ICAEW student hub to bridge ‘TikTok to tax return’ skills gap

Firmcheck are proud 😍 to be part of the new ICAEW technology hub for ACA students, created to give trainees hands-on experience with the tools shaping modern finance work.

The ICAEW tech hub has launched with six initial partners, bringing together leading platforms across accounting, audit, data, and compliance, including Sage and Xero, Dext, Firmcheck 🥳 , Inflo, and KNIME.

The launch line-up

After conversations with around 50 providers, ICAEW’s tech hub has launched with six initial partners, including industry heavy hitters and specialist tools:

• Sage and Xero (accounting software)

• Dext (data capture and automation)

• Firmcheck (anti-money laundering compliance)

• Inflo (audit analytics)

• KNIME (data preparation and automation).

Once logged into their ICAEW account, students can navigate to a demonstration environment hosted by the software provider where they can experiment with pre-populated trial data. 

Each vendor has approached their inclusion in a slightly different way. For example, Sage has provided an end-to-end workbook solution as part of a mini course on the platform, where users are guided through its functions, including how to post invoices, conduct cash reconciliations and so on.

According to Pay, ICAEW was explicit with vendors that this wasn’t about “converting students into customers” but instead, getting exposure and familiarity with the types of software they’ll need to use in a modern working environment.

“It’s a space for students to play around and figure out what business software is all about,” said Pay. “The ability to pick up a new system and instinctively know how it works is invaluable. Once you’ve got the hang of a few of them, you start to understand how they work, so when you’re presented with a program you’ve not seen before, you’re more confident in terms of what to do. That’s so important in a world where there’s so much agility expected. If you don’t have the experience of playing around with software, you’re at a disadvantage.”

ICAEW currently remains in talks with other providers and hopes to add more vendors in the next phase of the project, covering a wider range of functionality.

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