The most recent articles from Accountancy Age
200,000 take advantage of extended filing deadline
MORE THAN 200,000 people took advantage of HMRC leniency to file their tax returns in the penalty-free first days of February. With the taxman allowing filings on 1 and 2 February penalty-free, after HMRC staff took part in a strike on the self-assessment deadline of 31 January, 207,000 submitted tax returns online. The taxman received 87,000 tax returns on 1 February, and 120,000 a day later. In total 9.45m returns were...
Taxman postpones Business Record Checks
THE TAXMAN has postponed any further record checks of small businesses, as it looks to introduce a more targeted approach in the future. The pilot scheme to check the record-keeping practices of SMEs, which caused such controversy, has been put on hold as the consultation process suggest that education should be paramount to improving record-keeping. Nearly 2,500 businesses' records have been checked by HMRC since the pilot scheme's launch in April...
Langbar CEO stripped of licence and pays £20,000 costs
Rachael Singh Hedge Funds Review
THE PROFESSION'S WATCHDOG has stripped ex-Langbar chief Stuart Pearson of his licence to practice as an accountant and ordered him to pay costs. ICAEW member Pearson was today reprimanded by and independent tribunal following a complaint from the disciplinary arm of the Financial Reporting Council. He was ordered to pay costs of £20,000 towards the investigation into his conduct, and stripped of his licence to practice as a chartered accountant for...
Personal insolvencies down in 2011
Richard Crump Hedge Funds Review
THE NUMBER of people declared insolvent in England Wales fell in 2011, but the number of businesses insolvencies increased, Insolvency Service figures showed. The total number of personal insolvencies in 2011 was 119,850, down 11.3% on the record high in 2010. In the final quarter of the year, there was a 5.6% drop compared to the last three months of 2010. Bankruptcies were down 29.3% and were outstripped by the number...
Clarke takes partner role at Larking Gowen
ADAM CLARKE is promoted to business recovery at Larking Gowen. Clarke passed his JIEB insolvency exams in 2010 and has taken appointment since April 2011. Prior to joining Larking Gowen he worked in a number of firms' insolvency teams. Bob Rose, Larking Gowen's managing partner, said: "We are looking forward to Adam joining us, and his appointment is an important development for the firm, boosting our resources as we...
We want iPad biz apps, say accountants
ACCOUNTANTS WANT MORE applications to enable them to work from iPads, according to new research. A Thomson Reuters Digita survey of more than 400 respondents from a cross-section of firms found that practitioners want more integration between their office and mobile tools. Other wants include: links with Outlook and Blackberry voice recognition capability; and easier recording of client phone calls. "Our results suggest that accountants are increasingly looking for...
Governance code should have provision for alcohol issues
Richard Crump Hedge Funds Review
A NATIONAL charity has written to business secretary Vince Cable recommending that a specific policy to address alcohol be included as an explicit requirement in the Corporate Governance Code. According to Alcohol Concern, an effective alcohol policy is a material component of business strategy and that, as employees are a key business asset, boards should have a formal responsibility to address financial losses incurred through their reduced performance caused by alcohol. ...
Governance code should deal with alcohol issues
Richard Crump Hedge Funds Review
A NATIONAL charity has written to business secretary Vince Cable recommending that a specific policy to address alcohol be included as an explicit requirement in the Corporate Governance Code. According to Alcohol Concern, an effective alcohol policy is a material component of business strategy and that, as employees are a key business asset, boards should have a formal responsibility to address financial losses incurred through their reduced performance caused by alcohol. ...
Streets ties up with Poppleton & Appleby
TOP 50 FIRM Streets has brought in insolvency specialist SPW Poppleton & Appleby. The deal boosts Streets' insolvency expertise, and will enable them to leverage their forensic and tax service lines across Streets' nationwide offices. The corporate recovery business has been renamed Streets SPW PLC. "Following the tie up with SPW Poppleton & Appleby we will now be able to offer an insolvency and corporate recovery service with one of the...
SMPs weighed down by burden of regulation
Richard Crump Hedge Funds Review
REGULATORY burdens and economic woes continue to top the list of challenges faced by small- and medium-sized accountancy practices (SMPs) and their clients, a report has found. Around 30% of respondents to the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) survey chose burden of regulation and economic uncertainty as the biggest challenge, followed by difficulties in accessing finance. Similarly, for accountants within small practices, keeping up with new standards and regulations ranked as...
