FRC Chief Executive Argues Against Changing the Fundamental Purpose of Accounting

On 16th July Paul Boyle, FRC Chief Executive, argued in a speech against proposals to use accounting as a public policy tool to reduce pro-cyclicality. He also challenged the proposition that accounting measures that show volatility should be adjusted to create an impression of stability. The full text of the speech is available on the FRC website.

Walker Review

Sir David Walker's interim report on corporate governance in UK banks has been published and the full text is available on the Treasury website, as is a biography of Sir David.

SFO Annual Report

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has published its 2008/2009 annual report. An MP3 interview with SFO Director Richard Alderman giving his assessment of the report is also available.

ICAEW publishes report on SME access to finance

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) has published a report on the lending climate for small and medium sized entities. Commissioned by the UK Government's Business Department, it is based on research carried out for ICAEW by Ipsos Mori. The report is available to download for free.

UKFI publishes Market Investments Strategy and Annual Report

UK Financial Investments Limited (UKFI), the company which was set up to manage the Government’s investments in the banks, has published its strategy for managing the Government’s stakes in RBS and Lloyds today (13 July). The document also contains its first annual report.

IASB publishes IFRS for SMEs

Last week (9 July) the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) published a new International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) for Small and Medium-Sized Entities (SMEs). It's a self-contained standard about 230 pages long which is tailored for the needs and capabilities of smaller businesses, which make up around 95% of businesses.
The standard can be downloaded for free from the IASB website.

Two new HMRC consultation documents

Last week (9 July) HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) launched two new consultation documents on modernising HMRC powers, deterrents and safeguards. They are available for comment on the HMRC website and the consultations are open until 1 October 2009.

The first document looks at "proposals for modernising and improving HMRC’s information powers, and accompanying safeguards, in two key areas". These are bulk information powers and specialist unnamed taxpayer powers.

The second document looks at ideas for a new and modernised excise checking framework, as well as ways of improving excise administrative procedures, in order to reduce admin burdens for business".

'Reforming Financial Markets' White Paper

The UK Government released its' much anticipated White Paper "Reforming financial markets" today on the Treasury department. This aims to set out the Government’s proposals for the reform of the financial system. The full text of the report is available online (176 pages with a ueful executive summary of around 20 pages).

Welcome back from the ICAS Information Service!

I've been neglecting this blog for far too long and after a very interesting couple of sessions about the use of Web 2.0 in libraries I've decided to dust off the keyboard and start blogging again!



I'll be sharing information about developments in the accountancy world and in related fields like business and management. I hope that you find these interesting and useful. Please let me know what you think.

New journals received

Today we have received new issues of 'Abacus', 'Financial management', 'Pensions World' and 'Recovery'. 'Abacus' has an article on replacing 'true and fair view' with 'acceptable risk of material misstatement'. It also has an article called 'Audit fees, non-audit fees and auditor going-concern reporting decisions in the United Kingdom'. 'Pensions World' has an interview with the ex-President of the Faculty of Actuaries and an article on training courses for trustees. 'Recovery' has articles on insolvency in the construction industry, and on the administration of PPP firm Metronet. 'Financial Management' has extracts from a speech by the Chief Economist at Bank of China International on China's "economic miracle" and articles on charitable sponsorships for companies and user-friendly annual reports.

New books received

We've recently recently received new editions of two of CCH's Industry Accounting and Auditing Guides. These are for Clubs and Associations, and for Doctors and will be a valuable guide to any accountant with clients in these sectors. Also new is the STEP Accounting Guidelines for the preparation of trust and estate accounts in England and Wales. These publications are all available to borrow from the Information Service - please phone (0131 347 0138) or email us for further details, or have a look on our library catalogue.

New journal issues received

There is an interesting article today in Times Higher Education on the huge expansion of higher education in the Gulf and the opportunities it offers UK academe. Taxation has articles on the joint HMRC/Treasury consultation document on tax relief for travel expenses, and on HMRC investigations.

What does the public think of accountants?

The September 2008 issue of PQ Magazine has a double-page article on the recent ICAS research into the public perception of accountants. The article also looks at how ICAS is responding to the findings of the research.

The same issue also looks at the recent ICAS research report 'Ethical issues Encountered by Chartered Accountants' Details on how to order or download the report - and other ICAS research reports are on the ICAS website.

New ICSA publications

We have recently received four new ICSA publications which are available for users of the Information Service to borrow - just email or phone us on 0131 347 0138.
They are:

• Corporate Governance Essentials
• The ICSA Corporate Social Responsibility Handbook, 2nd edition
• The Company Secretary's Handbook, 7th edition
• The ICSA Company Secretary's Troubleshooter

For further information from the ICSA website just follow the links above

Journals received

This week's Taxation magazine has articles on whether the HMRC's powers are going too far; the taxation of foreign profits; the tax benefits of pensions; and, the construction industry scheme.

Scottish Banker has a special section on liquidity which includes an article by Jeremy Peat, Director of the Hume Institute as well as an article on a new banking reform bill. There is also a report on a debate on ethics which took place, featuring the ICAS Chief Executive Anton Colella.

Scottish Business Insider has an article on why there aren't more women executives. It also has an article on how to survive the economic downturn which gives tips from Scottish business advisers.

New journals received

A number of new journals have been received recently. The latest issue of the ICAS journal CA Magazine includes articles on corporate social responsibility and wealth management in the credit crunch, as well as an interview with the Chief Executive of Johnston Carmichael.

Taxation has articles on the HMRC's new investigation powers, community financing schemes, and on tax planning in a recession. Tax Adviser has articles on whether green taxes can change behaviour, and on the tax plans of the candidates in the US elections.

Management Today has articles on business travel, and on what doing an MBA at Harvard Business School is really like. People Management has articles on achieving 'lean production', and how to launch an e-recruitment drive. Financial Management has articles on personal branding and an IFAC survey on the future of financial reports.

Report on VAT

Tax experts looking at VAT as part of a report for the Institute for Fiscal Studies have called for VAT to be simplified with one rate and almost no exceptions. The submission is part of the Mirrlees Review of the tax system which is currently being undertaken by Sir James Mirrlees, a Nobel prize winning economist.

The Crosby Report

Yesterday Sir James Crosby’s interim report to the Government on options for improving the function of mortgage finance markets was published. The report van be found on the Treasury website and many of the newspapers today had articles on this including The Times, The Telegraph, and the FT.

New journals received

The new issue of both Director and Company Reporting have been received today. Director has a special report on flexible working. This includes an article on flexible working in small businesses; one on on enterprise 2.0: collaborative knowledge management or social networking for business; and, one on the increase of web-based applications for business and cloud computing. Company Reporting looks at how recent annual reports address a number of issues including pension surplus; impairment reversal; share-based payments and financial instrument disclosures.

New books received

We have received a number of new books in the last week which may be of interest to users of the service. These focus on 'soft' management skills rather than technical skills.

Firstly, "Total Leadership: be a better reader, have a richer life" by Stewart D. Friedman, which is published by Harvard Business Press. It looks at improving performance in work and no-work time at the same time by identifying your core values. The books contains more than thirty hands-on tools.

Also received recently is "NLP at work: the difference that makes a difference in business" by Sue Knight. It looks at how the Neuro Linguistic Programming at work can help accelerate learning, creativity, communication, influence and impact.

Finally, the third edition of "A Career in your suitcase" by Jo Parfitt is a practical book which looks at how to have a portable, flexible career you love.

To borrow any of these books please contact the Information Service.