Accountancy Age articles from February 2005

Accountancy Age archives from February 2005

Analysis - Love on the rocks. It may have been Valentine's Day on Monday - but, in the current climate, it is unlikely that the UK auditors would have received flowers or chocolates from their clients, writes Nicholas Neveling.
February 17, 2005... Tougher rules on governance and auditor liability are placing increasing strain on the auditor/client relationship and auditors are worried that this could have a negative impact on the quality of audits. Big Four audit fees in the US...

Audit - Consortium urges reporting reforms. CBI joins auditors in calls for meaningful reporting to reflect companies' true worth, writes Nicholas Neveling.
February 17, 2005... A consortium that includes the leading audit firms and the CBI is calling for reforms to what companies disclose in their reports, in a bid to give a better reflection of company value and performance. The Enhanced Business Reporting...

Audit - Uncle Sam is bad role model.(ethics rules)
February 17, 2005... Byline: Gavin Hinks, deputy editor of Accountancy Age. It might, of course, all just be a case of sour grapes - but even so the ICAEW and ACCA are not happy about the new ethical rules governing auditors. I mention the grapes because...

Audit - Pressure group hits out.(PIRC)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... PIRC, the pension fund pressure group, has said auditors continue to undertake far too much non-audit work for their clients. A statement of the groups aims for 2005 sais: 'Auditors are still doing too much other work, in our view, and audit...

Technology - Revenue merger may delay XBRL. Taxman puts XBRL on the back burner as the SEC gives companies the green light, writes Kevin Reed.(eXtensible Business Reporting Language)
February 17, 2005... The Inland Revenue has revealed it could delay technology designed to accept statutory accounts using the controversial computer language XBRL. Officials said that the merger between the Revenue and Customs & Excise has caused the department to...

Technology - SAP comes out fighting in 'unprecedented' move.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... Business software provider SAP has taken aggressive moves to fight against the combined might of Oracle/PeopleSoft in the enterprise arena. In what analyst firm AMR has referred to as an 'unprecedented step', SAP is offering Peoplesoft and JD...

Technology - IT briefs.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... The ICAEW's IT faculty has awarded its first IT accreditation for tax software. The tax accreditation - awarded to Digita - is expected to be one of the ICAEW's most popular schemes, with other software vendors already undergoing testing....

The debate - Is there a need to know? It's possible to find ways around the Freedom of Information Act, says Nick Clarke. Not so, says Dave Cottam. Politicans will have to learn to accept scrutiny.
February 17, 2005... It has taken eight years for a public discussion on the 'right to know' to manifest itself into the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This may be used by anyone to request information from a public authority. But the Act enables the authority to...

Opinion - Olympic contributions.(bidding for Olympics, Paris, London)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... Valentine's Day saw a meeting in Paris of the 2012 Corporate Club - the group of companies supporting the French capital's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games. The meeting united Olympic experts from Greece, Australia and South Korea, as well as...

Opinion - It's a risky business.(accountant attacked)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... After air rage and road rage, it seems we have seen our first case of accountant rage. A Scottish court heard last week that computer training company director John Cowie had punched John Stewart of AIMS Accounts in a row over lost files. Cowie...

Jon Ashworth - the corridors of power.(Brunei)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... Byline: Jon Ashworth, business features editor at The Times. I've heard of some pretty grim accounting assignments over the years, but several months in the 'dry' kingdom of Brunei must take the cake. John Talbot and Murdoch McKillop...

Letter - Marriage of convenience?(Letter to the Editor)
February 17, 2005... Maybe it's my suspicious mind, but has the sudden announcement of the upcoming marriage of Charles and Camilla anything to do with the speculation about the recent Commons Accounts Committee? We were told the MPs might grill our Prince on the...

Letter - Unwanted dinner guest.(Letter to the Editor)
February 17, 2005... While I can't agree with ER Lloyd and L Mackrill's comments on the proposed merger (3 February and 27 January, page 15 respectively) - there's got to be merit in being an organisation that's growing its way to glory, not shrinking. I do...

