It would be easy for many not involved directly with ICAS (the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland) to assume that the president of the world’s first established professional body of CAs would be drawn from the ranks of one of the Big Four – or perhaps working in-house at a major corporate.

They would be wrong: Karen Scholes, who was appointed to the post last spring, is a director and shareholder of Scholes Chartered Accountants, a family firm based in Kirkwall, Orkney and now with four regional offices around Scotland which describes itself as “entrepreneurs advising entrepreneurs”.

In her 38 years of accounting Karen says that she is still “excited to learn more”. That commitment and passion now extend to the presidency of the professional body that received its Royal Charter in 1854 and currently represents more than 24,000 Chartered Accountants at home and overseas.

She was formally confirmed as president at the ICAS Annual General Meeting in April, succeeding Alison Cornwell CA, former CFO of Vue International, so has had some time to reflect on how her ambitions for the body are progressing.

Karen stresses the help that ICAS gives its membership on a human, as well as a professional level, citing her own experience when her late father died suddenly. “ICAS really stepped in to help me, particularly Patricia Gallacher, who provided essential practice support and guidance.”

It’s an approach she has adopted in her own firm with an ambition to highlight the flexibility and employer-friendly nature of the ICAS CA training model which she says offers an accessible, cost-effective way for firms of all sizes to nurture and attract top-tier business talent.

She initially ran her own practice as sole practitioner until it was incorporated in 2008. “Now we’ve grown throughout Scotland and ICAS has been an essential part of that journey – whether training our students or help with acquisitions. I’ve always felt really close to the body and in many ways, it’s shaped my career.”

As someone who had used the professional body a lot, she concedes that she initially didn’t quite understand the whole workings of it. “I first put my toe in the water when I was asked to chair The Members in Practice Advisory Board, which is now called ICAS Practice Board.”

This board meets every three months to discuss the matters affecting practitioners in small and medium sized firms and how ICAS can help them deal with the issues they face in their-day-to day working lives.

“Then, when my terms ended on Members in Practice Advisory Board and Council, I became convener of Authorisation Committee and through that I also joined Regulation Board”. Being asked to become an office bearer rendered her “quite speechless” and she says she could not be prouder of her current role as president. “Learning about where ICAS members are and what they do – all I’d previously known was practice – has been fascinating.”

She sees one of her – and ICAS’s tasks – as attracting more young people into the profession. “It’s still seen by some as not a particularly alluring prospect: the training is admittedly hard and with a three-year commitment the profession is not easy to get into but and we make no apologies for that.

“However, we’re trying to demonstrate to prospective CAs that it can open the door to so many different career options, not just in Scotland but throughout the world.”

The ICAS Training Model was thoroughly revamped last year to ensure the CA qualification remains relevant in an evolving global business landscape and includes the future-focused themes of sustainability and technology and, alongside ethics and core technical accountancy skills.

“I think COVID was one of the things that probably made us do that sooner rather than later – but I believe we’re years ahead of our competitors with what is a very new and modern syllabus.”

The theme of the upcoming ICAS conference in November is appropriately Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technology, highlighting the advancements in the area and stressing that businesses must establish clear governance frameworks, risk management strategies and compliance structures to align with evolving global AI regulations while noting the need for organisations to strengthen their cybersecurity strategies to counter AI-driven cyber threats and deepfakes.

“Naturally there’s a degree of nervousness about ensuring that client data is completely safe, secure and confidential at all times. And what AI can never do is provide the professional scepticism and judgement that accountants are known for.

“So we will never be replaced by AI – we need to keep up to date and introduce new technologies to help both us and our clients.”

The same applies to the growing importance of sustainability and ICAS has recently introduced CPD (continuing professional development) courses in sustainability reporting. “We’re offering members practical support, guidance and training.”

Karen says her year as vice president was good preparation for her current position and that she learned a lot from Alison Cornwell (who was the fifth female president in the body’s 170-year history.) Supporting her during her term in office are David Cruickshank CA, who has been appointed as deputy president of ICAS, and Jonny Jacobs CA as Vice president.

One of her aims, she says, is to redress the balance of entrants to the profession as only around 20% of professionals in fields like accountancy are from working-class backgrounds. She says the ICAS Foundation is helping to close this gap by supporting young people from low-income backgrounds to access careers in accountancy and finance.

“I take every opportunity I can to talk about the attractions of the profession to students,” she says. “So, I’m getting out in front of schools and colleges trying to encourage as many young people as I can to consider a career in accountancy.

“I think that improving engagement with members is a key priority for my year as president and I’m spending time speaking with members at conferences, meetings and other ICAS events.”

Beyond the office Karen enjoys travelling and walking (particularly with her dog, Rousay, named after an Orkney island renowned for its ancient architectural heritage), and has a keen interest in local amateur dramatics.

Foremost, however, as a small business owner she says that she has always believed that running a practice goes beyond just balancing books. ”It’s about shaping the future for my clients,” she says with conviction.