The Chartered Accountants' Benevolent Association (CABA) is reporting strong interest in a webinar about debt which forms part of the charity's new Debt Awareness Week to be launched next month.
More than 300 chartered accountants have signed up to take part in a webinar less than seven days after it was announced, due to be hosted by Paul Lewis, presenter of Radio 4's Money Box and Radio 5's Wake Up to Money programmes.
The webinar takes place at 12.30pm on 7 October, and any ICAEW member can take part by visiting the CABA web site and registering.
Kath Haines, CABA chief executive said: 'The marked response to the webinar shows the appetite that exists among chartered accountants for information about debt awareness. While few accountants have issues with their personal finances, they recognise how easily individuals can develop money problems, especially when people are affected by unexpected life events such as redundancy or ill health.'
As well as the webinar, Debt Awareness Week will include the publishing of new online resources including a debt guide as well as a range of other events. A full programme is due to be released nearer the time.
Haines said that while the charity had no evidence that large numbers of chartered accountants are suffering from significant debt problems, it did regularly handle cases where accountants have built up significant amounts of debt. CABA's latest research shows that almost one in five chartered accountants had increased their personal borrowing during the previous 12 months, with 15% viewing their debts as an 'increasing burden' and 10% saying they 'sometimes struggle' with the debts that they have.
'Debt is one of those areas where the sooner we are able to provide support, the better the outcome for the accountant involved, so Debt Awareness Week is designed to increase awareness of the services we provide and the importance of taking early action,' Haines said.
Around 7% of the direct enquiries CABA received last year related to debt, linked largely to unemployment, health issues or business failures.
