The Digital Accountancy Show 2025 checklist: Look for these 15 events

Surrounding yourself with other accounting professionals, networking, and keeping your finger on the pulse by attending industry events like the Digital Accountancy Show 2025 is a sure way to stay sharp for your clients. As long as you use your time wisely.

With over 100 sessions across 2 days, it can be hard to know where to start. Well, here’s your starting point: 15 sessions to look out for at this year’s Digital Accountancy Show. 

Day 1: Tuesday, 1 April

Replaced: The rise of the AI Agent

Presenter: Jason Staats, Realize

Time: 10.15am

Location: Main Stage

In this keynote, Jason Staats explores the most important questions facing firms in 2025. He’ll cut through the AI rhetoric to provide actionable steps to position your firm for long-term success, and share the biggest wins firms around the globe are finding with emerging tech.

Missing out: Why accountants need to embrace business process outsourcing for midmarket clients

Presenters:

• Nicki Savill, Moore Kingston Smith

• Katherine O’Carroll, BDO

• Richard Woolgar, Armstrong Watson

• Matt Lewns, iplicit

Time: 1.30pm

Location: Main Stage

Many practices do great business process outsourcing (BPO) work for SMEs, only to risk losing the best clients as they grow. Often, the volume of transactional work that those midmarket clients require makes it more economical for them to take the work in house. This panel will discuss how software is helping UK firms tap into this market, and how you can move away from the commoditised SME market, attract higher fees, enjoy more rewarding work with high-growth clients, and generate new sources of revenue by offering other services.

AI agents: Can you train AI to become a full-time bookkeeper?

Presenters:

• Billie Mcloughlin, 2020 Innovation

• Emma James, With Otto

• Reuben Steenkamp, Briefcase

• Nicolai Thomson, Jenesys AI

• Benjamin Sampson, Accounting Flow Ltd

Time: 3.30pm

Location: Evolution Theatre

57% of accounting professionals believe that bookkeeping will be the most disrupted function by AI. This panel will explore AI’s impact on the bookkeeper’s role, and if it can actually perform the job.

Escape the accounting echo chamber: Lessons from other industries

Presenter: Ian Phillips, Xero

Time: 3.30pm

Location: Future Firms Theatre

Your competitors aren’t other firms—your clients are comparing their experience with you to their experience with any other business that comes to mind. That might be Amazon, or Uber, or the local bakery. Ian will share how you can embrace both the distinctiveness of accounting, as well as lessons from other industries so you can empower your practice to innovate, adapt, and thrive in an ever-changing landscape.

How implementing the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) transformed how we run our firms

Presenters:

• Rachel Harris, striveX Ltd

• Kieran James, Stryde Accountancy Ltd

• Gemma Edwards, Cooper Parry

Time: 3.30pm

Location: Fireside Chat

The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) is a proven set of concepts and tools to help entrepreneurs build the businesses of their dreams. This panel will discuss their own experiences with EOS, including how they used it to become ‘unstuck’, align their teams, and grow their firms into profitable businesses.

Deceit in the Digital Age: How to create a culture that is resilient to AI fraud

Presenter: Oliver Crofton, Continual

Time: 3.30pm

Location: Evolution Theatre

70% of accounting professionals are concerned about the impact of AI on data security, with 23% reporting that AI negatively affects their firm’s data security. Join Oliver Crofton as he shares how you can fortify your firm’s data security with robust training for your team and a solid AI policy.

How to use AI to turn meeting transcripts into proposals, team training, social media posts (and more!)

Presenters:

• Jordan Vickery, Journey & Vinyl

• Trent Mclaren, Vinyl

Time: 4.30pm

Location: How To Hub

40% of accounting professionals are using AI to transcribe meetings, making it one of the top three AI use cases in accounting. Join Jordan and Trent as they share how Vinyl—the first AI meeting notetaker for accountants and bookkeepers—automatically transcribes and summarises your client meeting notes so that nothing gets missed.

The accountancy profession is on its knees and dying (but there is still hope!)

Presenter: Graeme Tennick, Tennick Accountants

Time: 4.30pm

Location: Main Stage

Drawing on his experience as Founder and Chief Impact Officer at Tennick Accountants, Graeme will share how he believes the accounting profession can be transformed by developing deeper relationships with clients and helping them achieve both their personal and professional goals.

