“Irish people need to learn to stop downplaying their strengths”
Dave Berney, FCA, has built a successful accounting career in Toronto where he is now at the helm of his own thriving venture, offering fractional CFO services to the city’s business community
Dave Berney crammed a lot into a short time on his journey to founding HAB Strategy, his fractional CFO services business in Toronto, Canada, in 2023.
In a little over a decade, Berney has managed stints with multinationals in the financial services and life sciences sectors, as well as working for a social enterprise and global logistics firm—not to mention two career breaks in between, to see the world.
Going back to the beginning, however, the Co. Wexford native feels he was always destined to become a Chartered Accountant.
“My uncle founded his own accounting practice in Enniscorthy, another uncle was my Leaving Certificate accounting teacher, and my father worked for AIB—accountancy was always going to be part of my journey,” Berney explains.
“I did a B. Comm at University College Dublin, as many people interested in business do and I did the master’s in accounting at Dublin City University after that. Both are affiliated with Chartered Accountants Ireland, and you get exemptions for the qualifications.”
At that point, Berney was unsure of the career path he would like to take, so he decided to join the audit department at a leading professional services firm—an experience he found valuable but unfulfilling.
From practice to business
It was a chance conversation with the Chief Financial Officer of a client company that would ultimately steer Berney in a more rewarding direction.
“He said he would never have been able to work in audit, so went into industry instead and qualified as a Chartered Accountant through that route,” he says.
“That planted a seed in my mind. I left the firm and joined financial services company Elavon. I was the first person to do the final Chartered Accountancy exams there. I suppose I was a bit of a ‘pilot programme’ for them.
“A year later, another person came from practice and did their exams with Elavon, and it ended up being the right decision for me by a long shot.”
His new role as Treasury Accountant with Elavon came with many benefits, including shorter, more predictable hours and better pay—but there was also a downside.
“There was no study leave, so I had to change study style. Instead of cramming in the last two months like everyone else, I went to the UCD library from 6pm to 9pm every day to study. I studied every Saturday and Sunday morning as well,” he says.
“I did that constantly year-round and passed my exams first time in the top 30 percent. That was a fantastic feeling because I felt that the odds had been stacked against me.”
Valuable experiences overseas
By the end of his time with Elavon, Berney was leading business continuity planning, collaborating with the risk department to determine how the business would keep running in the event of a disaster, such as a cybersecurity breach or fire.
Then came the first of his major career breaks. “My plan was always to go travelling with my girlfriend, now my wife. I decided to leave Elavon, even though I loved working there, to travel in South America,” he explains.
The experience was, Berney says, “transformative”. “Ninety-five percent of people in South America don’t speak English, so I had to learn Spanish. I learned to think on my feet. I learned about risk and reward. I saw some unbelievable things and it shaped my life and my world view.”
On his return to Ireland, he was offered a role at Pfizer’s Centre of Excellence at Grange Castle in Dublin, later transferring to its Ringsend site.
After close to three years with the pharmaceutical giant, however, itchy feet took hold again. “My wife and I made the decision to work abroad for a year or two,” Berney says.
“We looked at various countries and cities, drew up a shortlist and settled on Toronto. There is something appealing about Canada and it has very strong links with Ireland.
“Canada also had a strong immigration programme at the time and was actively trying to get more accountants to move there.
Another big draw for Berney was Toronto’s status as “one of the world’s business capitals”. “It is the second biggest financial services centre in North America after New York, and the third biggest tech centre after Silicon Valley and New York,” he says.
It also helped that the Chartered Accountancy qualification is recognised in Canada.
Following a four-month career break to travel in Asia, Berney settled in Toronto, taking his first role with ME to WE, the social enterprise wing of WE Charity, a Canadian non-profit specialising in international development.
Set up by a group of teenagers in the nineties, WE Charity had grown to have a significant global footprint by the time Berney joined in 2018.
“ME to WE was a travel business involved in bringing donors and other people out to visit the projects the charity was funding around the world,” he says. “We would also organise activities like safaris for them as part of the visit. All the profits went back to the charity.”
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020 and both the charity, and its social enterprise, were forced to downsize dramatically to survive the impact.
“In March 2020, we went from 500 people to 100 in a week. I stayed for a while as there were still things to do. Out of 200 people in the social enterprise, I was the third last to leave.”
