Accountancy Age articles from October 2006

Accountancy Age archives from October 2006

Security lapse.(auditing safety)
October 2, 2006... Byline: Terry O'Neil Security lapse Since the events of 9/11 and more recently 7/7, security has moved up the corporate agenda. The threat of a terrorist attack -- particularly for accountancy practices operating in Central London --...

Rise to the challenges.(Michael Izza at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Byline: Gavin Hinks Rise to the challenges Gavin Hinks Michael Izza is about to run the gauntlet in his new post as chief executive of the ICAEW. As the successor to Eric Anstee, his tenure begins with a list of difficulties,...

Towards a radical agenda.(Michael Izza to manage the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales)
October 2, 2006... Byline: Peter williams Towards a radical agenda Peter Williams In his first public pronouncements as the ICAEW's newly appointed chief executive, Michael Izza suggested that he is happy with the present overall strategy and...

Lords to ease supplier fear.(Lord Sainsbury and Margaret Hodge)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Byline: Parly Lords to ease supplier fear Our Parliamentary Staff The government is to formally assure business leaders that a surprise last minute change to the companies bill will not force them to reveal their entire supply...

Green tax furore snowballs after leaked letter.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Byline: David Jetuah Green tax furore snowballs after leaked letter Green taxes look set to rise, after a week in which politicians appeared to discuss little else, writes David Jetuah. In a leaked letter to Chancellor Gordon Brown,...

where courage is required.
October 5, 2006... Byline: Peter charles where courage is required Most finance directors and finance professionals recognise that a shared service centre is a document factory, a transaction processing plant. It takes raw materials of invoices,...

OPen linE.(Hanif Lalani, finance director, BT Group PLC )
October 5, 2006... Byline: michelle perry OPen linE Taking over from a well-respected finance director will always be a daunting task. When it's at a FTSE 100 company in the public eye it can be a less than cheery prospect. Nevertheless, this is the...

wasteD effort.(business accounting)
October 5, 2006... Byline: steve pipe wasteD effort Accounting was invented more than 500 years ago by the Italian monk Pacioli. The problem is that it hasn't really improved much since then, and as a result most accounts produced for businesses...

Research developments.(John Langston)(Smiths Group PLC)(Interview)
October 5, 2006... Byline: cantos Research developments QWhat for you were the highlights of these results? AThis has been another strong year for the Smiths Group, with good organic top and bottom line growth and very good cash generation. We've...

Annual report.
October 5, 2006... Byline: company reporting VEDANTA RESOURCES PLC Period end: 31/3/06 31/3/05 Line of business: Diversified metals and mining Listing status: FTSE 100 Publication date: 31/5/06 1/6/05 Turnover (US$): 3,702 1,884 ...

Doing your duty could put you in danger.(Serious Organised Crime Agency)
October 5, 2006... Byline: Nicholas Neveling Doing your duty could put you in danger When Tony Blair set up the Serious Organised Crime Agency back in April, the new crime-fighting body was hailed as the answer to the ever more sophisticated...

job to die for.
October 5, 2006... Byline: Rachael Singh People and moves... Job to die for: group chief accountant The gong for job of the week goes to Tim Harris who, subject to regulatory approval, will take up the grand post of group chief accountant at Aviva....

On the money.(financial directors)(Brief article)
October 5, 2006... Byline: Anthony Hilton on the money with Anthony Hilton Back in the dark ages before the birth of the corporate governance industry the resignation of a director was a useful warning signal for investors that all...

Safety first.
October 5, 2006... Byline: Chas roy Chowdhury Safety first Accountants are required by law to report suspicions of money laundering to the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). Not only this but the professional bodies (including ACCA) have made the...

View from the board: easing your promotion.
October 5, 2006... Byline: mark freebairn view from the board: easing your promotion Now don't accuse me of jumping on the news cycle bandwagon, but for some reason succession planning seems to be topical. Bearing in mind the increasing numbers...

Women have a future.(Margaret Ewing and Alison Reed, former group financial directors of BAA and Standard Life )
October 5, 2006... Byline: Kevin Reed WOmen have a future The departures of two of the most high profile female finance directors in the UK has clearly not been viewed as a hammer blow to equality in the boardroom. Indeed Margaret Ewing and Alison...

A white elephant is born.(audit services)
October 5, 2006... Byline: danielle stewart A white elephant is born Twenty years ago a small company audit was nothing more than a thorough accounts preparation exercise, combined with an intelligent analytical review, usually done by a partner who knew...

