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Every article from your latest print edition of CA Magazine

September 2008

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Editor's desk: Can more rules cure the crunch?

Robert Outram finds that, while the credit crunch is a key issue for finance directors, there’s little consensus among them as to how to fix it, or how to prevent it happening again

In my view: Threat from within

It’s not all Nigerian lotteries. As fraud increases, figures show that internal crime accounted for almost half the cases to hit UK businesses in the first six months of this year

Don't worry be happy

Glenn Allison goes Down Under – and discovers a healthy dose of economic optimism

Box-tick banks under fire…

Banks are failing to live up to the spirit of new accounting rules designed to make them disclose more about risk management practices, according to a study of their year-end accounts by PricewaterhouseCoopers

Companies ‘put too much into pensions’

More than half the companies in the FTSE 100 may be paying too much into pension funds

Firms keep to on-line track

The UK’s accountancy industry is on track to meet government regulations to meet government regulations for online filing, with only 6 per cent having done no online filing, according to the latest Pulse survey from Sage (UK)

£5.7m pay for Deloitte's top man

The head of accountancy firm Deloitte earned £5.7m after annual pro?ts rose 16 per cent to more than £650m for the year to 31 May

Barnes to head Grant Thornton

Grant Thornton’s UK firm has appointed Scott Barnes as its CEO after his election by the partnership

Insolvencies soar

The number of Scots being made bankrupt reached an all-time high in the second quarter of 2008

Brit Insurance may move overseas

Brit Insurance, the Lloyd’s of London insurer, has appointed Ernst & Young to advise it on a possible move from the UK to a more favourable tax regime

Red card for club finances

Expectations of Scottish football fans for success on the pitch may be undermined as boardroom ?nances are hit by the economic downturn, according to a report by accountants and business adviser PKF

The Investment Company admits breaching IASs

The Investment Company has corrected its accounts after the Financial Reporting and Review Panel ruled that it broke rules on participating preference shares (PPSs)

Pay rises for non-execs slow as work gets heavier

Pay rises for non-executive directors slowed again last year and companies expected them to do more, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ annual review shows

Letters

This month's letters: A right to levy local income tax

Letters: What do you do now?

In July’s CA Magazine we printed an abbreviated version of a dilemma from What do you do now by Dr David Molyneux (ICAS, 2008), about a staff expenses claim for travel that had not taken place – “justified” by the argument that the firm benefited overall. Here are some responses:

Letters: Enron case is of public concern

I have read the magazine's very good piece on Lord Wakeham ("Disciplinary body drops Wakeham case", August 2008)

Office Auntie

It’s all downhill to January now…

Likely to succeed…

Expect more professionals’ children to follow in daddy’s or mummy’s footsteps, specially in Scotland

Ignore them and they’ll go away

It says here that six out of ten unsolicited emails to companies are never answered. It goes on about automated replies promising that a human will be in touch, which it says often does not happen

Are the staff sitting profitably?

Q1: Thinking about office design, how much on a scale of one to ten do you agree with the statement that office design is only a question of not putting the water-cooler right outside the boss’s office, or not having to pull your chair in every time the person at the next desk wants to go to the photocopier?

Good month, Bad month

John Connolly and Alistair Darling

Chantelle gets back to work

Accountancy to top business management is a well known career path: Chantelle Nelson is treading it backwards

Travel

A round up of the latest business travel news

There may be trouble ahead

Gloom about the economy and a wide range of suggestions for improving it are revealed in our finance directors’ survey, writes Robert Outram

FDs Who's Who: The FTSE 350

The CAs who are the top management of UK plc, with a range of companies that often reflects Scotland’s traditional skills – finance, energy, publishing

FDs Who's Who: The top Scots

There have been some changes in the 10 largest Scottish-based companies, and some new faces amongst their FDs

FDs Who's Who: Following the money

Their business is looking after the cash in businesses that look after cash – the CAs who are finance directors in financial services companies

FDs Who's Who: Vision of the future

Over the next decade, KPMG predicts, finance professionals will need to reduce the proportion of time spent extracting financial data and spend more time adding insight. Robert Outram finds out why

