‘As with any technological revolution, there is always a period of fear and hesitancy about how it is going to affect our futures. Will I be skilled enough to use it? Will it replace my job function? How will my business survive if it takes on my role?

‘However, when the initial apprehension wears off, what we inevitably find is we’re on a continuum, where change happens gradually, we adapt, and businesses innovate. I expect nothing less in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), but I also believe that we are many years away from the necessary development and maturity of AI to replace businesses’ accountancy functions.’

‘We are a somewhat privileged industry in that so much of what we do is closely monitored and regulated. That makes it, first, more complex to replace, and second, significantly more challenging to approve in a regulatory space.