“IRISH PEOPLE NEED TO LEARN TO SPEAK ABOUT THEMSELVES IN A POSITIVE WAY AND STOP DOWNPLAYING THEIR STRENGTHS. EVERYONE ELSE TALKS UP THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS, WE SHOULD TOO”
His next move brought him to the logistics sector for distribution business Solutions 2 Go.
“Distribution was booming during Covid. The company had been founded 20 years previously and, by the end of the year I joined, had CAD$2 billion in revenue,” Berney says.
HAB Strategy: from start-up to growth
After two years with the company, latterly as Global Finance Director, he decided to move again in search of fresh challenges, inspired by the experiences of some his former WE Charity colleagues who had set up ventures offering fractional services in areas like operations and technology management.
“Fractional” services are part-time or on-demand professional services offered to businesses on an outsourced basis when or as they are needed.
“Small businesses often don’t need or can’t afford a fulltime Chief Financial Officer (CFO),” Berney explains.
“They need someone to look after cash management, budgets and management of the finance function, to help them understand how different product lines are performing and to talk to the banks and tax authorities—but they don’t need a full-time person to help with that. Someone doing one day a week at CFO level can take a big burden off the Chief Executive and founders.”
Having reached out to his network prior to leaving Solutions 2 Go, Berney formally launched HAB Strategy on January 1, 2023.
“I had thought about it for a year. I discussed it with my wife, and we decided that the worst thing that could happen would be to discover that I was not that good at it and would have to move back into the corporate world,” he says.
Thankfully, that eventuality did not arise. By the time he had set up the business, Berney had already secured three days’ work a week with eager clients, rising to a full five-day working week within nine months.
The business moved to the next level when one of Berney’s former colleagues completed her master’s programme and Berney approached her to join HAB Strategy.
“As of today, we have four full-time and three more doing 10 to 20 hours a week with us and supporting marketing, sales and HR work.”
Business is strong and continues to grow, he adds. “We focus on a number of key areas like cash flow optimisation, 16-week business forecasts, a CFO scorecard with multiple metrics on growth drivers, annual financial plans and budgets.
“A lot of the time, clients have never before had this level of advanced finance support. Giving them the right metrics on things like Customer Acquisition Cost versus Lifetime Value helps them make better, data-driven decisions. For CEOs and founders working with us, we ensure there is nothing going on they are not aware of.”
For now, Berney’s immediate priority for HAB Strategy is centred on organic growth.
“We are also trying to become more sophisticated in areas like sales and marketing and become more effective at the backend to become more scalable. We may consider acquiring other similar firms to help us to grow and bring synergies,” he says.
“Having worked in a multinational environment, I know how things should be built for scalability. An acquisition is maybe a year or two away, but demographics are in our favour as many older accounting firm owners with their own practices are contemplating retirement.”
“There is a tax advantage to selling a business in North America, rather than just retiring and shutting the doors. I feel there is a lot of opportunity there.”
Appetite for risk brings opportunity
When it comes to business culture, Berney sees risk appetite as one of the main differences between North America and Ireland.
“Of the top 50 technology companies in the world, 25 are American, one is Canadian, 20 are in China or India—and Europe, with a population of over 400 million, has just three.
“The difference is the tolerance and appetite for risk and reward. In Canada and the US, there is a much bigger appetite for risk. I’d like to see the Irish government put more incentives in place for Irish people to take more risks.
“In Canada, if you set up a business, you can write off a lot more expenses against tax. The quickest way to get rich in Canada and the US is to set up your own business.”
Berney isn’t ruling out a return to Ireland one day—but not just yet. “The plan was two years in Canada and then move back but then the pandemic came. Later on, we had a look at Daft.ie and we were shocked by the lack of housing in Ireland,” he says.
“Then baby number two came along. Also, relationships have grown, friendships have been built, the kids are at school. I would never say never about returning home but it would have to be at the right time. It’s not on or off the agenda.”
His advice to anyone thinking of following him to Canada is not to be backward in coming forward.
“In Ireland, it’s considered a good thing to be modest and humble,” he says. “People don’t like putting their heads over the parapet. In Canada and the US, the person you are competing with for a position is saying they are brilliant.
“Irish people need to learn to speak about themselves in a positive way and stop downplaying their strengths. Everyone else talks up their achievements, we should too.”
And, those working overseas shouldn’t be shy about reaching out to the Irish community, he adds.
“The Irish abroad will always look after other Irish people. We all have that close link to home and anything we can do to help, we will.”