurance services on sustainability information is going to rise further. Unsurprisingly, it seems that some Big Four companies have already responded to this trend by offering integrated accountancy traineeships, focusing on both financial and sustainability information. Such traineeships anticipate well the new developments in sustainability reporting. Auditing standards One of the developments that assurance providers in the sustainability field may face in the future is the uniformization of auditing standards for sustainability reports. The overall goal of auditing standards is to provide auditors with guidelines for determining which steps should be taken to reach the audit objective. Following such standards increases the quality of the audit. You may be familiar with PCAOB’s auditing standards, the International Standards on Auditing (ISA), or Nadere voorschriften controle- en overige standaarden (NV COS). These are applicable to financial audits. For sustainability audits, there seems to be a division between two sustainability assurance standards worldwide. On the one hand, ISAE 3000 is used. ISAE 3000 is developed by the organization as the ISA, namely the International Audit Assurance Board (IAASB). Unsurprisingly, the standard is largely based on the accounting principles for financial audits and most popular among accounting firms, according to academic research [6]. In the Netherlands, ISAE 3000 is integrated into NV COS 3000. On the other hand, AA1000 is available.
The women’s quota: time to say goodbye to a male-dominated workplace
For the Dutch version, click here The women’s quota is a concept that has come up every now and then in recent years. On 11 February 2021, the women among us received some good news; the proposal for a women’s quota was adopted by the Second Chamber. This women’s quota requires at least one-third of the supervisory directors at listed companies to be women. Time to take a closer look at the accountancy sector. How are women doing in this traditionally stereotypical male-dominated workplace? Let’s have a look at the facts. The percentage of female registered NBA members has increased from 19.0% (2013) to 22.9% (2020). A positive, but small growth. When we zoom in on the top of the sector, we see a mixed picture. PwC is one of the firms where things seem to be going in the right direction with three women of the seven members of both the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board. This prompted us to talk to one of PwC’s power women; Marieke Hormann-Buiting. Marieke shares with us her experiences and vision on gender diversity. Could you briefly tell us about your background and career path? Some years ago, I completed my business economics studies at Maastricht University and started my career at PwC. I am now 37 years old and a proud mother of two. I currently live in Brabant and work as a director in Eindhoven. As a director I have the final responsibility for client files, whereby my specialisation lies with technology companies. Besides my position as director, I am also a member of the MT of Business Unit South. Within the MT, I am responsible for the Human Capital portfolio, which means that I am, among other things, involved with talent development and the well-being of colleagues. Why did you choose a career as a chartered accountant? Curiosity and a preference for searching for overview and logical connections were my main motivations. How do business processes within complex organisations come together to form a logic whole. Accountancy was the perfect direction for me to dive into this. After a few business courses and orientation days, the personal connection with PwC was the strongest. I’m now approaching my 15-year anniversary. In the meantime, I even had the opportunity to work for PwC in Silicon Valley for two years. This was a very nice experience. All in all, I can conclude that PwC was a good choice. “Personally, I find it funny when I walk into a room with predominantly grey men. Then I bring a bit of colour.” Have you experienced a difference between men and women during your career at PwC? I have never felt disadvantaged because of being a woman. During my career, I have always worked in mixed teams. There is a philosophy behind these mixed teams. A philosophy that men and women complement each other’s qualities and that this is how we achieve the best quality. I have to say that clients are often more male than PwC itself. My clients generally find it refreshing when I come in as a female accountant. Personally, I find it funny when I walk into a room with predominantly grey men. Then I bring a bit of colour to the table. Within these mixed teams, how do you think men and women complement each other? A balanced dynamic is what I see in mixed teams. For example, I regularly work with a partner. He is high on energy. I, on the other hand, am more concrete and bring the necessary structure. These opposite characteristics make us a complementary duo. In my teams, I see the same effect; all masculine and feminine characteristics come together to form one capacity that includes client management, forward thinking, team connection and conducting a high-quality audit. A common argument as to why female accountants are in the minority is that it is difficult to combine work with a family. How do you experience this? I work part-time and take the lead in my own planning. As a result, I experience a great deal of flexibility in my work. On the other hand, I also have a lot of responsibility. Sometimes a case suddenly comes up with a customer. In such exceptional cases, I make sure that I am on standby. Finding the balance between freedom and responsibility is part of the job. Ultimately, I like the combination of my family and the challenge of my work. The trick is to bring it all together in a balance that feels good. Did you observe any development in the position of the female accountant over the years? This development can be divided into two parts. The inflow is almost 50/50. A lot of attention has been paid to this and the result is positive. The challenge within the sector lies mainly in the development to higher function levels. A general challenge is to retain the group of young parents. I think it’s important to make it clear to them that it’s also possible to continue working as an accountant with a family; dare to rediscover yourself. Within the (senior) manager group there is a nice group of women, but the layer above paints a poorer picture. In the Partners and Directors group of Business Unit South, there are only 2 women in a group of 16. I believe the main cause of this is a lack of role models. Role models are crucial in creating an image of how to do your job well. Stereotypes such as ‘not being able to work part-time, always being available as a partner/director’ can only be broken by talking to role models who prove otherwise. When I was a senior manager, I contacted a number of female partners myself to discuss how they dealt with issues such as managing a family and flexibility. I have also been unconsciously influenced by role models. In Silicon Valley, I had a client with a female top layer. These were feisty ladies and
