Julia Penny is a chartered accountant whose career has taken her from audit trainee to ICAEW President – and along the way, she’s built a reputation as one of the profession’s most trusted voices on technical training, anti-money laundering and financial reporting.
We sat down with Julia to talk about the career path she almost didn’t take, what it really meant to become ICAEW President, and why the shift to FCA regulation could be the biggest compliance challenge facing firms in years.
Can you tell us a little about your background and what led you to chartered accountancy?
I liked science at school (but not maths!) and thought about training as a physio. I even filled out the application form, but didn’t put it in the post.
I decided to think again and found accountancy in the A-Z of careers. It sounded like a good route into business and when I asked the careers officer about it, he told me I should become an ICAEW chartered accountant.
I would have gone into training as a school leaver, but at the time you had to do at least a year’s foundation course at a polytechnic. I was on holiday in Devon when clearing opened and so my Mum phoned Brighton Poly and got me a place.
I was really enjoying my studies and some of the tutors asked me why I wasn’t doing a degree (the Foundation course was basically the first year of the degree, with most people just doing the Foundation course). I said I had never considered doing a degree, but as at the time you could get grants to study I decided to stay on and do a degree.
So I accidentally got a BA Hons Accounting and Finance.
I then trained with a Leach Bright in Guildford. I got experience doing incomplete records, right up to being part of the audit team for the biggest private company at the time, Lansing Bagnall.
Shortly after qualifying I moved into training, first of students and later into CPD training and technical advice.
You served as ICAEW President - what did that experience mean to you, and what were you most proud of achieving during your tenure?
The experience was a great honour and meant a great deal to me personally.
I had put myself forward for election three times, doing quite well but not succeeding.
I almost gave up, but then thought the only downside is my hurt pride, whereas the upside is that I get to serve and represent the members of my professional body. So I tried again and succeeded.
I am most proud of the difference I think I made to young women (and some not as young women) who would sometimes comment that they didn’t really think being President of a prestigious Institute was something a woman could do.
Anti-money laundering is an increasingly high-profile area. What do you see as the biggest compliance challenges facing firms right now?
The shift of regulation from the professional bodies to the FCA is going to be a big challenge. Whilst we are not expecting that to happen until about 2028, firms are going to need to make sure they are complying and can demonstrate that compliance clearly. Whilst this has always been the case we have a bit of an unknown quantity with the FCA. They are used (with the exception of OPBAS) to dealing with banks or similar institutions where everything is transaction driven and data is available on all those transactions.
Accountants do very different work for their clients and if the FCA doesn’t understand this it could lead to a lack of meaningful education for the profession on how to comply. This in turn could lead to worse compliance and big fines.
There is still time to get this right, but even if the regulation is excellent, the inescapable fact is that firms must comply with the Regulations, but they also want to do it efficiently. This might mean changing systems and procedures and we all know that takes time and effort.
What does a typical week look like for you at JS Penny Ltd?
These days nearly everything is remote, so I work from home. Typically I have either some e-learning modules or a webinar or two to write and perhaps an article for AccountingWeb.
I also spend a lot of time keeping up with developments, so reading all the government emails about ECCTA has kept me very busy over the last couple of years!
What was your highlight of Accountex London?
It was lovely to see real, live people in a room whilst I gave my talks.
Webinars can still give you a sense of connection, but it is nothing like seeing the people in the room, talking with them during Q and As and really understanding which bits of the talk are giving them those light-bulb moments. So I loved both my talks.
However, seeing the transformers and the little dinosaur wandering around was very exciting. I love tech and I love sci-fi and those made me smile and feel like a kid again!
