Accountancy Matters

What bankers and MPs have in common

Thu, 14 May 2009 15:46:12 GMT

'We are profoundly and, I think I would say, unreservedly sorry at the turn of events,' said one. 'We are sorry at the effect it has had on the communities we serve.'Another commented: 'There is a profound and unqualified apology...

CIMA loses ground in FTSE100 FD ranking

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:08:12 GMT

I was pleased to see that in these troubled times the number of FTSE100 FDs who hold an accountancy qualification is now higher than it was a decade ago - according to a new survey in next month's Financial Director.The...

From auditors to Jacqui Smith: it must 1 April

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:46:43 GMT

There's a few April Fool's stories knocking around today - though given all that's happened in the last six months a lot of the 'real' stories of late appear more fanciful than the hoaxes. Some - inevitably - involve Jacqui...

This week we're mainly tweeting

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 08:12:11 GMT

We're also running another experiment this week. I'm easily taken in by these things so I've been playing with Twitter in recent weeks. It's been to moderately useful effect though I wouldn't say I'm a convert quite yet. To test...

Hear from Lehmans' and Woolies' administrators

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 08:00:29 GMT

In a piece in The Times this morning, detilaing the surge in legal work from the all the administrations we've seen in recent months, two high profile exponents of the art are identified: Tony Lomas of PricewaterhouseCoopers (who is working...

Guardian contests Tesco tax dispute bill

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:00:37 GMT

The Guardian is contesting the £800,000 costs bill it was served by Tesco after its coverage of the supermarket's tax affairs.As Accountancy Age reported last week, the bill included £87,000 paid to Ernst & Young and a six-figure sum paid...

How big is too big?

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 07:46:31 GMT

My fellow blogger Martin Williams posts a question that many of us are asking at the moment: Just how big is too big when it comes to an audit client?On the face of it, it would seem that that line...

Wat next for the FA?

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 09:03:25 GMT

I was sorry to see the Football Association overlooked Alex Horne in its hunt for a new chief executive. The FA's chief operating officer - and former Accountancy Age Personality of the Year - was an exceptionally strong candidate. Having...

Guardian bill in Tesco tax dispute tops £800k

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 11:56:39 GMT

You'll remember in September last year that The Guardian was forced to apologise to Tesco over reports that the supermarket was improperly avoiding tax. It accused - and forgive me if I stick to the wording of an agreed statement...

Online filing: HMRC vs. the IRS

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:02:21 GMT

There was a nice transatlantic contrast in online filing stats out this week.HMRC reported that the number of taxpayers filing returns online leaped 53% this year. It amounted, said the taxman, to half a million more than it expected -...

A blizzard of contradictions

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 12:47:15 GMT

Dramatic though it clearly was, I believe estimates that the snowfall of the last 48 hours could cost the UK £3.5bn to be a potentially reckless exaggeration. I'm not claiming to be an economist. Nor have I any empirical evidence...

How to manage your way through recession

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 09:31:44 GMT

I like a bit of sensible, straight-talking advice. (Sticking to it is a different matter altogether; best intentions etc). A few months ago I wrote about the advice being offered by executives at some of the UK's biggest public companies...

Big 4 beaten by outsider

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:47:33 GMT

Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers are all duly name-checked on the Fortune 100 best companies to work for list. But each is outranked by another accountancy firm, Michigan's Plante & Moran.P&M is a sizeable firm in its own...

Common sense and sensibility needed in recession

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:10:38 GMT

Ok, we're in recession. No surprise there. And a lot of people are angry about it. Entirely justified. Nevertheless Peter Hemington, corporate finance partner at BDO Stoy Hayward, still managed to sound a little too shrill today when he said:...

Anyone for KPMG's four-day week?

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 08:53:20 GMT

It will be interesting to see how KPMG staff respond to the firm's offer of a four day week. It sounds immensely attractive on paper, provided, of course, you have a personal financial situation that allows for a sizeable drop...

FRC successor is key to future of audit

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:39:56 GMT

I notice Oxera is back in the news. The economic consultancy that authored the Financial Reporting Council's audit choice report is looking into regulation of Jersey ferry fares. I'm sure there's a witty comment to be made linking (some) audit...

Where next for FRC's Boyle?

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:37:04 GMT

Paul Boyle is stepping down as head of the Financial Reporting Council. After four years of rubbing many people in the profession up the wrong way he is moving on to as yet unspecified pastures new. I've been on the...

Tax doesn't have to be this taxing

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:59:07 GMT

I just had the misfortune to call HMRC's self assessment online helpline. The person I spoke to was anything but helpful, as terse as she was unwilling to offer assistance. After a number of attempts to get me off the...

Hello Big Four? Alan Milburn here...

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:17:51 GMT

Messers Connolly, Griffiths-Jones, Otty and Powell should brace themselves for a phone call from Alan Milburn, the former health secretary parachuted back onto the political frontline over the weekend.He has been asked by Gordon Brown to improve social mobility in...

MoD gets its man

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:25:17 GMT

Congratulations to Jon Thompson, newly installed FD of the Ministry of Defence and the first qualified accountant to hold the post.Interviewing him a few years ago I found him a refreshing and engaging character and not another chip of the...

How little has changed in 40 years

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:34:28 GMT

Happy birthday to us. This year marks the 40th anniversary of Accountancy Age. We've all sorts of celebratory things up our sleeve for the next 12 months (though I think fate has dictated that 2009 will not be the year...

Financial reporting reform needed to unlock credit markets

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:25:26 GMT

There are a handful of blog posts around that add little to the collective wisdom about UK plc's prospects for the year ahead. (ICAEW chief executive Michael Izza and the normally sparky Jeremy Newman of BDO are among them -...

A familiar face to head the NAO

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 09:40:53 GMT

Congratulations to Sir Andrew Likierman, who was appointed chairman of the National Audit Office by the prime minister on Friday.I first interviewed Sir Andrew i15 years ago when he became head of the government accounting service. He was tasked with...

Taxman among top 2008 search terms

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 11:32:43 GMT

Google's list of the top search terms for 2008 is just out. And in amongst the Obamas and Palins are a number of finance-related terms.Seven of the top ten finance-related search terms are banks, and is unsurprisingly topped by Icesave....

Another week...

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 11:08:25 GMT

This week is World Accountancy Week. No, I didn't know there was one either....