AGM 2017 in Singapore

The AGM in Singapore was truly ex-ceptional and the perfect way for the 79 participants to meet other IECnet members. Of the 41 members who answered the Quality Questionnaire, 37 felt they made good business con-tacts with IECnet members during the AGM. Attending meetings, whether AGMs or regional meetings, is the best way to improve business be-tween members. Sending your staff to the staff seminars ensures that IECnet is known even to junior staff. They are tomorrow's partners! IECnet would like to thank everyone whose partici-pation made this year’s AGM so mem-orable. Your continued participation will guarantee that IECnet remain one of the top 30 networks in the world.

In this issue:

Chairman Editorial p.2

IECnet 30th Anniversary p. 3

AGM in Singapore p. 4

New Board members p. 5

AGM Quality Questionnaire p. 6

IECnet new business Plan p. 7

IECnet Transfer of Staff p. 8

Staff 2017 London: testimonial p. 9

Ricardo Enrique Riveiro p. 10

Website reminder p. 11

Save the dates 2018 p. 12

New members p. 13

2

Editorial by IECnet Chairman

Tobi Smit

“As I write this editorial, I'm looking back at the AGM in Singapore. For me it was the first time in this city and country and what a great place it is to spend some time! The AGM was excellent thanks to the impeccable organisation by our hosts, Suan Wee Tan and Li Meng Tan, from IECnet member Tan Wee Tin & Co. With members attending from all over the world the AGM was a big success. During the AGM 4 Board members reached the end of their term:

Alexis Petrini, after 8 years in the Board and the Executive Committee, Anis Wahabi, after 8 years in the Board, Thorbjørn Helmo Madsen, after his re-entry in the Board 4 years ago, Ramanand Balasubramanian, after 4 years in the Board.

I would like to thank them again for their invaluable services to IECnet. Thanks, it was a pleasure working with you. During the AGM the members (re-)elected 4 Board members:

David Odewahn, responsible for the Asia-Pacific region, Wassim Turki, responsible for the Africa, Middle East region, Suan Wee Tan, Chairman of the Public Relations & Business Development Committee, Ramanand Balasubramanian, Treasurer and member of the Executive Committee.

I would like to welcome you to the Board (again) and I’m looking forward to be working with you in the next years. During the AGM I felt again the good atmosphere there is in IECnet meetings and the good relationship between members which I believe is very important to be a successful network. International clients, professional expertise and effective communication are very im-portant for business referrals between IECnet members but I’m also convinced that the better we know each other, the more business we will do together! So let’s meet again soon! I hope to see you all at least once in 2018 at one of the IECnet events, either in St. Peters-burg, Melbourne, Asuncion, Malta or Lisbon.”

IECnet Chairman

Tobi Smit

3

IECnet 30th Anniversary

"The 25th of September 2017 was a special day for IECnet, it was our 30th anniversary!

See the video below:

In 30 years IECnet has become a real quality driven network with 74 member firms in 62 countries from all over the world. I'm very happy and proud to announce that from now on, the 25th of Septem-ber will be IECnet DAY! · A day to celebrate our anniversary and your membership with IECnet. · A day to raise awareness about IECnet in and outside your firm. For instance on this day you could: · Organise an IECnet presentation for the partners and staff in your firm; · An information session for your clients and/or business partners · Or have an online meeting with one of your IECnet colleagues. And very important, tell us about your IECnet Day activities! Send your sto-ries, photos or movie clips of IECnet Day, to us and the best, the funniest, the most original ones will win a prize! And for now, let me be the first to say: Congratulations to all of you with IEC-net Day 2017."

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IECnet AGM in Singapore The AGM in Singapore started with a warm welcome by our hosts on the pool side at the Pan Pacific Singa-pore with an exceptional view on the Marina Bay. Sur-rounded by a lush garden and a very inviting pool, par-ticipants were given an IECnet bag & a nametag. After a delicious dinner under the Singapore stars, we start-ed the AGM the next day with a welcome by IECnet Chairman Tobi Smit & IECnet vice-Chairman Stefano Ciccioriccio. New members presented their firms. Wel-come to all of them! Elections took place and the fol-lowing Board members were elected: R. (Bala) Bal-asubramanian was elected Treasurer, David Odewahn was elected Representative Asia/Oceania, Suan Wee Tan was elected Chairman PR & Business Development and Wassim Turki was elected Representative Africa/Middle East. Gary Chong is the IECnet member of the year. Congratulations to them all! Two 30th Anniversary cakes were brought to participants and the Chairman and Vice-Chairman had the privilege of blowing out the candles, in front of the camera ! The technical program then started with the False Assurance movie created by ICAEW and Doing business in Singapore & the Asia-Pacific. Spain-based company Eurofragance shared its experience on how to expend their business worldwide and Xero representative presented its product as one of the emerging global accounting leaders of online accounting software. IECnet member Daniel Ziska led a presentation on a possible so-lution for tackling the "website issue", pressing on the fact that all IECnet members should have a website and in English ! The after-noon was split into two groups, the tax & the audit group. The Audit group, led by Frederic Borràs, was presented an update on the Audit Committee activities and a Caseware presentation. The Tax group, led by Daniel Ziska and Matt Bird through a video conference , was given a presentation on real Tax in digital econo-my. Saturday was dedicated to the social part: IECnet members visited Chinatown with the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, enjoyed a river tour on a Clarke Quay bumboat and the beauties of Gardens By the Bay. What a sight ! Our hosts Suan Wee & his sister Li-Meng were present on all fronts, making sure that all IECnet members were pleased and delighted with their Singaporean journey. A big thank you to them both !