Advisers look at US plans to close tax gap.(Brief article)
October 5, 2006... Byline: Kevin Reed Advisers look at US plans to close tax gap tax Kevin Reed As debate rages over the tactics employed by HM Revenue & Customs to try and close the tax gap, focus for this week at least has shifted across the...

SEC enters digital age.(Securities and Exchange Commission)(Brief article)
October 5, 2006... Byline: Nicholas Neveling SEC enters digital age technology Nicholas Neveling The Securities and Exchange Commission is not an organisation associated with making radical changes to the way it operates, but recently the US...

Sector nibs.(Begbies Traynor launced Begbies Global Network)(Neil Martin losses HM Revenue and Customs case)(legal services reform)
October 5, 2006... Byline: Kevin Reed ONLINE This week's top stories on accountancyage.com/sector global network launched Begbies Traynor is launching a network of multi-disciplinary firms around the world known as the Begbies Global...

Three things.
October 5, 2006... Byline: michelle perry Book it 'The Washing Machine' is a riveting read exploring the murky side of international financial exchange. Nick Kochan unpicks the threat illegal funds pose to Western economies. ducknet.co.uk Blow...

Relishing the competition.(BT Group PLC)(Brief article)
October 5, 2006... Relishing the competition Competition is stiff in the telecoms marketplace. New technologies such as broadband telephony are cropping up fast to change the marketplace, but BT FD thinks the FTSE 100 company is well placed now that it has...

Fundamental flaws in annual accounting.
October 5, 2006... Fundamental Flaws in annual accounts l They don't make easy reading l They don't show how a business is doing compared with others in its sector l They don't identify strengths and weaknesses l They don't identify the scope...

Eight steps to best practice.(Brief article)
October 5, 2006... eight steps to best practice Step 1: Decide what you want to achieve in the year Step 2: Measure how well you actually perform each month Step 3: Measure your full year's performance Step 4: Evaluate your performance by...

Source of debate.
October 5, 2006... Byline: damian wild source of debate David Poole, chief operations officer of Business Process Outsourcing at Capgemini Cost is always there as a KPI but I think in most cases that is because a price profile, if you like, is...

Personality of the Year.(Neil Wood)(Brief article)
October 5, 2006... Byline: Accountancy Age Personality of the Year It was the Olympics that did it. Or rather it was Neil Wood, finance director of the bid team that won the 2012 Olympics for London, who was voted the Accountancy Age Personality of...

Corporate tax could give Brown the edge Some might call it unedifying. The sight of Chris Spooner, head of financial planning and tax at HSBC, drawing a line on the sand on how much tax corporates are willing to tolerate paying to UK authorities. This iss.
October 5, 2006... Byline: Accountancy Age Corporate tax could give Brown the edge Some might call it unedifying. The sight of Chris Spooner, head of financial planning and tax at HSBC, drawing a line on the sand on how much tax corporates are willing to...

Piggy goes to market.
October 5, 2006... Byline: David Jetuah Piggy goes to market 'And pigs might fly,' according to the popular adage, but in the case of ETF Securities it might just turn out to be true. To mark the listing of 29 Exchange Traded Commodities (ETCs)on the...

SPot the difference.
October 5, 2006... Byline: Nicholas Neveling Spot the difference TS does not usually indulge in silly 'looky-likey' shenanigans, but sometimes a resemblance is just so striking that TS can't help but start playing around with Photoshop and coming up...

Women in accounting.
October 5, 2006... Byline: Rachael Singh Here at TS Towers we are all about equality among the sexes -- but when we heard that in Chinese accountancy firms women out-number men at all levels, we couldn't help but feel a little shocked. Not only...

Interserve takes [pounds sterling]25m hit.(Brief article)
October 5, 2006... Byline: David Jetuah Interserve takes [pounds sterling]25m hit David Jetuah Building and maintenance group Interserve has faced up to a [pounds sterling]25.9m hit in its asset valuation after its much-publicised accounting bungle....

Advisers get ready for policy shift as LSE tightens regulation.
October 5, 2006... Byline: David Jetuah Advisers get ready for policy shift as LSE tightens regulation David Jetuah Nominated advisers (NOMADS) to floated companies are bracingthemselves for a sweeping policy shift as the London Stock Exchange...

Hale heads back to Deloitte.(Kari Hale )(Brief article)
October 5, 2006... Byline: Penny Sukhraj Hale heads back to Deloitte Kari Hale is to leave his role as chief accounting regulator at the FSA, saying that he has spent a 'natural period of time' at the watchdog, writes Penny Sukhraj. Hale, who said...

Musical chairs.(BDO Stoy Hayward)(Grant Thornton )(Brief article)
October 5, 2006... Byline: Kevin Reed Everyone's well aware that BDO Stoy Hayward and Grant Thornton have been kind of 'teaming up' on the audit issue. They even like to be picked on the same football team at morning break, TS has heard. But their latest 'we...