Letter - Last-minute rush.(Letter to the Editor)
February 17, 2005... I very much doubt if Peter Edney's clients are better trained than those of any other accountant (10 February, page 17) and complete their tax returns by the end of November, enabling him to go on holiday in January. Fortunately for...

Letter - Time to find a voice.(Letter to the Editor)
February 17, 2005... I also consider myself an 'ordinary chartered accountant' yet I could not disagree more with L Mackrill (27 January, page 15). Nearing the end of my full-time professional career, I have seen the chartered premium over the other bodies diminish...

Letter of the Week: Who can predict the winners and losers when a giant ego overruns a smaller one?(Letter to the Editor)
February 17, 2005... What an interesting juxtaposition of articles in last week's Accountancy Age. In 'Tackling the F-word' (10 February, page 9) you report on the growth of management and employee fraud. While in 'When egos collide' (10 February, page 11) you...

People - Petyt is big enough for Pridie Brewster.(Peter Petyt)(appointments)
February 17, 2005... Byline: Rachael Singh. PRACTICE KPMG have announced a host of senior appointments within the firm. Ruth Anderson has been appointed as a vice chairman of KPMG and Tom Scott as a tax practice partner. Anderson will report to Mike Rake,...

People - It's clear for Fuszard: former Andersens partner moves to UHY.(John Fuszard)(UHY Hacker Young)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... UHY Hacker Young has made two new appointments within its firm. Former VAT partner at Andersens, John Fuszard, has joined as director of VAT. Fuszard, previously of PricewaterhouseCoopers, joins the Manchester office. Peter Petyt, former...

Insider - Out of the shadows. Internal auditors are finally making the transition from a misunderstood and often feared overhead to value provider, writes Gill Bolton.
February 17, 2005... Internal audit - two words virtually guaranteed to leave you cold. But internal audit has come of age. The best functions now provide real value to the board and the audit committee. The question is, are you getting the best possible value from...

Insider - Profile: Norman Lyle, FD of one of Asia's biggest businesses - Our man in hong kong. During his eight years as group FD of Jardine Matheson, Norman Lyle has steered the company through events as serious as Asia's currency crisis and the outbreak of SARS. The former CIMA president tells Damian Wild about his plans for retirement and his passion for Hong Kong.(Interview)
February 17, 2005... Each day at noon, a single shot is fired into the sea in Hong Kong's Causeway Bay. The sounding of the Noonday Gun is a 140-year-old tradition, immortalised in a song by Noel Coward and as closely linked with the territory as it is with Jardine...

Insight: Staff development - Myths and reality. Swallowing the myths surrounding management development could see your best employees being lured away to more enlightened firms or failing to fulfil their potential. Mary Chapman sets out to prove that great leaders can be made.
February 17, 2005... Skills gaps are rife, but more than just an issue of recruitment and staff retention, too many employees are under-performing as organisations fail to provide them with adequate support to grow the business. Given the huge national and...

Insider - Overview - Single-minded Approach. On the frontline: restructuring has pushed the CFO at Unilever higher up the hierarchy, writes David Rae.
February 17, 2005... Unilever chief financial officer, Rudy Markham, may not have been part of the company's board restructuring announced last week, but he has been handed an indirect promotion. The Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant has abandoned its dual-board...

Insider - Overview - Buzzwords - Anecgloat (noun) a story subtly designed to reflect well on the teller.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... No-one likes a brown-noser, so you will be pleased to hear that there are more subtle ways of blowing your own trumpet and helping your boss to realise what a sound decision it was to hire you. The anecgloat, performed appropriately, is one...

Insider - Overview - Preying on the fear factor.
February 17, 2005... Byline: Michael Mainelli, director of risk/reward consultancy Z/Yen. Risk is about perception. Take a recent Ernst & Young survey looking at board members of the UK's leading 500 companies, which suggests that more than 40% were more...

