A leading East Midlands accountancy and business advice practice supporting more than 4,500 businesses in the region is urging employers to continue carbon reporting after regulatory changes come into effect. In March, the UK government published suggested changes to company size limits that will impact 131,000 companies nationwide. This will have a direct effect on auditing thresholds and other reporting requirements, including carbon reporting obligations. These changes could see 5,000 large companies reclassified as medium-sized, 13,000 medium-sized companies reclassified as ..read more

New research from the UK’s insurance premium finance company, Premium Credit, shows the number of SMEs using credit to pay for their insurance has increased in the past year with nearly one in five of them increasing the amount they borrow. Premium Credit’s Insurance Index, which monitors insurance buying and how it is financed, shows 55% of SMEs now use some form of credit to pay for insurance borrowing an average £1080. Around 15% of them say they have borrowed more than £3000. That compares to 51% of SMEs using credit to pay for their insurance borrowing an average £1130 in last year’s Prem ..read more

The Insolvency Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, a joint initiative between the insolvency and restructuring trade body R3 and the Insolvency Service, has published its Action Plan for 2024. Building on the work done in previous years, 2024’s Plan focuses on three specific areas of activity: Promoting careers in the profession through outreach to universities and educational institutions and the development of materials that highlight the opportunities presented by career in insolvency and restructuring. Collating and sharing best practice on equity, diversity and inclusion in the profe ..read more

A proposed code for internal auditors has been praised by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) for ‘clearly and concisely reflecting and adopting global standards’, while maintaining its relevance for the UK profession. Responding to a public consultation, issued by the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors, ACCA welcomes the way the draft looks across the whole of an organisation’s operations to include all connectivity and interdependencies such as organisational culture, and capital and liquidity risks. However ACCA – who has many members working in internal audit in ..read more

As industries across the board continue to invest heavily in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies, the demand for skilled specialists in the UK has more than tripled. This demand has created a lucrative opportunity for tech workers to capitalise on their expertise by transitioning into AI or ML roles. But just how much more can the average tech worker expect to earn by making this shift? The experts at AIPRM analysed average entry level salaries, comparing them to higher skilled roles across a range of jobs within the tech sector to find out. Compa ..read more

James Lewis, the former CEO of Shard Capital Partners, has been fined £120,300 and banned by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) following two separate instances of providing incorrect information about clients’ cash purportedly held by Shard.   According to the FCA, Lewis’ misconduct put the market and investors at risk.  Between June 2015 and May 2017, Lewis “told auditors that Shard held hundreds of millions in cash for a particular client. In fact, these sums were debts owed by another client in the same group”, according to an FCA statement.    In addition, betw ..read more

With the start of the new tax year underway, workers may have recently had their first payday of the year and an increase in their take home pay following the cuts to National Insurance contributions in the recent budget. Indeed, the prime minister has been keen to highlight this with a series of social media videos highlighting the potential benefits. However, information obtained by RSM UK from a freedom of information request to HMRC highlights how much better off workers could have been if there had been a significant increase to the higher rate income tax threshold, as had once ..read more

The IFRS Foundation has published its annual report and audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023, reinforcing the foundation’s guiding principle that better information leads to better decisions. Emphasising the fundamental role of transparent and comparable accounting and sustainability-related information in the world’s capital markets, the report highlights how IFRS Accounting Standards and IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards—collectively referred to as IFRS Standards—support efficient capital allocation by helping investors to identify opportunities and risks g ..read more

ACCA chief executive officers (CEOs) and chief financial officers (CFOs) need to build trust in artificial intelligence (AI) by taking steps in their organisations to manage the associated risks. As AI plays a greater role in the accounting and financial reporting of businesses, CFOs and financial controllers will have to be confident about the adequacy of oversight and controls of AI systems. In the first in a series of insights, ‘AI monitor: trust’, ACCA has urged finance professionals to ensure that AI governance and AI risk management is in place, beginning with: ● Investing in AI literacy ..read more

In our latest digital supplement we, along with our partners Russell Bedford International and SMS Latinoamérica, explore all things recruitment and retention. Key highlights include: Change Management: How the audit profession must reinvent its talent proposition to flourish in the future Russell Bedford International: Becoming a model of excellence in workplace culture SMS Latinoamérica: The search for the next generation of accountants Five things your business needs to consider to improve staff retention How can the accountancy profession become more inclusive for women Race for Talent: T ..read more