McCreevy threatens to give IASB cold shoulder.(International Accounting Standards Board)(Charlie McCreevy )(Brief article)
October 5, 2006... Byline: Keith Nuthall McCreevy threatens to give IASB cold shoulder Keith Nuthall EU internal market commissioner Charlie McCreevy has warned the International Accounting Standards Board that its small and medium-sized...

HSBC: 'we'll quit UK over tax'.(Brief article)
October 5, 2006... Byline: Nicholas Neveling HSBC: 'we'll quit UK over tax' Nicholas Neveling HSBC, the global giant and the UK's largest bank, has urged the UK to develop a more competitive tax system or risk seeing it move abroad. The group's...

Protection call for SOCA tip-offs.(Serious Organised Crime Agency)(Brief article)
October 5, 2006... Byline: Nicholas Neveling Protection call for SOCA tip-offs Nicholas Neveling The profession is lobbying government to pass legislation that will protect the identities of those who provide suspicious activity reports to the...

Institute structure branded 'parochial'.(Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales)(Brief article)
October 5, 2006... Byline: Kevin Reed Institute structure branded 'parochial' Kevin Reed New ICAEW council members have launched an astonishing attack on their own professional body. The criticisms, described by the institute as...

UN weighs in on charities row.
October 5, 2006... Byline: Penny Sukhraj UN weighs in on charities row Penny Sukhraj The UN is set to consider corporate social responsibility reporting when its accounting body meets next week. The move follows a campaign by Publish...

Working capital delays puts companies' profits at risk.
October 5, 2006... Byline: David Jetuah Working capital delays puts companies' profits at risk David Jetuah A significant number of companies are doing the equivalent of 'living on a shoestring' as they wait for returns to manifest, a study has...

Recruiters welcome new female FDs.
October 5, 2006... Byline: Kevin Reed Recruiters welcome new female FDs Kevin Reed Women could take over a host of the top finance director positions in the next few years, according to consultants. The loss of Margaret Ewing, formerly at BAA,...

PwC on the offensive at Mayflower tribunal.(PricewaterhouseCoopers )
October 5, 2006... Byline: Penny Sukhraj PwC on the offensive at Mayflower tribunal Penny Sukhraj Lawyers for PricewaterhouseCoopers poured scorn on the AIDB's case against the firm this week, as it pledged to pursue costs for complaints already...

Online gaming auditors on red alert over travel to US.
October 5, 2006... Byline: Nicholas Neveling Online gaming auditors on red alert over travel to US Nicholas Neveling Online gaming auditors are being advised not to travel to the United States, as the hysteria over the US gambling crackdown...

Online.(UK to combat tax frauds)(Neil Johnson leaves Tenon)(Smith and Williamson appoints Richard Mannion)
October 5, 2006... Byline: - carousel fraud boost UK tax and crime-fighting authorities have received a major boost in their ongoing struggle against carousel fraudsters after the European Commission granted the UK permission to change the way it charged...

NHS consulting.
October 5, 2006... Byline: Kevin Reed The NHS has become the fourth largest market for the consulting industry (accountancyage.com/ 2165327). However, those profiting from providing services to the NHS have changed in the last week after Accenture...

Ernst & Young celebrate 9% global growth.
October 5, 2006... Byline: David Jetuah Ernst & Young celebrate 9% global growth David Jetuah Ernst & Young's global revenues grew by 9% this year, the firm has said. Compared to 2005, when the firm brought in $16.3bn ([pounds sterling]8.6bn),...

roll up, roll up!
October 5, 2006... Byline: deloitte roll up, roll up! With 2005 behind us, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has an ambition to revolutionise financial reporting. Whatever framework it develops, it is intended to benefit users. At...

A wikid bit of marketing.
October 5, 2006... Byline: Kevin Reed A wikid bit of marketing Wikipedia. Good fun isn't it? From reading all the background on your favourite rock artists, to getting the lowdown on whether a guinea pig is a rodent (I still think it's a pig: ed)....

Choppy waters in the flotation market.
October 6, 2006... Byline: David Jetuah Choppy waters in the flotation market David Jetuah KPMG experts have warned that the flotation market remains potentially treacherous and depends upon pinpoint pricing by entrants, after Hogg Robinson...

Ethics make excellent sense.
October 12, 2006... Byline: Katherine Bradshaw Ethics make excellent sense After sweatshop scandals hit the likes of Gap and Nike, many companies went a long way to protect their reputations by ensuring that their suppliers in the developing world offered...