Insider - Overview - Siesta Syndrome.(avoid mid--afternoon productivity slump)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... Three steps to... Avoiding Siesta Syndrome Step 1. You are what you eat Regular meals and a well balanced diet are critical. For lunch, combine lean protein and a small amount of carbohydrates to maintain concentration levels in the...

Deloitte injunction halts story. Big Four firm's unprecedented injunction halts our story and JDS announcement on investigation into casino group's audit. But the whole profession may feel the repercussions of an intervention that will reopen arguments about whether self-regulation is viable.(Joint Disciplinary Scheme)
February 17, 2005... Byline: David Rae. Deloitte has obtained an injunction preventing Accountancy Age and the accountants' Joint Disciplinary Scheme from revealing further information arising from an ongoing inquiry into the Big Four firm. In a dramatic -...

What the papers say ... Commentators fear that self-regulation will be seen as a 'mockery', making statutory intervention inevitable.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... The Guardian, 11 February 'The move appears to be a significant breach of the spirit of established protocols under the accountancy profession's voluntary Joint Disciplinary Scheme (JDS).' Jeremy Warner, The Independent, 11 February...

Watchdog set to bow out.(Joint Disciplinary Scheme)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... Since its inception as the profession's main watchdog in 1993, the Joint Disciplinary Scheme has undertaken independent investigations into the work and conduct of chartered accountants in cases of public concern, and handled many high-profile...

News in brief.
February 17, 2005... Deloitte's Madrid office has been destroyed in a massive tower-block fire over the weekend. The fire, 'Madrid's worst ever' according to mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardon, destroyed the 32-storey Windsor building, though, it is believed the office...

Only shareholders at EGM can unseat Kingston Smith. Auditor refuses to budge as Boustead presses for removal over alleged breach of confidentiality, writes Kevin Reed.(extra generalbody meeting)
February 17, 2005... Kingston Smith, the auditor currently at loggerheads with its FTSE-fledgling client Boustead, can only be unseated from its statutory position through a shareholder vote at an extraordinary general meeting, sources close to both sides of the...

Rocky road: Customs makes a run for London Marathon charity money. A clash over the VAT collected on monies raised by London Marathon charity runners has erupted between Customs & Excise and accounting firm Wilkins Kennedy, writes Nicholas Neveling.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... Wilkins Kennedy claimed that Customs was planning to collect VAT from charity runners at the 2005 London Marathon, despite assurances to the contrary last year. However the department this week said its position had not changed and that...

Merger bill may break EU law.(inland revenue and customs merger)
February 17, 2005... Legislation merging the Inland Revenue and Customs risks falling foul of the European Charter on Human Rights, according to an influential parliamentary committee. The joint committee on human rights questioned the authority of the new tax body...

Traders await ECJ verdict on VAT clampdown. Resellers try to recoup millions lost in Customs' clampdown on complex fraud, writes David Rae.(European Court of Justice)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... A fierce battle between Customs & Excise and a group of companies looking to win back millions of pounds of VAT could receive a major boost from a European court preliminary decision, expected this week. Tens of millions of pounds are at...

Ongoing delay clouds UK emissions allowances. Dispute between the UK and EC leaves businesses in uncertainty, writes Nicholas Neveling.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... Delays finalising emissions allowances that UK companies will be entitled to under European Union climate change regulations have left local businesses uncertain of the amount of pollution they will be allowed to emit. The EU emissions...

Waiting game: Sebastian Coe will be hoping that City backing can swing the IOC's decision in London's favour. Accountants and City institutions have thrown their weight behind London's 2012 Olympic bid, writes Damian Wild.(International Olympic Committee)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... As London bid chief Sebastian Coe prepared to host the International Olympic Committee in the capital on Tuesday, the ICAEW released the results of a poll of its members serving the tourism and hospitality sector. An emphatic 70% of those...

Accountant suffers beating. A man who punched an accountant repeatedly after Companies House threatened him with fines has walked free from court, writes Gavin Hinks.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... Company director John Cowie lost his temper after hearing that he would receive hefty penalties from Companies House for failing to deliver his accounts on time. He stormed to the offices of AIMS at Abbey Mill Business Centre in Paisley...

