AccountingWEB

On this week’s No Accounting for Taste, it’s all things Budget. We are joined by Sophie Hossack, head of partnerships at Allica Bank and Dan Heelan, director of Heelan Associates to break down and digest Rachel Reeves’s first Budget.

The panel shares their general thoughts on the Budget, the main tax changes, measures hidden within the Red Book and what impact these will have.

The trio start by looking back at the Accounting Excellence Awards 2024 after a successful night at the Roundhouse in London, where the most ambitious firms and individuals in the profession were celebrated.

With the Budget less than two weeks away, Richard Hattersley examines the rumours and speculation surrounding what Rachel Reeves may announce on the big day. Will we get an increase in employers’ national insurance? And if we did, might that break Labour’s manifesto pledge?

Tom Herbert pulls back the curtain on The Payroll Site announcing its plans to close in 2025. An influx of legislation has made the payroll software market increasingly complex and demanding, while a whole host of competitors have also moved into the cloud payroll space in the intervening years.

Is the role of the CFO evolving? Matthew Ord does a deepdive into what the position may look like in the months ahead, why that shift is well underway and what the challenges could be.

The government has launched a consultation on electronic invoicing to help improve productivity, reduce fraud and close the tax gap for businesses. Tom Herbert explains e-invoicing, what’s been announced and the next steps.

Richard Hattersley looks into the Administrative Burdens Advisory Board (ABAB) survey results which revealed further criticisms around Making Tax Digital for income tax and HMRC’s customer service. The team discusses what’s been said and whether this survey will make a difference.

Looking into another set of results, Matthew Ord shares the The Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) report into AML supervision. The report said they had not seen any material improvement in supervisors’ effectiveness in the core areas of supervision. Matthew Ord questions what needs to be done.

Tom Herbert’s busy schedule has taken him to NetSuite’s SuiteWorld in Las Vegas and Accountex North in Manchester. He talks about how they were, any similarities or differences and the big topics from the show floor.

After a couple weeks off interrailing, Richard Hattersley returns to the podcast with some insights on dealing with unscheduled work calls on holiday. The team shares their thoughts on whether people should stop ringing unannounced and the importance of setting boundaries.

Lastly, Matthew Ord discusses a report from the ACCA and Chartered Accountants ANZ, in association with PwC about why chief financial officers only have five years to adapt to rapidly changing demands or face becoming obsolete. They look at what this means for finance teams and what needs changing.

This week’s podcast brings together four cloud accounting commentators to discuss the evolving role of technology in accounting, the varying adoption rates of cloud solutions, and the future of artificial intelligence in the industry. Recorded on location at Oracle NetSuite’s SuiteWorld conference in Las Vegas, AccountingWEB technology editor Tom Herbert was joined by American duo Blake Oliver and David Leary from The Accounting Podcast and Australia’s Heather Smith from the Accounting Apps Podcast,

This week AccountingWEB is joined by Bradley Channer, CFO at UBIO and CIMA council member. Channer talks about how the managing director of Mineral Resources wanted to hold his staff captive all day, not wanting them to leave even for a coffee. The team shares their opinion, emphasising why workplaces need to be attractive for employees and what accounting can learn from this.

Tom Herbert speaks about carbon accounting software, explaining what it is, why accountants should care and what kind of software is available.

And finally, with the government proposing to hike windfall taxes from 75% to 78% and the industry raising their concerns, Matthew Ord questions whether the government will listen.

James Brackley, lecturer in accounting at the University of Sheffield and lead author of the Audit Reform Lab report on Birmingham City Council’s bankruptcy joins this week’s episode. Brackley chats about how behind the audits are for local governments, how it was allowed to get to this point and whether they can catch up. He takes a look at Birmingham City Council’s financial crisis, sharing what happened and the next steps.

Richard Hattersley speaks about HMRC’s generic nudge letter campaigns. However, due to the generic nature of these letters, it is becoming increasingly hard to tell them apart from scams. The team talk about what HMRC should do to prevent taxpayers getting scammed.

Finally, with GCSE and A-Level results day, Matthew Ord looks at the importance of apprenticeships and how they can be a vital piece of the puzzle to help firms with the recruitment crisis and skills gap.

Gary Turner, the former UK CEO and co-founder of software giant Xero, has been appointed to the board of directors at Mazuma. The company’s co-founder and CEO Lucy Cohen joined us – alongside Gary – for a chat on how the appointment came to be, what accounting and tech firms can learn from each other, and whether there’s life left in the traditional partner-led model.

Alongside the Budget being confirmed for 30 October, Chancellor Rachel Reeves also announced a £22bn black hole in the public finances, as well as promising that tax rises are coming. Richard Hattersley looks at where the money might come from, and revisits VAT on private school fees and the abolition of non-doms.

Finally, Matthew Ord looks at the worrying report into local authority audits from The Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors. Concerns have been raised that a high proportion of functions might be unable to complete their internal audit plans for 2023/24, with the under-resourcing of such a critical area also causing some nervousness.

Sage’s AI research has revealed that the widespread adoption of AI in accounting and bookkeeping could add £2bn to the UK economy alongside 20,000 jobs in the long term. Tom Herbert looks at AI’s impact on accounting and the concerns accountants and bookkeepers have.

With a new ICAEW president, Malcolm Bacchus, Matthew Ord shares their discussion on plans and expected changes, emphasising a need to continue building trust within the profession.

As the summer Olympics begin tomorrow, Richard Hattersley brings up Eugene Amo-Dadzie, the world’s fastest accountant. The team discusses the transferable skills between being an athlete and an accountant and wonders if there should be an accounting Olympics?

The AccountingWEB team dive right into Labour’s landslide victory last week, talking about Keir Starmer and the first female Chancellor, Rachel Reeves. They question whether Reeves will pause and take consultation from those involved in the industry.

Tom Herbert discusses a popular topic, choosing the right software and apps. He explores the term ‘best’, why that’s not always the case for software and other factors that need to be considered.

Turning back to the election, Richard Hattersley shared that accountancy candidates were obliterated. Has the electorate fallen out of love with accountants and why?

Finally, Matthew Ord sheds light onto HMRC who was criticised for being unable to fix a problem of its own making after the department wrongly refunded voluntary class 2 national insurance contributions.