5

IECnet Chairman Tobi Smit

Stefano Ciccioriccio Vice President Chairman of the Executive Committe Mr. Ramanand Balasubramanian Treasurer

Andrew Bruch

Secretary

IECnet Board members

Daniel Ziska

Tax Chairman

Suan Wee Tan PR/BD Chairman

Frederic Borràs Committee on Au-diting Chairman

Wassim Turki Representative Africa/Middle East

David Odewahn Representative Asia/Oceania

Ismael Bustamante Representative America

6

IECnet AGM Quality Questionnaire ( Extract)

7

2017 - 2020

Governance structure Quality of member firms Increase business between members Growth of the network Governance structure The future of the position of the IE-Cnet Executive vice Chairman (CEO) Investigate Board- and meeting struc-ture Investigate referral system Investigate fee structure Change to calendar year reporting Quality of member firms Proper responding to IECnet surveys Quality control monitoring system Investigate business referral review system Training/education program Tax / Audit / Accounting sessions at

meetings and via webinars Attend FoF / EGIAN meetings Develop IECnet working manual Staff exchange Increase business between members

Member firm awareness Attend meetings English website Market referral successes New directory contact persons Strengthen relationship with IBLC Organise national / local meetings Attend each other meetings Growth of the network Increase awareness through website Continous update website Search engines, google adwords Find member firms in new countries Target countries USA Incentive finding a new member Market membership FoF (and

EGIAN) Market cooperation with IBLC Targets 2017 – 2020 Future-proof Governance structure Healthy financial position Professional communication mem-bers All members with (English) website Fully fledged training program 85+ member firms in 70+ countries

IECnet Business Plan 2017-2020

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IECnet Transfer of Staff

IECnet supports the transfer of staff within its members for periods that could range from one month to one year, that could benefit the international experience of the staff involved and increase mutual acquaintance and collaboration among its members. As a consequence it is IECnet intention to promote those staff transfers. To support those initiatives IECnet will circulate the requests of transfers from its mem-bers in the newsletter, web or even specific emails if asked to do so. In order to facilitate those transfer initiatives, the following framework of general rules is proposed: Transfers of staff and its length, terms and conditions have to be agreed and accept-

ed by the sending and receiving members. -Travel cost (airfare etc.) to go to the city of the receiving member should be cov-

ered by the sending member and be in accordance with its travel expenses policy. A salary will be paid to the staff member transferred by the receiving firm equivalent

to one that is paid in this firm to its staff of similar experience and professional quali-fication at which the staff could perform. Working conditions (working hours etc.) should also be similar.

With this salary the transferred staff has to cover his/her housing and other costs of living.

The receiving firm will help to the staff coming to find appropriate housing. As a maximum 15 days of hotel ( or aparthotel, Airbnb or equivalent) will be reimbursed being this the period considered necessary for him to find appropriate housing.

Travel cost to return to his originating firm should be covered by the receiving mem-ber.

Receiving member will also take care to facilitate training to the transferred staff in the specific local professional standards that he/she needs to know to perform his job.

A coach ( councelor) with appropriate experience will be assigned to the transferred staff in order to provide him with guidance and plan the work load assigned in order to help him to acquire the appropriate experience.

These only intend to be guidelines that have to be adapted to the different circum-stances, members, culture, size and needs of the firms involved and their staff.