IASB takes flak over constitution.(International Accounting Standards Board)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... Byline: Paul Grant. Pressure is growing on the international accounting standards setter to radically overhaul its structure, as another influential body backed calls from the European Commission for reform. The European Financial...

Peace campaign seeks right to withhold tax. Quakers' group launches campaign based on European human rights legislation to keep back tax from 'unaccountable military uses', writes James Bennett.
February 17, 2005... The government is being challenged by a group of seven quakers to allow peace campaigners to withhold their taxes from being spent on war and the arms trade - a view also held by 11% of the House of Commons and shadow chancellor Oliver Letwin....

Sage shares hit high. FTSE100 business and accounting software provider Sage saw its share price hit a two and a half year high after completing another acquisition, writes Kevin Reed.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... The [pounds sterling]10.3m purchase of Warsaw-based Symfonia saw Sage's share price hit 211p, up 2.75p as Accountancy Age went to press - and its highest value since the end of 2002 when it announced booming profits, writes Kevin Reed. The...

Whitehall probes IT supplier. Whitehall buying agency the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has investigated the financial affairs of IT supplier EDS four times in the past three years, writes Accountancy Age staff.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... The US company has a large share of UK government technology business including deals at the Department for Work and Pensions, and has been involved with several high-profile problem areas such as the Child Support Agency and the tax credits...

Finance week - Restatement is bitter pill for Glaxo. Medical giant joins rival AstraZeneca in restating its 2004 results under IFRS, only to suffer multi-million-pound hit to profits. But despite this, its mood remains upbeat, writes Michelle Perry.(International Financial Reporting Standards)
February 17, 2005... GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, has revealed a [pounds sterling]394m dip in earnings under the new IFRS reporting rules. Announcing year-end results for 2004, the company took the chance to restate the...

Finance week - Company reports.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... ICI has revealed that its profits before tax for 2004 are [pounds sterling]25m higher under IFRS compared to UK GAAP. The announcement came on Friday when the chemical giant revealed its results for last year and disclosed a number of...

Analysis - No smoke without allowances. The EU emissions trading scheme presents a huge opportunity for those willing to put in some hard graft, writes Nicholas Neveling.
February 17, 2005... Thomas Edison once remarked: 'Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.' For accountants who will be diving into the uncharted water that is the European Union greenhouse gas emissions...

Services - Adviser: Calling all boardroom ostriches. Board members are all too aware that IT has a critical role to play in business success, so why don't they take ultimate responsibility? asks Mark Holland.
February 17, 2005... I caught a glimpse of a press release from Telewest earlier this month, which led with the statement: 'IT spend to decrease as boards lack faith in technology.' Just a week earlier, I read an article with the headline 'Board members must stop...

Taking Stock - Curry favour with PwC.(Price Waterhouse Associates Proprietary Ltd.)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... Being rather partial to spicy food, TS needs little prompting to shovel the odd curry or four down its gullet. But accountants, seem to require a little more encouragement. Big Four firm PwC is asking its employees to eat curry for charity,...

Taking Stock - Government guidance on burglars.(accountant attacked)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... TS was glad to see recent government guidance on dealing with intruders meant it was OK to kill burglars - in the right circumstances. After all, a lot of money had been invested in the infra-red laser-guided machine-gun and RPG launcher at...

Taking Stock - Sorry, u r fired. Cul8r :-(.(technology averse accountants)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... Accountants aren't best best known for their technological prowess. So expectations that the Revenue is to roll out compulsory online filing in the next few years might strike fear into the hearts of some financial types. Recent research...

Taking Stock - Jardine Matheson group finance director retires.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... Norman Lyle, Jardine Matheson group finance director, retires next month and, if you'll forgive an appalling - and appallingly obvious - pun, TS understands he will be going out with a bang. Lyle will be firing Hong Kong's noonday gun in a...

