Committed contributor to the profession

Caroline Smale did not set out with a plan to become ICAEW President. But after years of leadership across the profession, it felt like a natural next step. Elected Vice President in 2023, she takes office as President with a clear purpose and an agenda centred on visibility, advocacy and impact.

Her route to the presidency began with a sense of service and responsibility. As a Council member, she became known for stepping forward, contributing actively and taking on more.

“It must have been about five years ago that people started asking me when I would stand for vice president,” she recalls. “They didn’t ask me if I was going to stand, they asked when. It wasn’t really on my mind at that time, but when people started to ask me, I knew it was something I wanted to do.”

That confidence was built through years of contribution. Smale’s ICAEW journey started with the Practice Committee after she spotted an advert in Audit and Beyond. “It was about giving back to the profession that had given me a career I have loved,” she says. From there, she built a record of leadership that has combined committee work, Board-level responsibility and a strong commitment to members.

After serving for three years on the Practice Committee, she was invited to become chair. She hesitated at first, unsure how she could do the role justice with a busy day job, but both her managing partner and ICAEW offered their support. She took the role. Chairing the Practice Committee led to a seat on the Members and Commercial Board, which she also went on to chair.

Alongside her ICAEW work, Smale has built her career at Bishop Fleming, joining as a trainee in the late 1980s and rising to become Risk and Compliance Partner. She has also invested heavily in mentoring younger people entering the profession.

Role model dedicated to opening opportunities

That commitment to opening doors for others is championed by ICAEW and is a theme that Caroline looks forward to highlighting during her Presidency. “It really matters that I can be a role model for others who joined the profession after me,” she says. “I’ve been really fortunate in my career in that I’ve got some great supporters, both within my own firm and across the profession.”

Her agenda for the year is framed around the three ‘R’s of the ICAEW strategy: relevance, reputation and resilience, with an additional fourth ‘R’ of her own: role model.

First comes relevance: showcasing what ICAEW can offer members and promoting the ICAEW qualification in a fast-changing world.

“It’s the gold standard and offers a route into so many diverse and interesting careers, from practice to business and the not-for-profit sector, and in fields from football to fintech,” she says. “As accountants, we are enablers of growth in the UK economy in particular, and that’s something we shouldn’t shy away from.”

A major part of that work will be championing the ACA. During her year in office, Smale wants to promote accountancy and audit to younger audiences as modern, rewarding and ambitious career choices, and to make the profession’s breadth of opportunity more visible to the people considering where to go next.

Second is reputation. Smale wants to use her Presidency to champion the profession as a trusted voice and to reinforce the public value members bring in a more complex and volatile environment. She says: “Trust is as important now as it ever was, particularly in the volatile world we currently live in. Making sure that we maintain that reputation, and support it wherever I can, is very important to me.”

Third is resilience. It is a quality Smale has had to build throughout her own career, balancing senior leadership with single motherhood, community commitments and the challenge of pushing past self-doubt. She says: “I want to make sure that our students and members have the skills to be resilient, and to help the profession and ICAEW remain resilient.”

Over the course of the next 12 months, she wants to use her platform to build confidence in younger members, encourage adaptability and support members through change.

Championing the profession and encouraging individuals

Smale’s fourth priority, of being a role model, underpins all the others. ICAEW’s new President is determined to use her year to encourage members from every background to aim higher, put themselves forward and recognise what they are capable of.

“I’m from a very humble background,” she says. “I’ve done a lot in my career, so others can do it too. I want to use this year to encourage members from every background to be ambitious, back themselves and feel that they can achieve their full potential.”

Smale is clear that she wants to use the office with intent. She sees the role as a platform, not simply a milestone.

“I’m going to be the fifth female President, and that’s important to me. I thank Hilary Lindsay, Fiona Wilkinson and Julia Penny, all past presidents who supported and encouraged me. Now I want to turn that support into action by encouraging others to step forward, speak up and see what is possible for them in this profession.”

For those members who hesitate before stepping up, Smale offers some straightforward advice: take stock of what you have already achieved and do not let setbacks define you. She says: “Remember all the things you’ve done well, and don’t dwell on any hiccups you might have along the way.”

Smale has a clear aim as she begins her year as President: to use the role actively and visibly, and to champion the profession wherever she goes.