Day 2: Wednesday, 2 April

I sold my 7-year old firm in 3 months: Here's what actually happened during that process

Presenter: Alastair Barlow, flinder & Ascendant

Time: 10am

Location: Main Stage

After years of watching the industry, investors have finally realized that accounting firms are ripe for growth. Alastair Barlow will share behind the scenes access to his own experience of founding his firm, flinder, building and scaling it, and then selling it as a founding firm of The Ascendant Group.

Tech, tactics and tenacity: Unlocking high performance in sport and business with data, resilience, and a winning mindset

Presenters:

• Karen Ainley, Sage

• Dan Biggar, Former Wales Rugby International

• Sam Billings, England Cricket

• Dr Pete Husemeyer, Sportable

Time: 11.15am

Location: Main Stage

What does sport have to do with business? Quite a lot actually. This exciting panel will explore how athletes are leveraging AI, innovation, insights and advanced data to drive high performance and make smarter decisions. They’ll also discuss how a growth mindset and mental toughness are key to achieving success. All of these lessons are applicable to building and growing a leading accounting business.

The cyber threat is real: What accountants can do to prepare for rising cybersecurity threats

Presenters: 

• Oliver Crofton, Continual

• John Toon, Beever and Struthers

• Afsha Zeb, Salford City Council

Time: 11.15am

Location: Evolution Theatre

Staying safe online in the digital age means staying up-to-date on the latest threats and protocols. In this session, hear from three leaders in cybersecurity on practical steps you can take to protect your firm, your clients, and your sensitive information.

Sustainability and carbon accounting: Why accountants are uniquely positioned to help

Presenters: 

• Joanna Auburn, Trace

• Lindsay Ellis, Sumday

• Rupert Bull, The Disruption House

Time: 2.15pm

Location: Evolution Theatre

If you’re considering adding carbon neutrality services to your accounting firm’s offering, it’s best to understand the business case for it. In this session, you’ll learn exactly why accountants are best positioned to help clients become client neural through carbon neutrality advisory.

Tech champions: The key to your firm’s success?

Presenters: 

• Dave Norwell, FreeAgent

• Becca Durrant, Saffery

• Dayle Rodriguez, Kreston Reeves

• Jack Deeming, Dains Accountants

Time: 12.30pm

Location: Fireside Chat

The tech champion role—or the change champion—can be a game-changer for your firm. If done well. This panel will discuss the challenges tech champions face and how to manage them, the lessons from those in the role, how to succeed, and what the future holds.

Does your tech-stack up? How to take your workflow from 60% to 100% with the right tech

Presenter: Amy Holdsworth, Clarity Street Pty Ltd

Time: 12.30pm

Location: Tech Academy

Amy Holdsworth, CEO at Clarity Street, will share her own experiences of using the right tech to simplify and optimise workflows. She’ll uncover how her team operates and what tools power them day-to-day.

Why and how to run towards the ecommerce opportunity in 2025

Presenters: 

• Elspeth Cordray, A2X

• Fatima Salhab, flinder

• Oliver Blackmore, Elver E-Commerce Accountants

• Adam Pritchard, Linford Grey Associates

Time: 2.15pm

Location: Tech Academy

In this practitioner-focused panel, you will hear directly from UK accountancy leaders who have turned ecommerce challenges into a powerful growth driver for their firms. They’ll discuss why they moved into the ecommerce space, how they built processes to manage ecommerce complexity and maximise profitability, and where they plan to double down for growth in 2025 and beyond.

You might also like:

• Deceit in the Digital Age: how to create a culture that is resilient to AI fraud

• Cloud security for accountants: Safeguard your practice and clients.

Bonus: Network

As well as professional learning, events like the Digital Accountancy Show 2025 are your chance to network with likeminded professionals. 

With over 5,000 attendees and 150 exhibitors, the opportunity to build connections, share knowledge, and discover new tech-enabled solutions to your problems is too good to pass up. 

No matter the sessions you attend, remember to stop by booth C17 and say hi to the Karbon team.