Accountancy Insights

In this episode of ICAEW Insights, we look at the issues facing charities in the UK, the increasing focus of regulators, investors and stakeholders on non-financial misconduct and what’s new with tax.

Host and ICAEW financial services director Philippa Kelly is joined by the Institute’s head of charities and voluntary sector, Kristina Kopic, to discuss the challenges the sector has faced over the past two years. It has been difficult for charities to both operate sustainably and support users at a time when they particularly need it.

Barrister at 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square and Financial Services Faculty Board Member Nikesh Pandit discussed the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) increased focus on non-financial misconduct. The FCA takes a fairly strong stance on non-financial misconduct; some individuals have been banned from working in the financial services industry because of it. Nikesh looks at the parallels for Chartered Accountants.

Finally, Lindsey Wicks, ICAEW’s technical editor, tax, looks at the latest tax news, including the deferment of the new VAT penalty regime and HMRC’s briefing on its approach to tax fraud.

Links:
- https://www.icaew.com/learning-and-development/events/charity-conference.
- https://www.icaew.com/technical/volunteering-community/trustee-training-modules.
- https://www.icaew.com/groups-and-networks/communities/volunteering.
- https://www.icaewvolunteers.com/.
- https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-bans-three-individuals-working-financial-services-industry-non-financial-misconduct.
- https://www.icaew.com/technical/financial-services/2021/banning-individuals-for-non-financial-misconduct.
- https://www.icaew.com/insights/tax-news/2022/jan-2022/New-VAT-penalty-regime-deferred-to-January-2023.
- https://www.icaew.com/insights/tax-news/2022/jan-2022/HMRC-briefing-highlights-its-approach-to-tax-fraud.
- https://www.icaew.com/insights/viewpoints-on-the-news/2022/Jan-2022/What-happens-if-you-miss-the-31-January-self-assessment-filing-and-payment-deadline.
- https://www.icaew.com/insights/tax-news/2022/jan-2022/HMRC-announces-onemonth-self-assessment-penalty-waiver.

Host:
Philippa Kelly, director, financial services, ICAEW

Guests:
- Kristina Kopic, Head of Charities and Voluntary Sector, ICAEW.
- Nikesh Pandit, Barrister, 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square and Financial Services Faculty Board Member.
- Lindsey Wicks, Technical Editor, Tax, ICAEW.

Producer:
Natalie Chisholm

Episode published: 20 January 2022
Episode recorded 17 January 2022

In the second of a two-part special Insights In Focus podcast, ICAEW Chief Executive Michael Izza discusses non-financial reporting, public sector finances, and the big tech trends of 2022.

At the end of 2021, we saw some significant developments towards a coherent framework for non-financial reporting standards. The formation of the International Sustainability Standards Board by IFRS in November was a huge step forward.

But if we’re going to make progress in tackling climate change issues, we will have to deal with the rising levels of public debt. Fiscal resilience will be under the spotlight as much as sustainability issues.

Emerging technologies are also transforming the way we live and work, from the need for new data skills to the digitalisation of tax.

The implications of all of this are discussed in part two of our special Insights In Focus podcast.

Host:
Michael Izza, Chief Executive, ICAEW

Guests:
Philippa Kelly, ICAEW’s Director of Financial Services;
Richard Spencer, Director of Sustainability;
Alison Ring, Director of Public Sector and Taxation; and
David Lyford-Tilley, Technical Manager, Tech and the Profession

Links:
- ifrs.org/groups/international-sustainability-standards-board/
- icaew.com/digitaltax
- icaew.com/cyber
- icaew.com/blockchain
- icaew.com/data

Producer:
Natalie Chisholm

Episode published: 04 January 2022
Podcast recorded: 30 November 2021

In the first ICAEW In Focus podcast of 2022, Chief Executive Michael Izza looks at the biggest issues facing business and the wider economy, with help from experts from around the Institute.

The global economy is going through significant change at the moment, some of it long term, some of it short. For instance, we’re seeing the start of a gradual transition away from fossil fuels, starting with coal. At the same time, we’re seeing a huge increase in inflation – a symptom of more immediate economic challenges.

With the messages from COP26 still ringing in our ears, businesses and governments are considering how to turn promises into action. Much has been made of the ‘green and fair recovery’ as we come out of the pandemic. We will need new skills in order to facilitate that.

In the first part of an in-depth discussion between ICAEW Chief Executive Michael Izza and its experts in sustainability, the public sector, financial services and technology, we look at the impacts of COP26, how to cope with rising inflation, and the skills and jobs needed for the economy to ‘level up’.

Host:
Michael Izza, Chief Executive, ICAEW

Guests:
- Philippa Kelly, ICAEW’s Director of Financial Services;
- Richard Spencer, Director of Sustainability;
- Alison Ring, Director of Public Sector and Taxation; and
- David Lyford-Tilley, Technical Manager, Tech and the Profession.

