Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand partners with startup hubs to run innovation program

Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) is helping to prepare its members for the future by aligning with Australian startup communities Fishburners, Stone and Chalk, and New Zealand’s The Icehouse.

The alignment will take the form of CA Catalyst, a program bringing together chartered accountants, startup community members, and tech providers for ‘mutually beneficial collaboration’.

Rick Ellis, CEO of CA ANZ, said this could include immersions within startup communities, access to training, toolkits and guides for disruption-readiness, and exposure to practical solutions.

According to Ellis, CA Catalyst is an outcome of the organisation’s strategic review. Involving more than 100 member workshops, Ellis said the review confirmed that the profession is changing rapidly.

“For the profession to remain at the forefront, it is vital we keep pace. Members, particularly in public practice, yearn for connections with new solutions, technologies and insights to be able to shape the services they offer,” he said.

Ellis said CA Catalyst will provide chartered accounts an opportunity to get on the leading edge of the future of accounting, build personal and organisational capabilities, explore new markets and services, and leverage innovation to provide greater value.

In turn, members of the partner startup communities will be given the opportunity to learn from the chartered accountants.

Andy Hamilton, CEO of The Icehouse, said the partnership is about surrounding founders and business owners with “quality people who can shine the light around the options they can take to reach their potential”.

“There will be a series of activities that give members more tools to have better quality conversations while we also learn together because I think the reality is this new age of helping SMEs with new technology, new adoption, new processes – that’s a team game that we need to do together,” he said.

Fishburners CEO Pandora Shelley agreed, “Much of the conversation in the startup world is focused around securing a funding outcome. Yet, understanding when to take on external funding and how to apply that funding efficiently is equally important – with many of our most successful startups bootstrapping for a significant period in the early stages.”

Among the initiatives offered to chartered accountants as part of CA Catalyst is a ‘Startup Coach’ program, through which they will be paired with a startup to coach over a three month period, and a ‘CA in Residence’ program, giving an accountant a one month residency in one of the hubs.

Image: Fishburners. Supplied.