Attitudes among finance directors towards impending government requirements on carbon reduction are divided, as the profession gears up for lowering emissions. Coming into force in April 2010, the Carbon Reduction Commitment aims to significantly reduce the level of carbon output by UK companies, and will see finance directors becoming more responsible for accounting for their company's carbon output. Although seen by many as a breakthrough for lowering carbon emissions, some in the finance community are concerned about what is required under the legislation. 'It is a laudable aim to engage management in carbon reduction issues,' said Jon Penny, finance director of Ascent Media. 'However it is overly complicated, particularly for small and medium-sized companies with a large carbon footprint. 'Companies would be better served by the Carbon Trust emphasising and supporting efforts to reduce costs as a result of energy efficiency measures.' He said the legislation was being introduced without being 'fully thought out', adding that action taken at the moment to gear towards new regulations involved 'trying to keep up with legislation'. But others working towards the introduction of CRC have said it did not need to be complicated if businesses took the appropriate action now. 'As the year end arrives people will be saying they wished they'd done it earlier,' said Barry Paschali, managing director of Paschali engineering and management consultancy. 'I think the CRC is actually a very good thing. The important thing is the whole organisation has to embrace it; if they don't all engage to reduce carbon, you won't gain the benefit from it.'