Links:
- icaew.com/insights/cop26
- sdg.iisd.org/events/2021-un-climate-change-conference-unfccc-cop--27/
- unfccc.int/documents/310475
- ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices
- gov.uk/government/publications/levelling-up-fund-additional-documents

Producer:
Natalie Chisholm

Episode published: 04 January 2022
Podcast recorded: 30 November 2021

Welcome to this ICAEW Insights podcast, where we analyse the latest news from the world of accountancy, business and finance.

On the show, ICAEW’s financial services director Philippa Kelly joins host Tom Herbert to assess the potential for regulating ‘greenwashing’ and ask whether 2022 will be another year of calculating EBITDAC for the nation’s businesses.

ICAEW Tax Faculty’s Lindsey Wicks puts the government’s Tax Administration and Maintenance day under the microscope and outlines the next milestone in the government’s phased timetable for border controls with the EU.

And joining the podcast to outline the challenges posed to local audit by the pandemic and the steps auditors are taking to overcome them is Ann-Marie Harkin from Audit Wales and Oliver Simms from ICAEW’s public sector team.

Links to resources discussed in the show:
- Tax administration and maintenance day: a Budget without a speech.
- Get ready for full customs declarations for EU imports and exports.
- Brexit: Determine where your goods originate.
- ICAEW: government has not recognised urgency of local audit crisis.
- Local authority audit hits breaking point as 91% miss deadline.
- Audit Wales homepage.

Host:
Tom Herbert, online editor ICAEW Insights, We Are Sunday
 
Guests:
- Philippa Kelly, Director, Financial Services  at ICAEW.
- Lindsey Wicks, Technical Editor, ICAEW Tax Faculty.
- Ann-Marie Harkin, Executive Director for Audit Services, Audit Wales.
- Oliver Simms, Manager, Public Sector Audit and Assurance at ICAEW.
 
Producer:
Natalie Chisholm

Episode first published: 16 December 2021
Episode recorded: 13 and 14 December 2021

On the latest Insights In Focus podcast, we reflect as the dust settles on the COP26 discussions in Glasgow, it’s time to assess and reflect on what was – and wasn’t – achieved.

For almost 30 years, governments and policy makers have been meeting at the Conference Of Parties (COP) to try to solve the problem of climate change. In that time, it has gone from a seemingly distant issue to an imminent existential threat.

Paris 2015 was the first major COP event to feel significant to the wider population. There, governments agreed to limit global warming to below two degrees, with an ultimate goal to keep it to 1.5 degrees. To achieve this, countries would adapt to the impacts of a changing climate, and make funds available to deliver on those aims.

Six years on from the Paris Agreement, COP26 felt like a crunch point: it was essential for the assorted countries to make progress and outline a plan that would further limit emissions.

Now that COP26 is over and done with, is the new agreement enough? This podcast explores what happened at Glasgow and what it means for business and the accountancy profession.

Host:
Richard Spencer, Director of Sustainability, ICAEW

Guests:
- Kate Levick. The Associate Director, Sustainable Finance, at the leading climate change think tank E3G. Kate leads E3G's activities in Sustainable Finance. She is responsible for overseeing E3G’s work on public and private finance including systemic financial reform and is a veteran of many COP meetings.
- Mark Gough. The CEO of the Capitals Coalition, a collaboration of businesses and other organisations from across the global economy focused on embedding social, human and natural capital into organisational decision-making. Mark has worked extensively in the private sector, leading programs and strategy for the Crown Estate and Reed Elsevier (now RELX), as well as advising many more.
- Jessica Fries. Jessica is Executive Chair of Accounting for Sustainability. Established by HRH The Prince of Wales in 2004, its aim is to transform finance to make sustainable business, business as usual. While at A4S, Jessica has been responsible for establishing the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), as well as A4S’s CFO Leadership Network and capital markets programme.

Links:
- https://www.e3g.org/.
- https://capitalscoalition.org/.
- https://www.accountingforsustainability.org/en/index.html.
- https://www.icaew.com/insights/cop26.

Producer:
Natalie Chisholm

Episode first published: 29 November 2021
Podcast recorded: 25 November 2021

Welcome to this ICAEW Insights podcast, where we analyse the latest news from the world of accountancy, business and finance.

On the show, we speak to Small Business Minister Paul Scully about how the government intends to help small businesses hit hard by the pandemic, what chartered accountants working in or advising small businesses can do, and how to tackle the UK’s productivity puzzle.

With the resolutions from the COP26 climate conference fresh in our minds, ICAEW’s Sarah Dunn outlines why the formation of the International Sustainability Standards Board (or ISSB) is an important step forwards for better-quality climate disclosures.

