Course Details

Session 1: Financial Reporting for 2021

The current accounting issues affecting Irish companies and their accountants that the OmniPro Practice Support team encountered in the last 12 months.

1. 8 Months On – FRS102 and Covid-19 including

• Directors reports
• Post balance sheet events
• Impairments and fair value
• Going concern
• Key accounts notes and disclosures
• LLP Legislation effective for periods commencing January 2020

2. Audit exempt accounts and current considerations under FRS 105 and S1.A FRS102

3. The Brexit impact on financial reporting

4. Practical Review of Covid-19 & Brexit disclosures based on recent real-life financial statements.

Session Facilitators: Des O’Neill, Mike O’Halloran – OmniPro

Session 2: Company Law and Co Sec

The top issues, opportunities and solutions that the OmniPro Corporate Consultants Team are seeing for SME Firms and their companies

1. The use of Company law to aid during tough times. This element of the course will look at Sections in company law that can be used to benefit the shareholders during tough times

• The Summary Approval procedure under Section 204 and 205 and how it can improve a Company’s balance sheet by creating distributable reserves or to permit loans to directors.
• Company secretarial procedures to segregate and protect trade assets from non-trade assets
• Re-designation of shares to allow for transfers to family while maintaining control
• Share buybacks and redemptions – COVID the straw that broke the camel’s back.

2. Annual Compliance in a COVID-19 World and the Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions)(COVID 19) Act 2020 – AGMs, EGMs, Directors Meetings and Annual Returns

3. Practical Company Secretarial Practice

• Strike Offs and Restorations
• RBO 2020 – Year 2
• Transfer of Shares on Death

4. CRO 2021 Update

• New CORE December 2020
• Buybacks & Redemptions
• B1X
• ARD Extensions
• Bonds and Brexit

Session Facilitators: Des O’Neill, John Murphy, Sinead Gortland – OmniPro

Session 3: Ten Topical Tax Issues

The ten most topical and impactful queries that crossed the OmniPro Tax & Legal Team’s desk in 2020

1. Structuring termination payments for voluntary strike offs – how to document and cover off the fact the director must remain in situ until the application has been completed.
2. Close company professional surcharge – the relevance for accountants and other professional services.
3. For construction and developer clients, the importance of asking the correct questions to assess whether the corporation tax rate is really 12.5% and whether VAT is reclaimable on certain upgrades of second hand residential property. Also looking at the Forgotten Rule.
4. Dividends paid between group companies. DWT and the importance of having procedures to ensure section 434(3a) election is completed to prevent close company surcharge issues in the recipient. What, why and how.
5. Members Voluntary Liquidations and Entrepreneurial Relief in a group situation
6. Share buyback with family restructuring – the unspoken CAT risk 598 (Retirement Relief on transfers to 3rd parties) and S.599 (Retirement Relief transfers within the Family)
7. How the tax valuation rules for shares can give different valuations for the three tax heads CAT, CGT and Stamp Duty. Another common forgotten rule that can have disastrous consequences.
8. RCT and the connected persons rule. The Get Out and the Double Check and a change in Revenue approach for companies taking over a shareholders sole trader business?
9. The risks where proprietary directors of companies provide services through other companies owned by them and some Revenue challenges we are seeing in the area.
10. Capital tax items and the creation of a group through a Share for Share Transaction. The potential impact on Business Asset Relief if a transfer happens within 5 years & preventing a clawback of Section 599 retirement relief.

Session Facilitators: John Murphy, Des O’Neill – OmniPro

Session 4: Regulatory and Practical Issues for Irish Firms

The new regulations, legislation and issues impacting on Irish Accountancy Firms that the Knowledge Hub Team received questions on in 2020.

