Business &amp; Accountancy Daily

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Business | FRC stops Autonomy CFO complaint pending US appeal

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has temporarily halted its formal complaint against Sushovan Hussain, the former chief financial officer (CFO) of Autonomy Corporation, pending the outcome of his intended appeal against his conviction on 16 counts of fraud in a US court

27 Nov 2018

Business | Second jail term for failing to pay back £75K

A Birmingham fraudster has been jailed for a second stretch of 20 months for failing to pay back the £75,000 owing from a two-year tax fraud

27 Nov 2018

Business | RSM pushes into East Anglia market

Mid-market specialist RSM has opened a new office in Cambridge as part of moves to strengthen and expand its operations throughout East Anglia, in a bid to become the leading advisory firm to the middle market in the region

27 Nov 2018

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Tax | UK agrees customs arrangements with crown dependencies

The UK has signed a series of arrangements with the crown dependencies to maintain and reaffirm its close customs relationships, which will come into force when they and the UK leave the EU customs union

27 Nov 2018

Business | UK financial services failing to go paperless

UK financial services firms are failing to communicate the benefits of swapping traditional paperwork for digital communications, with only 28% of customers electing to go paperless and missing out on around £1.3bn of cost savings annually, according to research by EY

27 Nov 2018

Tax | Q&A: existing VAT numbers in the flat rate scheme

Vivienne Scott, senior VAT consultant at Croner Taxwise, discusses how to determine the anniversary of a business which joined the flat rate scheme and, on becoming a new incorporated entity, assumed the pre-existing VAT number

27 Nov 2018

Business | Double disqualification for married printing bosses

A married couple who ran a printing company have been disqualified for a total of 14 years after the husband breached a previous disqualification for failing to ensure a company complied with its tax obligations

27 Nov 2018

Restructuring & Insolvency

Image for mercer hole complete rebrand and office move

Business | Mercer & Hole complete rebrand and office move

Accountancy firm Mercer & Hole has completed a significant rebrand, including a new logo, and on the same day opened a flagship office on Lombard Street in London in a bid to launch a ‘confident new look’

27 Nov 2018

26 Nov 2018

Business | BDO to merge with Moore Stephens

A major shake-up of the accountancy sector is underway as BDO has confirmed it is in advanced merger discussions with Moore Stephens to create an accounting firm with a particular focus on entrepreneurial, fast growing businesses and high net worth individuals, and which will overtake Grant Thornton to become the UK’s fifth largest firm

26 Nov 2018

Leadership & Management

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Tax | Appeal sees HMRC penalties knocked down to size

The First Tier Tribunal (FTT) has ruled that HMRC’s interpretation of legislation when calculating the penalty for a late self-assessment return was incorrect, reducing a contested £3,200 penalty to £600 in the case of a former taxi driver

26 Nov 2018

Finance | Woolf: auditors need to go back to basics

A failure to reform the audit market means that the government is likely to take a hard line with audit firms and revive the principles of 'true and fair', warns Emile Woolf FCA

26 Nov 2018

Auditing

Corporate Governance

Audit Regulations

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Business | Economic trends: legacy costs, care bill and public spending

Ben Zaranko, research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), argues that the spiralling costs of health, pensions and long-term care mean that future tax hikes are inevitable

26 Nov 2018

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Finance | FRC lab to review use of artificial intelligence

The Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC) financial reporting lab is set to release a report on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the future of corporate reporting

26 Nov 2018

Business | Global alliance Praxity rebrands

Praxity has undergone a rebrand, designed to give the global alliance of independent accounting and consulting firms a ‘modern, professional feel’, and is rolling out new purpose and position statements and refreshing its logo, website and marketing material

26 Nov 2018

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Business | Businesses fail to report sustainable development goals

While nearly three quarter of organisations (72%) mention the global sustainable development goals (SDGs) in their annual corporate or sustainability reports, an increase of 10% on last year, most fail to provide evidence of concrete actions, according to research by PwC

26 Nov 2018

Image for hmrc penalties cfos under sao regime rise

Tax | HMRC penalties for CFOs under SAO regime rise

HMRC is issuing significant numbers of personal penalties to senior financial executives at big businesses under the senior accounting officer (SAO) regime

26 Nov 2018

Business | Two thirds of companies fail to meet GDPR response deadlines

Six months on from the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), more than two thirds of organisations are responding to customer data requests late, according to research by Deloitte which warns that the volume of data enquiries is set to increase

26 Nov 2018

Business | £13m tax and immigration fraud puts gang in jail

An ACCA-qualified accountant was one of a gang of five fraudsters who falsely claimed £13m in tax repayments, and facilitated around 900 bogus visa applications, and who have been sentenced to a total of more than 31 years in jail

26 Nov 2018

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Business | Accounting technicians support ethnicity pay reporting

A survey of members of the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) shows significant support for a requirement of companies to report differences in ethnicity pay among employees

26 Nov 2018

23 Nov 2018

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Business | Hurst: improving Excel spreadsheets with cloud add-ons

File linkages, broken formulae and lack of time to analyse multiple scenarios are but a few problems that come with the use of Excel spreadsheets but cloud-based add-ons can help address these issues, explains Simon Hurst of the Knowledge Base

23 Nov 2018

Tax | Leading institutes back Lords call for MTD delay

A recommendation by a Lords committee that the government’s introduction of mandatory Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT should be delayed by at least one year is supported by the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG), CIOT and the ICAEW

23 Nov 2018

Business | Investment Association tightens guidance on exec pay

The Investment Association (IA) says FTSE 350 companies need to do more to respond to concerns over executive pay rates, or face further shareholder rebellions on remuneration, and has published new guidelines for best practice

23 Nov 2018

Leadership & Management

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Tax | Call to modernise inheritance tax collection

Too many people have to fill in inheritance tax (IHT) forms, and the process is complex and old fashioned according to the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS), which says HMRC should revise all of its guidance and look to improve the experiences of those dealing with the tax

23 Nov 2018

Finance | Software license auditing risks conflict of interest

The Big Four are risking conflicts of interest by maintaining and actively promoting specialist divisions to run software audits on behalf of software vendors, which can result in substantial claims against companies who are also their audit clients, a new study claims

23 Nov 2018

Auditing

Corporate Governance

Image for accounting and finance apprentices report above average support

Business | Accounting and finance apprentices report above-average support

Accounting and finance apprentices receive above average support from HR teams during their apprenticeship programmes, according to an analysis of post-apprenticeship data captured over five years from more than 15,000 apprentices across nine industry sectors

23 Nov 2018

| Deloitte takes over from PwC at Lloyds Bank after 153 years

Deloitte has been named as the new external auditor for Lloyds Banking Group, replacing PwC which has held the role since 1995, having previously been auditor to certain of its constituent companies stretching back to 1865, making it the longest-running banking audit relationship

23 Nov 2018

Finance | Public sector accounting careers more inclusive, says ACCA

Public sector roles offer a more inclusive route into the accountancy profession according to the ACCA, which says global research suggests this is a more effective option for those from comparatively lower socio-economic backgrounds

23 Nov 2018

HR | People in the news: Saffery Champness, RSM, FRC

This week's news of professional moves in the sector includes a corporate partner joins RSM’s Manchester office, RSM gains a private client partner in its tax team, FRC appoints members to its actuarial and audit & assurance councils

23 Nov 2018

Careers

Image for restaurant owner faces jail over ps200k tax fraud

Business | Restaurant owner faces jail over £200k tax fraud

The owner of three Indian restaurants in Dorset has been jailed for a £203,763 tax fraud after an investigation by HMRC

23 Nov 2018