And ICAEW Tax Faculty’s Lindsey Wicks unpacks key pieces of legislation from the recent Finance Bill, assesses HMRC’s efforts to clear a backlog of self assessment registrations, and outlines the content of recent ‘nudge’ letters sent to holders of cryptoassets encouraging them to consider their capital gains tax position.

Links to resources discussed in the show:
- Help to Grow scheme information (gov.uk).
- New sustainability standards board targets globally comparable reporting.
- ICAEW Financial Reporting Faculty Q&A on IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards.
- Budget confirms one-year delay to basis period reform.
- UK cryptocurrency owners nudged on CGT.

Host:
Tom Herbert, online editor ICAEW Insights, We Are Sunday

Guests:
- Paul Scully, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets, Minister for London and MP for Sutton and Cheam.
- Sarah Dunn, Technical Manager Financial Reporting, ICAEW.
- Lindsey Wicks, Technical Editor, ICAEW Tax Faculty.

Producers:
Natalie Chisholm and Guy Lessor

Episode first published: 18 November 2021
Episode recorded: 15 and 16 November 2021 

On the latest ICAEW Insights in Focus podcast, we take a look at The Fabian Society’s new pamphlet on delivering value for money on public spending.

Transparency in public spending has never been more important. With public services under increasing pressure, government debt rising and targets in areas such as carbon emissions to be met, any spending must be backed with evidence that it will deliver value to the taxpayer.

The Fabian Society, Britain’s oldest think tank, has been developing ideas around progressive political ideas and public policy for 140 years. Its recent pamphlet 'Prizing the public pound', outlines its thoughts and recommendations on how to deliver value for money to the taxpayer in the 2020s.

In it, the Fabian Society reviews the current architecture for public audit and value for money, recommending that all expenditure proposals should be assessed against its five ‘E’s of value for money:  Effectiveness, Efficiency, Equity – ensuring fair allocation of resources to meet need, Equality – pursuing both equality of opportunity and addressing all forms of inequality, and Environmental sustainability.

The pamphlet’s authors, John Tizard and David Walker, sat down with ICAEW’s Director of Public Sector and Taxation Alison Ring to discuss the recommendations within the pamphlet and the wider context in which it was written.

Host:
Alison Ring, Director of Public Sector and Taxation, ICAEW

Guests:
- John Tizard. A strategic adviser and commentator focusing on public policy, public services, and governance. John is a former county councillor and joint council leader, and has extensive board experience in the public sector, in business, and in charity, social business and arts organisations.
- David Walker. David is an honorary member of CIPFA, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. He was Managing Director for communications and public reporting at the Audit Commission before it was disbanded. He was previously an editor of Guardian Public and has co-authored books with Polly Toynbee, including 'The Lost Decade' and 'The Verdict – Did Labour Change Britain?'.
- Martin Wheatcroft. Martin is an adviser and author on public finances who works closely with the ICAEW Public Sector team. He helped write ICAEW’s response to the Fabian Society pamphlet. Martin has extensive business experience as a former Big Four auditor, a chief accountant and a financial controller in international businesses. He is the author of several of ICAEW’s Better Government Series publications, ICAEW’s chart of the week and the Simply UK Government Finances series of books.
 
Links:
- The Fabian Society's 'Prizing the Public Pound' pamphlet.
- David Walker’s book with Polly Toynbee, 'The Lost Decade'.
- ICAEW’s response to the pamphlet.
- ICAEW Insights.
- ICAEW Public Sector Community.

Producer:
Natalie Chisholm

Episode first published: 27 October 2021
Podcast recorded: 15 October 2021

Welcome to this ICAEW Insights podcast, where we analyse the latest news from the world of accountancy, business and finance.

In this special edition, we’re joined by experts from across ICAEW’s tax and public sector team to preview the government’s Autumn Budget 2021 and Spending Review, which takes place on Wednesday 27 October.

Normally one of the biggest financial events of the year in its own right, this Budget has assumed even greater significance, being the first since the easing of lockdown measures and the tapering down of a number of key Covid support schemes, and also because the same day will see the first three-year government Spending Review in six years.

Will Rishi Sunak produce any tax rabbits from his hat, or has the biggest policy announcement already come in the form of the new Health and Social Care Levy? How much headroom does the Chancellor have to act? And what of longstanding issues such as Brexit, Making Tax Digital and the net zero agenda?

Links to resources discussed in the show:
- ICAEW Budget 2021 hub.
- Webinar: Tax Faculty Autumn Budget 2021 Update.
- PM confirms 1.25% increase to NIC and dividend tax rates.
- Government to fast-track rules enacting healthcare levy.
- Webinar: MTD for ITSA - back to basics and myth busting.
- MTD ITSA and basis period reform postponed.
- Use Budget to speed up tax modernisation, says ICAEW.
- Freeports: business needs greater clarity.
- COP26: acting together on climate.
- Use Spending Review to establish a "financial platform for delivery".
- IFS pre-Budget report warns of difficult choices for the Chancellor.
- Chart of the week: UK public debt profile.