Taking Stock - Romance is dead at E&Y.(Ernst and Young L.L.P.)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... Love was in the air this week as TS enjoyed the flowers and devotion that comes with Valentines Day. Thanks, boss. But down at Ernst & Young, affection and candle-lit dinners were not the priority. Instead, E&Y called on couples to cast...

Management consultancy - EDS in MoD bid despite past failures. Freedom of information laws mean OGC must reveal papers on consultant' work, writes James Bennett.(Electronic Data Systems; Ministry of Defense)(Office of Government Commerce)
February 24, 2005... Big Four firm Deloitte was twice drafted in to examine troubled public sector IT supplier Electronic Data Systems' finances over the last two years. This news was revealed when the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) forced Whitehall procurement...

Management consultancy - Downturn could mean 'sea change'.(Brief Article)
February 24, 2005... A downturn in new deals involving large consultancy firms in the last quarter of 2004 could be the start of a 'sea change' in the global outsourcing market, according to research company Datamonitor. It said that the figures underlined the...

Management consultancy - Ditch the cock-up kings.(Electronic Data Systems)
February 24, 2005... Byline: James Bennett, editor of Management Consultancy. If you're in the consultancy game, it might seem that Electronic Data Systems has a lot to answer for. Let's take a look at the evidence. The firm was ditched mid-contract (worth...

Finance week - Restatement pays off for publisher. Decision by Reed Elsevier to act early on IFRS sees rise in pre-tax profits, writes Nicholas Neveling.(international financial reporting standards)(Brief Article)
February 24, 2005... Reed Elsevier CFO Mark Armour should be forgiven for looking pleased over the last week. On top of announcing solid 2004 results, Armour also got the chore of restating the 2004 accounts using international accounting standards out of the way....

Finance week - Company reports. Standards top the agenda for bank, port group and breakdown company - as publisher looks to sterling.
February 24, 2005... Standard Chartered will present its first set of accounts for 2005 under IFRS when it announces its interim results, but will release its restated IFRS accounts for 2004 at an investor presentation in May. The bank made the announcement after...

Finance week - FTSE100 stays behind the times.(Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange)(Brief Article)
February 24, 2005... It's a bit of a mystery as to why the FTSE250 has had such a great run and yet the FTSE100 has languished. From a contrarian point of view, it is probably a good time to expect the FTSE100 to catch up. Yet there is probably more to these...

Analysis - Traders win first round in EU carousel fraud battle. Companies caught in the crossfire during Customs' battle with traders abusing the EU's VAT-free policy have won an early victory at the ECJ, writes David Rae.
February 24, 2005... Tens of millions of pounds worth of public funds have been put at risk on the latest roll of the dice in a 'carousel fraud' battle between computer component businesses, mobile phone traders and Customs & Excise. A group of companies,...

Analysis - Tied in knots. With one in three executives expecting to be subject to a formal enquiry, has regulation gone too far, asks Paul Grant.
February 24, 2005... Ah, regulation. The last few years have seen a slew of the stuff, accompanied by reams of guidance on how to improve corporate governance and prevent another Enron-style debacle. It is also aimed at restoring the tarnished image of the...

Technology - Loophole lets fraudsters steal IDs. Fraud specialist warns registration system at Companies House is open to abuse, writes James Mortleman.
February 24, 2005... A loophole in the system for registering details at Companies House has allowed fraudsters to hijack the identities of businesses and illegally obtain goods and services. Several companies have fallen victim to the ploy over the past few...

Technology - Assured acquisition saves TaxCalc customers.(Assured Solutions Providers;)(Brief Article)
February 24, 2005... TaxCalc users will be able to continue with the software after a rival software company purchased the brand, writes Kevin Reed. Assured Solutions Providers, the makers of personal and professional tax software TaxChecker, bought TaxCalc...

Technology - IT briefs.(Brief Article)
February 24, 2005... BP is to widen the use of electronic purchasing, having saved millions of pounds on its $16bn ([pounds sterling]8.5bn) annual procurement budget by using e-auction technology. The energy giant has reduced the time taken to order new materials...

