The annual ICB Bookkeepers Summit has always attracted the brightest and the best speakers in the bookkeeping world - amplifying the stories of bookkeepers, highlighting industry innovations and enabling the community to keep up to date. For the first time ever, we are opening a call for speakers for both the in-person and virtual events.
The ICB Bookkeepers Summit is the only full-scale national conference dedicated to bookkeepers. Comprising both in-person and virtual sessions, it draws together hundreds of bookkeepers - keen to learn, connect and be inspired.
When is the summit?
This year we are returning to the Park Plaza, Westminster for the in-person event on Monday 11 November 2024. We then hold our virtual tech day on Wednesday 13 November and a full virtual summit on Thursday 14 November. There are different speakers at each of these three events.
Speaking at the summit
If you haven’t attended the ICB Bookkeepers Summit before, you should know that it’s not like other industry events. At the in-person event, there’s one plenary stage with one audience taking regular breaks together. We run the virtual summit via a dedicated event platform that facilitates high levels of attendee interaction. The morning session comprises focused keynotes and for the afternoon session we run two tracks, with all sessions made available to watch on demand for three months.
Who attends the summit?
Between the in-person summit and virtual events, we host over 800 bookkeepers for Global Bookkeeping Week. Predominantly ICB members, non ICB bookkeepers also join in for the unique mix of community, inspiration and networking.
Recent survey data tells us that 65% of ICB Bookkeepers are sole traders, with an average of 35 clients while 7% have over 100 clients.
In the majority, they own small, agile practices. Because of the nature of bookkeeping work, they work extremely closely with the business clients they serve and so the decisions they make are based on what brings benefit to their clients.
It’s also worth noting that 54% are running these successful businesses on a part time basis. And 78% are female.
What do they want to hear?
ICB Bookkeepers are forward thinking, tech savvy and community minded. They’re interested in new ideas, new software and new ways of doing things that will make their working lives easier. They’re also highly entrepreneurial and looking for insight on how to make their businesses run better. Advice on changes that will impact their work in terms of tax, legislation, payroll, and wider business trends is useful.
Attending the summit is a significant investment in terms of time and money. We want to make it worth their while and value for money,. Attendees are looking to be educated, inspired and entertained.
Who can apply to speak?
Bookkeeper, accountant, consultant
Farmer, Fisherman, Philanthropist
Chef, cook and bottle washer.
If you’ve got something you think would be of interest, please apply to speak.
Maybe you want to do a joint presentation with a colleague/ fellow bookkeeper?
We are really interested in hearing inspiring bookkeeper stories. Maybe you’ve had to work differently to suit a particular client, or you’ve worked in a way that’s really changed a client’s life?
If you haven’t spoken before, we can support you to find coaching. And if you’re not sure about your subject and you want to chat it through, contact Elizabeth Carter.
The Bookkeeper of the Future
There is a lot of uncertainty in the world. Global conflict, climate change, changing governments, exploding AI. But whatever change we see in the world, businesses will still need to track, measure and manage their income and expenditure. Bookkeepers are at the heart of this process. We’re not going anywhere.
But the way we do things might look a little different. The technology we use, the guidelines that we must help businesses to follow, the potential product innovations - these are all things that we need to consider and plan for. At the ICB Summit 2024, we’ll be predicting what the future of bookkeeping will look like. And importantly, what you can do to prepare for the future you.
We’re looking for talks that support this theme.
How to apply
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A high-resolution headshot
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A high-resolution image of your company logo.
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Speaker bio
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Session title and session summary
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Preference for in-person/virtual
What happens next
The deadline is Friday 28 June. This won’t be extended. The ICB team will spend July reviewing the applications and forming an agenda. We will begin to contact you in August before announcing the full agenda in September.