Countdown to pension reform

It's not just the Olympics that are happening in 2012. There will also be a change to the pensions landscape as we know it, as the Government is introducing a national pension plan in April 2012 called personal accounts

Enterprise briefing: Life support

Insolvency practitioners – sometimes seen as the undertakers of the business world – offer Kenny Kemp some advice on how businesses can avoid falling into their hands

Enterprise briefing: Little and large

International accounting rules for non-quoted companies must be valid for businesses in a vast range of sizes. Steven Brice looks at progress so far and hopes for a decision early next year

Company cars: Return trip

The company car looks set for a revival in popularity, thanks to rising fuel costs, changes in the tax regime and fears over safety obligations

Company cars: Car review

The executive car sector offers a wide range of vehicles for senior managers with prices starting from around £30,000 and rising to over £80,000

City Column: Warming up capital growth funds?

The smoking ban boosted sales of patio heaters. Will the law of unintended consequences mean CGTchanges revive the zero-coupon market, Angus McCrone wonders

Interview: Rod Ashley

Rod Ashley is the chief executive of Scotwest Credit Union and a great enthusiast for a movement which helps the less well off to save and borrow at fair rates

Personal finance: Offshore opportunities

More and more UK investors are turning to bonds based in Jersey or the Isle of Man as insurance companies improve their offerings

Corporate finance: Signs of life in a tough market

David Leslie reflects on some recent Scottish M&A successes in the industrial sector, and, just over a year on from the start of the credit crunch, reviews current trends in the deals market

Charitable concerns

Reform has brought problems for Scottish charities and the professionals who advise them, an ICAS survey has found

Recipe for VAT success

Smaller ?rms that do not have a VAT expert can build up worthwhile relationships with specialist practices

Fraud focus

Martin Morris stresses the importance of including IT audit in the general security, risk management and compliance policy of a company

Financial lessons

With school fees growing not just in absolute terms but also as a proportion of personal income, Ian Harper looks at ways in which parents who have rejected the state education system can cope with the monetary burden

Ireland shows way on foreign dividends

The Irish Government has pushed through plans in January’s Finance Bill 2008 to reduce the tax rate on qualifying foreign dividends from 25 per cent to 12.5 per cent

Late interest payment rules may break treaty

HMRC has acknowledged that the UK’s rules on late payment of interest may contravene EC treaty freedoms

HMRC to revise International Manual

HMRC is to rewrite the thin capitalisation sections of the International Manual, to bring it into line with HMRC’s current approach

Improved VAT rules for error correction

The £2,000 threshold for reporting VAT errors to HMRC has gone in a measure first announced in the last Budget, which aims to cut administrative costs for business

SMEs receive R&D tax credit boost

Smaller companies are to benefit from research tax credits thanks to changes in the size of company affected and the proportion of spend involved

HMRC turns the spotlight on large partnerships’ accounts and returns

All large partnerships are likely to face closer and more informed scrutiny of their tax returns after HMRC recently introduced specialist partnership tax units, for which trained accountants have been recruited to work alongside tax inspectors

Legislation tackles SDLT avoidance in property deals

A new anti-avoidance measure designed to claw back stamp duty land tax (SDLT) in relation to certain intra-group property transfers was introduced on 12 March

Johnston Publising loses degrouping case

The Court of Appeal has ruled against Johnston Publishing (North) in its associated company exemption case

Foreign profits reforms delayed

Donald Drysdale is glad to see the Chancellor consulting companies about tax on foreign dividends, but wishes new rules could be brought in more quickly

Scottish Forum for Professional Ethics hold first conference

Fundamental questions about the role of professional bodies in 21st century Scotland in promoting higher ethical standards in public life are to be addressed at the inaugural conference of the Scottish Forum for Professional Ethics, on t8 September at the Playfair Library Hall, the University of Edinburgh

A quality CA

This month’s article outlines how the work of the quality review team goes to the heart of ensuring practising members maintain a quality of service

Practice Web Tower (link opens in new window)