Attended Kreston International 2018 New Orleans Conference
From November 17 to 22, 2018, World Conference 2018 of Kreston International, of which we are a member, was held in New Orleans, Louisiana, a famous birthplace of jazz. The conference was attended by 132 Kreston members from 32 countries and regions, and for the first time, two of Meiji ARK LLC’s partners in charge, Goto and Hashimoto, attended the conference.
Presentation of strategy 2019-2029
This conference was the first program of the new management team of the International office and marked a milestone for Kreston International.
A newly appointed CEO, Liza Robbins, was introduced to all members and she enthusiastically shared her strategic plans for the Kreston Group over the next 10 years. At the same time as we felt we could look forward to the further development of the Kreston Group in the future, we were also made keenly aware of our responsibility as a member firm of Kreston to play a part in this.
We had a chance to see Robbins at a reception during the convention, We introduced our Tokyo-based member firm to her.
(Robbins is second from the right)
Audit quality control update
The provision of high quality audit services by audit firms is nowadays an issue of concern not only in Japan but also on a global level. This section is held at both regional and world conferences, and this time again, the director of international gave an update on the audit quality control policy that should be maintained as a member of our network firms. Also, a training lecture was given by the partner of a member firm located in the U.S. The section was very active, with participants actively asking questions.
Patrick Schwerdtfeger’s lecture “Anarchy”
Patrick Schwerdtfeger, a leading futurist and forecaster of technology direction, gave a stimulating and forward-thinking presentation entitled “Anarchy,” using examples from a number of well-known companies. According to him, in order to be successful, leaders must, above all, identify the direction of today’s technology and understand the driving forces behind disruptive innovation, as well as the business world in which we as a network operate.
“How do we apply these technology developments to our business?” This is an issue of great interest not only in Japan but also in the accounting service industry as a whole. During the lecture, round-table discussion was held and member firms actively exchanged opinions.
During the discussion, we realized that a considerable number of member firms are working on electronic working paper systems, and we keenly felt that we have come to the stage where we should introduce this technology to our firm as soon as possible.
Social gathering
One of the most important events at the conference was to find a network form which our clients could feel comfortable requesting us for provision of audit and other support services overseas. We therefore spent as much time as possible communicating with members of firms in as many countries and regions as possible to deepen friendships and build relationships of trust among us. We built relationships with network firms in Asia at the Asia Pacific Conference in August, and through participation in activities organized by the secretariat, we could find new connections with network firms in the U.S., Korea, India, Romania, France, Germany, and other countries. We are confident that we will be able to develop these relationships in our future work.