Moving up the agenda: new rules for risk management.
October 12, 2006... Byline: Si Hussain moving up the agenda: new rules for risk management Senior finance professionals who take the time to keep up to date with regulatory change will be aware of the impending implementation of the new Basel accord,...

Hartnett renews adviser assault.(Dave Hartnett)
October 12, 2006... Byline: Nicholas Neveling Hartnett renews adviser assault tax Nicholas Neveling Dave Hartnett's latest attack on tax advisers has added an extra chill to the frosty relationship the director general of HM Revenue & Customs...

leaders of the pack.
October 12, 2006... Byline: Anthony Harrington leaders of the pack The financial software market for large companies is a very different beast from the same market for medium sized enterprises. The former is going through a period of intense...

In the pipe line.(interview)
October 12, 2006... Byline: Cantos In the pipe line Q Could you give me a breakdown of the key numbers, and split out the difference which acquisitions have made? AYes, certainly. Well, first of all, we're delighted with the performance. It was...

Yell annual report of the week.
October 12, 2006... Byline: company reporting YELL Period end: 31/3/06 31/3/05 Line of business: Provider of classified directory, advertising and associated products Publication date: 9/6/06 6/6/05 Turnover ([pounds...

Words to the wise.(company profile)(Company overview)
October 12, 2006... Byline: Alex Hawkes Words to the wise Founded in 1843 to campaign against the corn laws, the agricultural protectionism of the early nineteenth century, The Economist, and the group to which it has given its name, has come a long way....

let's talk about x.
October 12, 2006... Byline: Lesley Meall let's talk about x Apple. eBay. Google. XBRL. Yahoo! Can you spot the odd one out? In a world where brand strength can make the difference between success and failure, the eXtensible Business Reporting Language has...

Consolidated effort.(appointment)
October 12, 2006... Byline: Nicholas Neveling COnsolidated effort Tenon, the AIM-listed accounting group, has had a difficult time of it over the last few months, but after slogging through a strategic review and considering a management buy-out the firm...

Tough call on debt.(regulating the debt management industry)(Brief article)
October 12, 2006... Byline: Kevin Reed Tough call on debt personal insolvency Kevin Reed The debt management industry, which has been vilified from all quarters over allegations of mis-selling, will be more tightly regulated in the future. ...

What's the FRRP point?(Financial Reporting)(company accounting reports)(Brief article)
October 12, 2006... Byline: Alex Hawkes what is the FRRP'S point? The Financial Reporting Review Panel has just released its latest report on company accounting, delivering its usual blend of facts and figures about what it has done. The...

xPS software push makes good progress.
October 12, 2006... Byline: Nicholas Neveling xPS software push makes good progress TECHNOLOGY Nicholas Neveling A year ago there was great excitement among small software suppliers providing niche applications. The ICAEW's Practice...

Job to die for: Eastman Kodak CFO.
October 12, 2006... Byline: Rachael Singh People and moves... Job to die for: eastman kodak cfo This week's man to envy for his new job is Frank Sklarsky the new CFO of Eastman Kodak, the photographic film and digital camera maker. A great task...

A fair share.
October 12, 2006... Byline: Alan Stevens A fair share Outsourcing has long been viewed as an excellent option for companies looking to reduce costs and streamline their finance and accounting operations. However, it's not for everyone and despite the...

Big Four gains support on liability argument.
October 12, 2006... Byline: Penny Sukhraj Big Four gains support on liability argument AUDIT Penny Sukhraj Fed up with the difficulty of trying to get the UK to pass limited liability in anything but a watered down form, the Big Four appear to...

hard to swallow.
October 12, 2006... Byline: Lesley Meall hard to swallow It's difficult for software vendors and their resellers to convince finance directors that they need to update the applications they have in place, so organisations with growth ambitions are...

A precious commodity.(business identity)
October 12, 2006... Byline: Owen Roberts A precious commodity All businesses from sole traders through to large corporations have an identity and that identity can be abused by fraudsters. Think about the relationships that your business has with its...

bank it, budget it, buy it.
October 12, 2006... Byline: Michelle perry bank it... The Bank of England left interest rates unchanged this month at 4.75% , after an unexpected quarter point rate rise in August. The monetary policy committee raised borrowing costs in August to 4.75%...

Buying potential.
October 12, 2006... Buying potential Steve Bagshaw, editor, Supply Management Generally the answer is no, it isn't high up the agenda. But there are some notable exceptions to that, and in the last issue of Supply Management, Sir Alan Sugar was quoted as...

