A risky business |
| Ryan Hill tells you everything you really need to know about ISA 315 |
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Making life simple |
| PQ magazine editor Graham Hambly went along to have a chat to the man whose job it is to help simplify the UK tax system – and no, it’s not George Osborne! |
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Making your marks |
| Former examiner Neil Russell outlines a five-step plan to making the ICAEW case study marks feedback work for you |
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A weighty issue |
| Rob Stephens explains how to calculate weighted average cost of capital |
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Food for thought |
| Health eating can help you pass your exams, says Nicki Cresswell |
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ICAEW: Be careful what you offer... |
| What exactly is a legally binding agreement? Jo Dyson explains all |
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Exam Surgery |
| Solve the equation
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How clean is your annual report? |
| With the help of the Accounting Standards Board’s Jenny Carter, we outline why it is
important to tackle the ‘clutter’ in annual reports |
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Take your partner |
| Victoria Cavell looks at the tax implications for business partners |
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ICAEW: Back to basics |
| First Intuition lecturer Rob Stephens looks at the basics of compounding and discounting and the application to higher level subject matter |
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Takeaways a VAT hot potato |
| For VAT specialists one of the most loved topics is the VAT liability of food and drinks, demonstrated by the infamous Jaffa Cakes, teacakes, Pringles and Innocent Smoothies cases. |
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A new lease of life |
| Ryan Hill explores the implications of a new approach to lease accounting |
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Unlimited attempts for ICAEW students |
| The ICAEW has removed the limit on the number of attempts students can have at the advanced stage. However, the four attempts limit remains at the professional level (employer permitting). |
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ACA syllabus set to change |
| Final touches are being put on the new-look ACA qualification, which will go before the ICAEW Council in July. |
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HMRC gets ‘hands on’ with tax cheats |
| Brian Redford of HMRC’s Business Customer Unit explains its new hands-on approach to tax evasion |
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Bribery Act: stay on the right side of the law |
| The all-new Bribery Act reforms the criminal law to provide a modern and comprehensive scheme of bribery offences that will enable courts and prosecutors to respond more effectively to bribery at home or abroad. |
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Disguised remuneration |
| Sian Beusch has all you need to know about disguised remuneration |
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Lords slam big auditors |
| Audit firms’ “complacency” and “dereliction of duty” contributed to the financial crisis, according to a House of Lords’ Economic Affairs Committee Report. |
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Top billing |
| The term disbursements has a specific meaning when it comes to VAT. Sian Beusch explains all |
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Where’s the dialogue? |
| The FRC wants to see an improvement in the dialogue between boards and shareholders and has put forward a seven-point plan, outlined here |
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Pass rates hold steady |
| Taxation was certainly not the stand out paper at the ICAEW’s December professional exam this time around. |
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Push for change |
| Mid-tier firms Mazars, BDO, Grant Thornton and RSM say there is a credible alternative to the status quo in the audit market. Here’s the official statement the four issued on a subject that’s rapidly becoming accountancy’s hot topic |
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Mind the gaap |
| Accounting Standards Board’s chairman Roger Marshall outlines the proposed future of financial reporting |
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Narrowing the Gap with the ICAEW |
| The ICAEW, Europe’s largest accountancy body with over 136,000 members in 165 countries, has, as part of its public interest role, a mission to recruit and train a diverse mix of talent within the profession, writes Rhonda Martin. |
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Big 4 news |
| Big 4 News |
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APB tightens up ethical standards |
| The Auditing Practices Board (APB) has published a Feedback Statement and revised Ethical Standards for Auditors. |
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Risking it all |
| The FRC’s Stephen Haddrill believes the UK’s boardrooms need to spend more time thinking about risk |
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How is your body doing online? |
| PQ magazine’s latest survey provides a picture of how trainees are interacting with their professional body online. So how are they doing? Our survey is brought to you in association with Kaplan Financial |
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THE EU MAN COMETH |
| Prem Sikka looks at the state of the audit market and explains why he believes big changes may be needed |
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The final test |
| Neil Russell was the ICAEW Case Study Senior Examiner from 1999 to 2010. We asked him how he would advise students to prepare for the assessment of ethics in the Case Study exam |
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ICAEW PQs advance to go |
| Some 3,641 ICAEW PQs are now potential NQs following the release of the July advanced stage results. |
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audit: get it sorted! |
| PQ looks at the damning report on the state of audit among the big firms from the profession’s regulator, the Audit Inspection Unit |
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Paying the penalty |
| Sian Beusch explains the ins and outs of the new ‘failure to notify’ penalty – something that could affect you personally |
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Business Reporting Through the Lens of the Investor |
| For the third part in its series on business reporting (see also “IFAC project on business reporting”), IFAC interviewed six specialists with close ties to the investment community to get their recommendations on how to improve business reporting. |
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Business Reporting Beyond the Crisis: How to Make Sure That We Don’t Tumble Into Another Black Hole |
| “My general conclusion is that everyone is guilty,” says Jules Muis—former Ernst & Young partner, controller of the Word Bank, and director-general audit of the European Commission—about the financial crisis. |
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Good Governance and Sustainability Fundamental for Improved Business Reporting |
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“In times like this, the basic elements of managing a company, such as governance, accounting, and auditing, should stand out like a rock in the storm,” says Joe Kaeser, chief financial officer of Siemens, the Germany-based global company engaged in electronics and electrical engineering, in an interview with the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). |
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The Clarified Auditing Standards |
| Steve Collings presents a summary of the main changes to come out of the audit clarity project. |
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Compound Financial Instruments |
| In this article, Steve Collings takes a look at the accounting treatment of compound financial instruments and looks at the provisions in IAS 32 ‘Financial Instruments: Presentation’ and IAS 39 ‘Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement’. |
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Have the auditors failed us? |
| Auditors’ ‘lack of professional scepticism’ and ‘management bias’ has come under fire in a discussion document released jointly by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and Financial Reporting Council (FRC). |
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Here come the girls? |
| So women want any accountancy qualification except the ICAEW. We might be over-egging the point but the ICAEW chartered firms don’t seem to be able to attract women into the profession in the same numbers as the other bodies. |
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A matter of substance |
| It’s vital that you understand the concept of lease accounting. Here Martin Jones explains a topic you are very likely to be tested on |
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Top mark for ICAEW |
| ICAEW’s new education chief Mark Protherough spoke to PQ magazine about the challenges that lie ahead and his goals for the future |
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Deloitte – We are the champions |
| The action was fast and furious when MCASS held its annual football tournament, sponsored by Sphere Group, at Pitz Powerleague in Ardwick. |
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BIG 4 - News |
| All the latest goings on in the Big 4 |
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KPMG wants ‘young people’ |
| Continued growth plans mean KPMG is now in a position to commit to taking some 70 more graduates this September. |
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Deloitte PQ admits gambling problem |
| Is there a gambling problem among ICAEW PQs? Last month we reported on former KPMG trainee Vikas Gupta. This month its ex-Deloitte trainee Umar Qureshi. |
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ICAEW results out |
| Just over 1,500 ICAEW PQs sat professional papers in March, and the results are now out. |
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