Accounting Insight 2021 – “Improve today to advance tomorrow”

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Accounting Insight is an annual symposium where speakers will debate relevant topics within the field of Accountancy. In this article, the Accounting Insight committee will tell you more about the build-up to the event. It will be explained why certain topics and statements have been selected. In addition, background information is provided on the topics and the speakers are highlighted.

How did you guys start and what did you do as a committee in the run-up to the event?

Last February, we as a committee, started organizing this symposium. The university wanted to scale this event to English, so we thought a lot about the set-up. In the end we decided to keep the event reasonably in line with the previous edition, but with one less statement. We have chosen this because we expect some specific terms to be properly explained in English and we want to keep it clear for every participant.

During the summer holidays the committee meetings were fairly quiet, but we have all continued with our own tasks behind the scenes. We searched for the topics and associated speakers.

In early September we had many meetings with our (potential) speakers. We also started producing promotional material. We made decisions about who would speak, which topics would be discussed and started drafting relevant statements, which will be discussed during the evening.

In the last weeks we have been busy with promotion and we have planned the last meetings with speakers.

What topics are covered and how did you come to this choice?

First of all, we kept an eye on the news and read many articles. This way, we were able to find out where certain points of contention within accountancy are located. In addition, we have planned meetings with professors and speakers from previous editions. We discussed the topics extensively with them. In the end, together with Margreeth Kloppenburg, the chairman of the day, we arrived at these topics: fraud, data analytics, sustainability and continuity.

Do students need more information for this?

Firstly, students do not need background information to attend the evening. We have set it up in such a way that it is accessible to everyone.

Who will be speaking this evening and what did you base your choice for these speakers on?

The Accounting Insight 2021 panel will consist of 5 speakers, and will be led by Margreeth Kloppenburg. All speakers have been working in practice for many years and have already seen a lot of the accountancy profession in this way. For our final choices, we also looked closely at experience with the subjects (fraud, sustainability, data analytics, continuity). The following people will speak during Accounting Insight 2021:

Theo-Jan Renkema is Chief Innovation and Technology Auditor at Rabobank and is also a professor at Tilburg University. He will speak on the subject of data analytics, which he has been working on throughout his professional career and gives lectures on to the MSc Accountancy.

Nicolette Loonen has worked at KPMG for a long time and over a year ago she founded her own company (TOSCA) with which she contributes to making organizations more sustainable. She will discuss sustainability with Ferdy van Beest, who works as Director of Data Propositions at Flynth Adviseurs and Accountants. Ferdy also has a lot of experience with integrated reporting and also works at Nyenrode, where he is assistant professor of financial accounting & reporting.

“Finally, organizing Accounting Insight has also brought us friendships and fun memories.”

Marianne van Kimmenade is currently the fraud theme director at the NBA (Dutch Professional Association of Accountants) and worked at EY for over 30 years. She will speak on the subject of fraud, together with Don Raaijmakers, who is a team leader at AFM (Financial Markets Authority) and has experience at both EY and KPMG.

These are the expertise of the speakers, but they will also participate in the other discussions and give their opinions. Finally, there is a panel discussion on the subject of continuity, where the speakers give their vision on the survival of the Accountant profession.

Who is this evening for?

The event is aimed at bachelor-, master Accountancy- and post-master Accountancy students, but every studious student with an interest in Accountancy is welcome on 1 December.

What will the evening look like?

The evening will start at 7.30 pm and last until approximately 10 pm, with a break in between. There is room for participants to ask questions to the professionals. In this way we hope to make it an interactive and educational evening.

What have you learned from organizing Accounting Insight?

As committee members, we have experienced a lot of personal and professional development in the past year. It gave us insight into the problems that exist in practice, which you don’t hear much about during lectures at university. In this way you can link courses you follow to current events, which makes the lectures a lot more interesting.

What did you think of organizing Accounting Insight?

Organizing Accounting Insight 2021 was a lot of fun and very educational. The biggest advantage of organizing a (similar) formal event is the contact with speakers, the chairman and other interested parties. We had meetings with several professionals from the accountancy world, talked to many professors from Tilburg University and during the organization a lot with the board of Asset | Accounting & Finance.

Finally, organizing Accounting Insight has also brought us friendships and fun memories. In February we were all new members at Asset | Accounting & Finance, and by working together for a full year on the organization of this one event, we have built a strong bond that will certainly not end after Accounting Insight 2021.

Are you interested in Accounting Insight 2021? Register here!