Host:
Tom Herbert, online editor ICAEW Insights, We Are Sunday

Guests:
- Alison Ring Director, Public Sector & Taxation, ICAEW.
- Frank Haskew, Head of Tax, ICAEW.
- Anita Monteith Technical Lead & Senior Policy Adviser, Tax, ICAEW.
- Martin Wheatcroft, an adviser on public finances who works closely with the ICAEW Public Sector team.
 
Producer:
Natalie Chisholm

Episode published: Tues 19 October 2021
Episode recorded: Weds 13 October 2021 

On this week’s ICAEW Insights in Focus podcast, we take an in-depth look at a real-life cyber attack.

It was a seemingly ordinary day in Gareth’s* life. Then the phone started ringing, and it never stopped. His company was the target of a ransomware attack. Years later, he shares his story with journalist and author of 'The Dark Net', Jamie Bartlett, as part of ICAEW’s Cyber Crime Week.

Cyber attacks such as phishing and ransomware are on the increase, as cyber criminals identify new ways to breach company systems in the new hybrid working environment.

According to the latest Cyber Security Breaches Survey, four in 10 businesses and just over a quarter of charities experienced security breaches or attacks during the first 12 months of the pandemic.

Host:
Jamie Bartlett, internet culture and technology journalist, author of 'The Dark Net', 'The People Vs Tech' and 'Radicals', host of 'The Missing Cryptoqueen' podcast.

Guests:
- Gareth*. Gareth is an IT manager whose previous employer suffered a major ransomware attack in 2014, before such attacks were common knowledge. He was able to overcome several hurdles in order to restore the company’s systems, and learned some valuable lessons about how to protect organisations from such attacks.
- Mike O’Neill. Mike O’Neill is managing director of Optimal Risk Group and a member of the Chartered Security Professionals Regulation Authority. He and his team provide security and risk consultation services to organisations around the world, including penetration testing.
- Sophie Wales. Sophie is the director of trust and ethics at ICAEW with responsibility for ethics, economic crime, fraud and business law. Sophie leads ICAEW’s policy work in these areas, engaging with government and other regulators, as well as providing guidance for members.

*Name has been changed

Producer:
Natalie Chisholm

Episode first published: 15 October 2021
Podcast recorded: 7 October 2021

Welcome to this ICAEW Insights ‘In Focus’ podcast. This is where we interrogate a specific but timely topic from the world of accountancy, business and finance. This time we examine Less Complex Entity (LCE) audits.

There’s been a lot of talk about LCE audits recently and that’s because the international auditing standard-setter, the IAASB, recently issued an exposure draft for a standard for LCE audits.

This is major progress. The exposure draft issued is far from perfect, but the fact that it has been issued is a cause for celebration. ICAEW has been a robust supporter of less complex auditing standards for the audit of LCEs for many years.

The issue of an exposure draft is the start of a journey. There are significant technical issues to address before we even think about the potential for adoption and it is important to remember for now that the exposure draft has been issued by the international standard setter, the IAASB – and not by the Financial Reporting Council in the UK. 

Today’s podcast panel is well versed in all the issues.

Host:
Sophie Campkin, ICAEW Technical Lead, Audit and Assurance

Guests:
- Fiona Wilkinson. Fiona was President of ICAEW from 2019 to 2020 and is a Board member of the International Federation of Accountants, and Chair of its Public Policy and Regulatory Advisory Group. She has been a member of the ICAEW’s Council since 2003 and has also served as chair of the Professional Standards Board, an ICAEW Board Director and chair of the Ethics Advisory Committee. She qualified as an ICAEW Chartered Accountant in 1980 with Deloitte and spent 11 years in the firm’s Audit Department before setting up her own practice as a technical consultant providing engagement quality control reviews and audit compliance reviews for small and medium-sized firms.
- Catherine Hardinge. Catherine is a partner with Price Bailey. She joined the firm in 2003, having qualified with EY. She’s the firm’s compliance partner, chair of ICAEW’s LCE Audits Working Group, a member of ICAEW’s main auditing committee and an ICAEW Board member for Education and Training.
- Katharine Bagshaw. Katharine is a long-standing staff member with ICAEW’s Audit and Assurance Faculty. She qualified in 1990 with EY and is a former member and deputy chair of IFAC’s SMP Committee. She’s Secretary to ICAEW’s LCE Audits Working Group.

Producer:
Natalie Chisholm

Episode first published: 8 October 2021
Podcast recorded: 4 October 2021