Smaller practices weighed down by burden of regulation
Richard Crump Hedge Funds Review
REGULATORY burdens and economic woes continue to top the list of challenges faced by small- and medium-sized accountancy practices and their clients, a report has found. Around 30% of respondents to the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) survey chose burden of regulation and economic uncertainty as the biggest challenge, followed by difficulties in accessing finance. Similarly, for accountants within small practices, keeping up with new standards and regulations ranked as the...
Top civil servants to have tax deducted at source
CHIEF SECRETARY to the Treasury Danny Alexander has said that the head of the Student Loans Company would now have his tax deducted "at source." The government is investigating how the head of the Student Loans Company (SLC) arranged for Ed Lester's salary to be paid through a private service company, thereby avoiding deductions for income tax and national insurance, the BBC reports. Lester may potentially have saved tens of...
Deloitte hit back at AADB complaint
Rachael Singh Hedge Funds Review
DELOITTE HAS hit back at the decision by the profession's watchdog to investigate its role in the collapse of car maker MG Rover. The Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board (AADB), filed a complaint against Deloitte and its retired partner Maghsoud Einollahi, to its independent tribunal arm for their role in the collapse of MG Rover. However a spokesman for Deloitte has said the firm is disappointed with the decision. ...
Deloitte hits back at AADB complaint
Rachael Singh Hedge Funds Review
DELOITTE HAS hit back at the decision by the profession's watchdog to investigate its role in the collapse of car maker MG Rover. The Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board (AADB), filed a complaint against Deloitte and its retired partner Maghsoud Einollahi, to its independent tribunal arm for their role in the collapse of MG Rover. However a spokesman for Deloitte has said the firm is disappointed with the decision. ...
Healthcare Locums recruits another CFO
Healthcare Locums, a recruitment company for the health and social care sectors, has appointed Sue Bygrave as chief finance officer designate. Bygrave, who joins from Biome Technologies where she was group finance director, will start her new job on 6 February. As an executive director on the board she will be responsible for accounting activity across the group, including operations in Australia. Before Biome Technologies, Bygrave, a chartered accountant,...
ICAEW charity appoints ambassadors
THE CHARTERED Accountants' Benevolent Association has appointed three "ambassadors" to help accountants with financial, health and emotional problems. The ambassadors are Patrick St Leger, who is a support volunteer at CABA; Andrew Campbell-Hart, a CABA debt volunteer; and Carol McLachlan, who also works as a CABA trainer. The ambassadors, who all come from an accountancy background, are part of a move to make CABA as accessible as possible to chartered accountants....
Redknapp admits lying to NoW journalist
Richard Crump Hedge Funds Review
HARRY Redknapp has admitted lying to a News of the World reporter. The Tottenham Hotspur manager denies allegations that £189,000 paid into a Monaco bank account were bonuses for transfer profits while he was manager of Portsmouth FC. Appearing in the stand at Southwark Crow Court for a second day, Redknapp said he lied to sports journalist Rob Beasley about the source of payments into his account to prevent a negative...
Treasury calls for review of top civil servants’ tax affairs
Accountancy Age Staff Hedge Funds Review
CHIEF SECRETARY to the Treasury Danny Alexander has called for a review of the tax affairs of top civil servants. The move comes after the BBC's Newsnight uncovered that the Student Loans Company CEO received his £182,000 pay without deductions for tax or national insurance following an agreement with HM Revenue & Customs. A Freedom of Information request by Exaro News revealed that SLC CEO Ed Lester's salary was paid to...
IFS: Osborne should make tax cuts to avoid recession
Accountancy Age Staff Hedge Funds Review
THE CHANCELLOR should make emergency tax cuts to avoid recession the Institute for Fiscal Studies has suggested. Cuts to National Insurance or VAT could be cut by up to £20bn to stop a recession The Daily Telegraph reports. The IFS warns that the continued crisis in the eurozone may push economic growth down this year and in 2013. Chancellor George Osborne (pictured) will deliver his budget on March 21...
Deloitte face AADB disciplinary for MG Rover
Rachael Singh Hedge Funds Review
THE PROFESSION'S watchdog has filed a formal complaint to its disciplinary arm against Deloitte, and its former partner over the collapse of car maker MG Rover. The Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board, (AADB) a regulator of the profession, has filed a formal complaint against Deloitte and its retired partner Maghsoud Einollahi, to its independent tribunal arm for their role in the collapse of MG Rover. The AADB's main concern is over...