Editorial - An opportunity for real quality.
February 24, 2005... Next month sees the second meeting of the Audit Quality Forum. And it promises to be a significant one. By bringing together the audit profession, investors, business and regulators, it would be easy to dismiss it as just a talking shop....

Opinion - The Debate - Peace through the paypacket. It is our right to opt out of fiscal conscription, argues Roy Prockter. But granting this right would undermine our constitution, says Adrian Lithgow.
February 24, 2005... In calling for the right to have that part of my taxes currently spent on military preparation and war diverted to other uses all I expect is an update of the law to match changes in the way war is carried out. The 1916 Military Service...

Jon Ashworth - the corridors of power ...(Barings Bank collapse)(Brief Article)
February 24, 2005... Byline: Jon Ashworth, business features editor at The Times. One Sunday in July 1999, I drove out to Heathrow at a ridiculously early hour for a rather unusual press conference. The occasion was the return to the UK of Nick Leeson, newly...

Letter of the week - Why it's high time to shoot down the theory that burglars are liable for income tax.
February 24, 2005... Hywel Williams writes that the UK taxes burglars, so there is nothing unusual about the Netherlands allowing a tax deduction for a bank robber's gun (3 February, page 15). But the UK doesn't charge burglars income tax. The references to...

Letter - Desperate measures.(Letter to the Editor)
February 24, 2005... I read the story about the accountant who was beaten by a disgruntled client (17 February, page 3). Although such behaviour is totally unacceptable, it is perhaps surprising that accountants do not receive a beating more often. As a...

Letter - Wide of the mark.(Letter to the Editor)
February 24, 2005... There is no doubt that XBRL was a great idea ('Revenue merger may delay XBRL', 17 February, page 13). Creating a single standard for financial reporting to enable like-for-like company comparison is a fantastic principle - but it has been...

Letter - Objection!(Letter to the Editor)
February 24, 2005... Tempted by the prospect of winning a rather swish-looking MP3 player, I dutifully completed your salary survey (also in this week's issue, page 24). This is the first time I have done so, although I have in previous years endured the months of...

Insider - Paperweight off your mind. Now is a good time to upgrade software - prices are dropping and it can ease the compliance burden,writes Cath Everett.
February 24, 2005... Byline: Cath Everett, a freelance journalist. Upgrading financial and accountancy applications may not traditionally have been top of the average financial director's to-do list, but as compliance issues bite harder than ever, software...

Insider - Software special: the man behind accountancy's biggest software player - Sage advice. The original Mondeo Man doesn't shy away from telling his employees exactly what he thinks of their work. But the UK head of the FTSE100's only IT company is prepared to take criticism as well, and even takes calls form irate customers, writes Rachel Fielding.
February 24, 2005... Paul Stobart isn't getting much sleep these days. It's nothing to do with rumblings of a distant assault on the UK accounting software market by Microsoft. Nor is the [pounds sterling]70m cost of Sage's new headquarters preying on his mind. No,...

Insider - Software special: digital reporting - Step up a level. Digital reporting is about more than pdfs. Integration has to be the key - and cost savings cannot be the only benchmark in deciding how far to go, writes John Court.
February 24, 2005... Byline: John Court, head of the ICAEW's IT Faculty. Imagine if you were able to use a simple software package to compare any set of financial reports with any other. What if you could consolidate information at the touch of a button and...

Insider - Software special: best-of-breed vs. integrated suite - Is all-in-one all you need?
February 24, 2005... INVESTMENT IN INTEGRATED APPLICATIONS REAPS THE BIGGER REWARDS If time and money were of no consequence we'd all buy our fish from coastal fishing towns and our vegetables from the local farmers' market. But the reality is that the...

Insider Overview - Chip off the old block. On the frontline: Bluetooth chip manufacturer FD stays optimistic about future sales, writes David Rae.
February 24, 2005... The technology boom may be a long and distant memory for even the most rose-tinted of venture capitalists, but one British-based technology company still continues to impress the City with its steady performance. Up until last week, that...

