JOHN DONOGHUE
ifac
Managing Partner & Chief Executive IFAC
Ifac provides accountancy, financial and business advisory to farms, family businesses, food business, startups and agri-tourism enterprises, from 32 locations around the country.
ACTIVITY Our focus is on the farming, food and agribusiness sectors, in addition to our growing share of large family business clients across the regions. 2020 was a decent year for many of our clients, with ag-tech and food-tech companies continuing to create and innovate against the backdrop of Covid.
Farm businesses were largely unaffected by Covid and in general are more concerned about the long-term implications of Brexit. Tax warehousing and loan forbearance were not significant issues. Balance sheet health is always top of our agenda and many of our clients acted swiftly at the start of the pandemic to minimise financial exposure. Our employer services team had a very busy year on wage supports and general employer
issues related to business interruption and remote work policies.
Despite the pandemic, we opened two new offices in 2020, in Skibbereen and Ennis. We also acquired a SaaS business called Cashminder to help farmers track their money. At the height of the pandemic, we also launched our advice-led and technology-driven FarmPro service. It combines proven technology with up-to-date farm accounting data and ifac financial management expertise in budgeting, forecasting and benchmarking to help farmers run better, more profitable farms and build more resilience into their operations.
SERVICES Our ability to spend time onsite with clients has been an issue for our audit teams, resulting in audits taking longer to complete. Finance teams have found that information has been harder to obtain from clients. Our consulting team had an exceptional year, with many clients seeking advice on moving their business online, logistics, business transition and a host of related activities.
Business owners are now more accessible – the surge in Zoom and Teams meetings amid lockdown restrictions have created the time for consulting opportunities. Less travel, more communication and closer client connection has been our experience.
REMOTE WORKING We invested in a move to the Azure cloud in 2019, so we moved seamlessly to working from home. Performance management is more challenging in the WFH model, while some of our team members have experienced some disconnect and isolation. We have introduced a range of employee supports and assistance programmes to help our teams. Given our 32 offices around the country, we are well used to engaging our teams remotely via technology, so to some degree we had a head-start on that way of working compared with most other professional services firms.
BUSINESS SUPPORTS The supports have been very positive and need to be maintained. We should also be looking to the future, post-Covid, and thinking about the positive long-term changes we can make in our communities. The government needs to invest in our regional economy, while the many benefits of WFH are clear. Companies need to be incentivised to invest in remote and blended working. High-speed reliable broadband, regional enterprise hubs, remote access to university level education and tax incentives for employers who reduce their carbon footprint through WFH should be top of the agenda.
A lot of businesses in the hardest-hit sectors are effectively shuttered, so costs are low, while larger businesses are in decent shape. The challenge is really to protect the small family business sector. It’s all about keeping these businesses alive through supports and giving them the chance to get back to trading as soon as it’s safe to do so.
ENTERPRISE We are deeply engaged in the food-tech and ag-tech areas. Digital footprint is key for these businesses and it’s a core strength in our consulting team. Our clients expect us to help them achieve their goals. We are doing it by being their partner and plotting a new pathway with them, wherever they choose to go.
‘The challenge is to protect the small family business sector’