MR. MIKE SUFFIELD
Director of Policy & Insights of ACCA
As Director of Policy & Insights at ACCA, Mike Suffield leads a team of experts commenting on technical and professional developments, delivering research and thought leadership on issues impacting the future of the finance profession and driving all of ACCA’s activity influencing public policy across the world, both globally and regionally.
Mike’s team are at the forefront of delivering ACCA’s ambition to lead the accountancy profession for a changed world. Their focus is on supporting and driving the public interest, supporting ACCA members and future members in their own work and careers, and underpinning the attractiveness of the accountancy profession more generally. More details on the range of content that Mike and his team produce can be found at ACCA Policy & Insights.
Mike began his career at Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC), training as an auditor and qualifying as a chartered accountant. Mike then worked at the UK National Audit Office from 1995 to 2016. Over that period Mike was responsible for the audit of a range of UK government departments, including HM Treasury, the Home Office and the then Foreign and Commonwealth Office. At the NAO, Mike was also joint head of the Compliance and Quality Unit with responsibility for audit quality arrangements. Mike also led the NAO’s development of its work in local government in England following the abolition of the Audit Commission in 2010.
Mike’s time at the NAO placed him at the aheart of UK parliamentary accountability, including gaining experience of both supporting and appearing in front of parliamentary committees. He also built strong experience of complex financial reporting, auditing and accountability issues through his work, whilst also taking responsibility for delivering value for money reports.
Mike left the NAO to join the UK Financial Reporting Council in 2016, initially as Director of Audit Quality, leading the FRC’s audit inspection work of audit firms in the UK. Mike led this work at a time of heightened scrutiny of audit quality issues both in the UK and worldwide, and gained valuable experience working both with audit firms in the UK and with colleague regulators globally through the FRC’s work with the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR).
In his final year at the FRC prior to joining ACCA in 209, Mike took on the role of Acting Executive Director of Audit and Actuarial Regulation. This saw Mike take responsibility for oversight of all of the FRC’s audit-related activities, including audit quality monitoring, alongside a leadership role on the FRC’s Executive Committee.
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