1. Charities in COVID Times and the New Governance Code

2. Anti-Money Laundering Update – New Legislation and requirements in New Times

3. Monitoring and Quality Control – Hot Topics from 2021

• Investment Business
• Root Cause Analysis – What’s the Plan?
• Independence and Ethics
• Complaints and Disciplinary Update
• Cyber Security for accountants

4. The 7 Core Strategies for Irish Accountancy Firms in 2021

Session Facilitators: Des O’Neill, Mike O’Halloran – OmniPro

Essential Advisors Handouts and Supporting Material;

• OmniPro Sample Pro Forma Financial Statements
• Compendium of Real-Life Financial Statements
• OmniPro COVID Financial Statements Disclosure Checklist
• ProfitPro Accountancy Business Self-Assessment Checklist
• ProfitPro Business Builder Action Plan
• Template Client Letters and Checklists
• OmniPro AGM, EGM and Director’s Meeting Templates
• OmniPro Company Secretarial Precedents and Checklists
• OmniPro Tax Checklists and Templates
• OmniPro COVID Audit Checklist
• Compendium of Real-Life Audit Reports

Online CPD Course Facilitators:

Des O’Neill – Creator and Chief Delivery Officer at ProfitPro

Having spent a number of years in practice, Des O’Neill co-founded OmniPro to develop tools, techniques, products and services, empowering accountants to achieve their best. Over 15 years, he has grown the company to a multi-million-euro turnover business and established OmniPro as Ireland’s largest independent provider of CPD for accountants.

Des speaks regularly, at national and international fora, on practice development, auditing, accounting, company law and regulation. He is passionate about bringing innovation to the profession and empowering accountants to achieve what they want in their careers and practice.

With ProfitPro, Des has developed a proven practice management blueprint, enabling principals and partners to build less stressful, more profitable, and more rewarding businesses. The ProfitPro approach is based on the philosophy of creating a business that aligns with your business and life goals want rather than letting the demands of your practice dictate these for you.

Mike O’Halloran: Practice Support Executive, OmniPro

Mike, a member of our Practice Support team, is a qualified Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Advisor. He is responsible for carrying out hot file reviews, cold file reviews, annual compliance reviews, in-house training & supporting firms on a day to day basis.

Formerly a quality reviewer with Chartered Accountants Ireland, this role saw him visiting firms of various sizes across Ireland conducting audit, non-audit and anti-money laundering visits. Prior to this he spent 12 years working in small and medium sized practices. In these roles, Mike has gained a comprehensive knowledge of the profession and has worked with a broad range of clients across many industries.

John Murphy: Tax, Corporate Restructuring and Practice Support, OmniPro

As a lead member of our technical support team, John relishes problem-solving to help accountants develop innovative client solutions and sharing technical knowledge on tax, financial reporting and auditing.

A Chartered Tax Adviser, he advises clients in practice on a range of issues from income tax, tax planning, restructuring and exit planning to Revenue audits.  In addition, he provides support on financial reporting, auditing and company law; conducts company valuations and advises on pre-sale restructuring.

John also plays a key role as a researcher and subject-matter expert in developing OmniPro information products such as the CompaniesAct2014.com and FRS102.com. As a speaker at OmniPro CPD events, he brings these industry-leading insights to accountants participating in our training programmes.

A Chartered Accountant and Qualified Financial Adviser, John has over a decade’s Big 4 experience with EY and PwC, providing tax and audit services for a portfolio of clients, ranging in scale from SMEs to multinationals.

Sinead Gortland, OmniPro Corporate Consultants

Sinead is a key member of the OmniPro Corporate Consultants Technical Support team providing advice and support in relation to Company Law and Company Secretarial procedures.

In addition, Sinead is responsible for caring out Section 343 applications to the District Court, Company Restorations, Annual Compliance, Company Conversions and Company Law Compliance.

Sinead joined OmniPro in 2016 and quickly became an integral member of our Company Secretarial team. She started off her career in OmniPro as part of our Company Formations team building up her experience and knowledge before eventually moving into Company Secretarial.

Sinead has a Masters Degree from Maynooth University.