Paper business discarded.
October 12, 2006... Byline: David Jetuah COMPANY REPORTS Paper business discarded Operations at paper business Sandusky Walmsley are to be closed by its administrators after they failed to find a buyer for the company. PricewaterhouseCoopers partners...

Sir David Arculus's breakthrough.(impact assessment for legislation)(Brief article)
October 12, 2006... Byline: Anothony Hilton on the money with Anthony Hilton When Sir David Arculus was running the better regulation task force he felt he had achieved a real breakthrough when he gained Downing Street's support for...

Best Use of the Internet: Business.
October 12, 2006... Best Use of the Internet: Business The internet has been through difficult times. Once it was literally the answer to everything and everyone rushed to build new websites with bucket loads of investment capital. Then came the dotcom...

Banks accept IFRS demands.
October 12, 2006... Byline: Alex Hawkes ONLINE This week's top stories on accountancyage.com/sector banks accept ifrs demands Major global banks are responding well to the challenges of additional disclosure demands and accounting...

Transfer trauma.
October 12, 2006... Byline: John Sterlicchi Transfer trauma The 'B word' is now regularly used by multinationals as they struggle to deal with the increasingly complex world of transfer pricing. The B word we are talking about is billions; as in the...

a culture shock in store for kpmg It's fair to say that KPMG has stunned everyone by announcing its German merger. There has been discussion for some time about the Big Four networks forging closer ties (the loose combinations have always been something o.(Brief article)
October 12, 2006... Byline: Alex Hawkes a culture shock in store for kpmg It's fair to say that KPMG has stunned everyone by announcing its German merger. There has been discussion for some time about the Big Four networks forging closer ties (the loose...

goodman jones plumps for online tools.(Twinfield)(Brief article)
October 12, 2006... goodman jones plumps for Online tools Chartered accountancy firm Goodman Jones LLP needed a more efficient way of serving its customer base. Conventional software packages were either too slow or unsatisfactory, so it finally chose...

AIDB's got teething problems.(Accountancy Investigation & Discipline Board )(Brief article)
October 12, 2006... Byline: Penny Sukhraj AIDB's got teething problems TS knows that the AIDB is going through its first public tribunals, but we feel compelled to report some of its teething problems anyway. When attending the Mayflower/PwC public...

Naughty Deloitte.(writ issued for unpaid power bill)(Brief article)
October 12, 2006... Byline: Nicholas Neveling TS couldn't believe its eyes when it saw a High Court writ issued against Deloitte by nPower for an unpaid power bill of around [pounds sterling]60,000. Naughty, naughty Deloitte, TS thought. Surely all the...

E&Y sure can pick 'em.(Earnest & Young Ltd.)(Brief article)
October 12, 2006... Byline: David Jetuah E&Y sure can pick 'em Back in 2004, E&Y crowned Shaid Luqman 'UK Young Entrepreneur of the Year' -- but last week a senior judge panned the winner for being 'completely dishonest' and banned him from acting as a...

The taxables family.(Chartered Institute of Taxation)(Brief article)
October 12, 2006... Byline: Alex Hawkes The Taxables, an almost 'nuclear family' muses TS, were created by the CIoT for its Tax Advice Week website to teach people about tax matters. A good idea. But sad to say, we do have to quarrel with one aspect. Jack...

You can't say that.(John Griffith-Jones)(KPMG L.L.P.)(Brief article)
October 12, 2006... Byline: Alex Hawkes You can't say that John Griffith-Jones, already one of TS's favourite characters from the profession, was quoted in the Financial Times talking about the KPMG euro-merger this week, specifically about...

EC hands out hefty fines for subsidy fraud.
October 12, 2006... Byline: Keith Nuthall EC hands out hefty fines for subsidy fraud Keith Nuthall The European Commission is fining member states more than E300m ([pounds sterling]200m) for failing to recover fraudulent agricultural payments. ...

Carousel fraud deadline looms for programmers.
October 12, 2006... Byline: Nicholas Neveling Carousel fraud deadline looms for programmers Nicholas Neveling Software developers are running out of time to update applications to handle the reverse charge VAT regime introduced by the taxman to fight...

Debt regulation may be years away.
October 12, 2006... Byline: Kevin Reed Debt regulation may be years away Kevin Reed The Insolvency Practitioners Association has warned that the Office of Fair Trading is unlikely to provide rigorous scrutiny of debt management companies for years....

Europe beckons for Big Four as KPMG pulls off shock merger.(Brief article)
October 12, 2006... Byline: Penny Sukhraj, Alex Hawkes and Nicholas Neveling Europe beckons for Big Four as KPMG pulls off shock merger Penny Sukhraj The Big Four look set to be transformed by a wave of European mergers, sources suggested this week,...