Speaking & Media

Speaking and media

Umar comments on AI in accountancy, SME finance, statutory accounts quality, professional judgement and the future of the accountancy profession.

Bio, 50 words

Umar Memon is Managing Partner of Jack Ross Chartered Accountants (Manchester, est. 1948) and the builder of Infinite Accountant, an evidence-led AI review system for UK statutory accounts. He writes The Partner Still Signs. His argument in one line: AI can surface the evidence; the partner still signs.

Bio, 150 words

Umar Memon is a chartered accountant and Managing Partner of Jack Ross Chartered Accountants, a Manchester practice established in 1948. He began in IT and systems audit, including at Coopers & Lybrand, and has spent 27 years in practice. He has argued for a decade that automation would reshape the profession: he pressed George Osborne on real-time digital tax reporting at Number 11 in 2015 and wrote publicly about automation risk after Andrew Haldane’s 15-million-jobs warning in 2016. Rather than commentate, he built: Infinite Accountant runs manager-grade, evidence-led review inside his own firm, with every finding traced to a file, a sheet and a cell. He is the author of The Signed Review, a free book for practice owners, and writes the weekly briefing The Partner Still Signs. His thesis: AI is fluent before it is right, so the partner still signs. Always.

Speaking topics

• The partner still signs: AI, evidence and professional judgement in accountancy.
• What AI really means for SME finance.
• The future accountant: from preparer to reviewer.
• Why AI will make accountancy more human, not less.
• How small firms can use AI without losing control of quality.
• Why better numbers matter more than faster accounts.
• AI, training and the end of the old accountancy career ladder.

Sample questions

• You say AI is fluent before it is right; what does that mean for a business owner?
• What actually went wrong in the KPMG episode, in your reading?
• What is the Trace-to-Source Standard?
• Should a bank or a buyer trust AI-assisted accounts?
• Does this mean fewer accountants?
• You met the Chancellor in 2015 and warned about automation in 2016; what did you get right and wrong?

Headshots

Media kit

A media kit with biography, headshots and talking points is available on request via the form below.

Contact

Media and speaking: press@umarmemon.com. The form below reaches the same desk.

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