9

IECnet London Staff Testmonial

My name is Hayley Hogben and I am an audit manager at Sayers Butterworth LLP.( http://www.sayersb.co.uk/) I have been with the firm for just over 6 years. My role includes looking after a portfo-lio of diverse clients. My duties involve the timely preparation of annual accounts, management accounts, acting as audit manag-er, preparing corporation tax returns and complying with various Companies House filings. We recently hosted the annual staff seminar at the offices of Sayers Butterworth LLP in London. The morning consisted of a presentation from Ian Atkins (the managing director of the HAT Group) on Communication and Fraud. This was a very interesting topic and we were split into groups for discussion. The main dis-cussion points were oral vs written communication, report writing and the bene-fit of meetings, we all shared our opinions and ideas on these topics. It was very interesting hearing about other firms’ procedures in these areas. The second group discussion on fraud had us all sharing our experiences with any fraud we had come across. In the afternoon we were split into two groups, one for audit and one for tax, whichever subject we felt was more relevant to us. The audit group was the smaller group, no surprise there! I attended the audit group which included a presentation by Ian Atkins on Project Management and Group Audits. There was a group discussion on these two areas. Within project management we focused on staff selection and the different procedures each firm have to select the right audit team, we also discussed the efficiency of reviewing and delegation. In rela-tion to the group audit discussions we all shared our experiences, if any, of deal-ing with other accountants on group audits. It was a very interactive session and a real chance to get to know everyone and their roles in their firms. Once the conference had finished it was our chance to show everyone the sights of London which we achieved by a boat cruise along the River Thames, fortu-nately for everyone the weather was perfect for such an occasion, which was fantastic considering how unpredictable it can be! The conversations flowed and everyone seemed to have a great time. The boat included a DJ and a dance floor with a number of people making full use of this! Overall these seminars are a great way to get to meet and know other accountants from other countries not just in a professional way but also personally to build good relationships and rapport. Hayley Hogben hhogben@sayersb.co.uk

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Ricardo Enrique Riveiro

IECnet member in Argentina: Tax expert

Ricardo Enrique Riveiro, a Certified Public Accountant of the Uni-versity of Buenos Aires, is the main partner of Riveiro y Asocia-dos (created in 1981), http://www.riveiroyasoc.com/ where he is in charge of the international tax and transfer pricing departments. Author or co-author of more than sixty technical papers and books related to his specialization in international taxation, he has written jointly with both local and world-renowned col-leagues. As coordinator of the International Tax Commission of the local Argentine Association of Fiscal Studies (AAEF) and President of the International Tax and Transfer Pricing Commission of the CPA`s Trade Association of the City of Buenos Aires (CPCECABA), he has participated in different capacities in many international, provincial and municipal tax symposia carried out by both organs, as well as those organized by the Argentine fiscal authority (AFIP), the Latin American Institute of Tax Law (Instituto Latinoamericano de Derecho Tributario (ILADT) ) and the many regional tax meetings of the International Fiscal Association (IFA). He is guest professor on taxation courses in different universi-

ties, on post-graduate courses, on tax update cycles in

CPCECABA and on specialist courses abroad. He is also a con-

sultant in both local and international, corporate and fiscal plan-

ning specialisms.

Ricardo Enrique Riveiro r.riveiro@riveiroyasoc.com

11

IECnet is aiming at having 100 % of our mem-bers with a website in English.

If you have a website but it is not in English yet, please note that you need to translate it as soon as possible. It is now a requirement for all mem-bers to have a website and to have it in English.

You can use your local language but all members but must be able to read your website without a language barrier. English is a must!

Why is this important? Because other members

need to go see your website & see what you are doing. To see what your firm does & what it is good at .A website is like a window of your firm!

12

Save the dates 2018

April 2018

The IECnet next EMEA will take place in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on 26-29 April 2018.

May 2018

The next IECnet Asia-Pacific regional meeting will take place in Melbourne, Australia, on May 24-27 2018

July 2018

The next America’s regional meeting will take place in Asunción, Paraguay, on July 12-14 2018

October 2018

The next IECnet AGM will take place in Lisbon on October 3-7 October 2018.

13

IECnet new members:

Korea

Hyundai Accounting Corporation, Seoul 542 Yeoksam-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea Tel: 82-70-7731-2887 Website: http://www.hdcpa.co.kr/e_htm/sub02_04.html Languages: English, Korean Contact person : Ji Hyun Kim Email: hdcpa_qc@naver.com

Philippines

MM& Co

8000 Lakeview Halang Calamba City Laguna, Philippines 4027

Tel : (+63) 2 330 6057

Website: http://mmco.com.ph/

Languages: English , Filipino

Contact : Raymund J. Manaig

Email: manaig.rj@gmail.com

Brazil

BOCCUZZI Advogados Associados

Av. Brigadeiro Faria Lima, 2055 - 10º andar, CEP: 01452-001 São Paulo-

SP Brasil

Tel : (+ 55) 11 3039 6399

Website: www.boccuzzi.com.br

Contact : Rogério Pires da Silva

Email: rogerio@boccuzzi.com.br

South Africa

Morar Incorporated

161 Pietermaritz Street, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa,

3201

Tel : 033 345 4004

Website: http://morar.co.za/

Contact : Mr. Roshan MORAR

Email: roshan.morar@morar.co.za

Incentive for mem-bership!

In 2015, the IECnet

Board decided to give

a 1000 € incentive for

members who will

find new members.

This 1000 € incentive

is to be used for the

AGM registration

fees.

So far, four members

have received this in-

centive

A big thank you to

them both for their

active input into IEC-

net’s growth.