Insider Overview - Three steps to ... Fighting your way through the IT acronym maze.(Brief Article)
February 24, 2005... Step 1 - Test the TLA water There's no harm in having a go at acronym speak - just don't overdo it. To get you started there are plenty of computer dictionaries on the web (check out www.webopedia.com). For extra geek points, access them...

Insider Overview - Buzzwords - The Geek Line. (noun) The line that separates those who use IT and those who are its prisoner.(Brief Article)
February 24, 2005... Once there was, like a line in the sand, a line that could not - and should not - be crossed. It was a time when computers had their own floor, postmen delivered mail and the length of a cord determined how mobile a phone could be. Now...

Insider Overview - Planning prevents mayhem.(accounting software)
February 24, 2005... Implementation is something you do after you've bought your software, isn't it? Strictly speaking, that is true - but the first rule for successful implementation is that implementation starts long before you buy the product. You only have...

Services - Adviser: Wholesale approach. Is your cross selling at cross purposes? What your client wants is an approach that shows inside knowledge of its market and company, writes Mark Spofforth.(accounting)
February 24, 2005... Byline: Mark Spofforth, an ICAEW council member and partner at Spofforths. We were having a discussion in the office the other day about cross selling services - or rather the difficulties of cross selling successfully. Like many...

Joint action underway to fight Deloitte injunction.(Brief Article)
February 24, 2005... Byline: David Rae. Accountancy Age and the Joint Disciplinary Scheme will go to court next month in an attempt to overturn the injunction granted to Deloitte preventing publication of further details of an inquiry the firm is facing. ...

Revenue in governance talks on loopholes.(Inland Revenue )(Brief Article)
February 24, 2005... The Inland Revenue is in talks with UK businesses, the accounting bodies and the Financial Reporting Council in an attempt to make tax avoidance a key component of corporate governance. The department said it wants to learn from the US's...

FDs targeted as war on avoidance gets personal. Battle to close tax loopholes hots up as the Inland Revenue puts finance directors in the firing line, writes David Rae.
February 24, 2005... Finance directors have become the main target for the Inland Revenue, as it vowed this week to put them in the witness box to explain their use of 'aggressive' tax avoidance schemes. Chancellor Gordon Brown and the Revenue's top avoidance...

Barings 10 years on: how it shaped today's regulation. The look of today's regulatory terrain can be traced back to Nick Leeson, writes David Rae.
February 24, 2005... The collapse of Barings was one of the single most important events to shape the regulatory landscape that British businesses face today, according to the accountant and administrator sent in to rescue the stricken bank. Alan Bloom, lead...

Dual-listing causes miner problem. BHP Billiton, the largest diversified mining company in the world, is facing a complicated and uncertain transition to IFRS because of its dual-listing in Australia and the UK, writes Nicholas Neveling.(International Financial Reporting Standards)(Brief Article)
February 24, 2005... BHP Billiton's first reporting period under IFRS will begin at the start of its financial year on 1 July 2005. The group has said that 'significant uncertainty remains as to the likely impact of IFRS on the group's financial statements' because...

Liability guidelines in pipeline.(auditors)(Brief Article)
February 24, 2005... Byline: Paul Grant. Details on how auditors will be able to negotiate proportionate liability by contract with their corporate clients are expected to be published by the government next month. Ministers have been working towards...

News in brief.(accounting)
February 24, 2005... Solicitors have vowed to fight Customs & Excise for damages, following a European court interim decision that found the department had wrongly kept hold of tens of millions of pounds of VAT. Several companies will join forces to seek damages...

Two-stage merger on the cards. CIMA may join 'super institute' at a later date to allow time for a merger of equals, writes Andrew Sawers.(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants)(Brief Article)
February 24, 2005... The ICAEW and CIPFA may merge by themselves, leaving CIMA to join at a later date, the chief executives of the three institutes have confirmed. Eric Anstee, chief executive of the ICAEW, told Accountancy Age's sister title Financial...