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Insights

Pulling together opinion, analysis, interviews and features on the profession along with a focus on the key issues affecting accountancy and the world of business.

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Insights Special

COP26 and climate

Find inspiration, information and practical resources to support the goals of the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow and explore why it represents a critical time for the profession.
Read more
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Latest news

Green finance roadmap sets out government’s sustainability expectations
  • Article
  • 19 Oct 2021
HM Treasury has published its roadmap for the transition to a greener financial system. Importantly for the accountancy profession, it sets out plans for implementing sustainability disclosures.
£9.7bn foreign investment to boost UK economy
  • Article
  • 19 Oct 2021
ICAEW has welcomed the nearly £10bn foreign investment secured at the UK Global Investment Summit and called for an injection of best-in-class thinking about management and innovation.
€100bn EU funds has not made farming more climate-friendly
  • Article
  • 19 Oct 2021
Funding destined for climate action has not contributed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from farming, says the European Court of Auditors. We speak to Peter Welch, the Director of Sustainable Use of Natural Resources.
Cyber crime: creating a 'no blame' culture
  • Article
  • 19 Oct 2021
Your response to a breach matters – here’s how to ensure your conversations and investigations are productive.

Latest tax news

Keep up to date with the latest on the Budget
  • Article
  • 19 Oct 2021
Technical experts from across ICAEW will be publishing a range of resources and insights in the coming weeks to help members understand the implications of the Spending Review and the Autumn Budget on 27 October. Find out more.
Proposed property development tax rules should be tightened
  • Article
  • 19 Oct 2021
ICAEW’s Tax Faculty has raised concerns that draft legislation implementing a new tax on residential property developers could have wider implications than intended and that wording should be revisited.
HMRC develops new online agent services
  • Article
  • 19 Oct 2021
HMRC has taken some small but important steps towards giving agents access to the information and services available to clients. ICAEW’s Tax Faculty outlines recent changes including giving agents access to payments and liability information for VAT and employer PAYE.
SA1 still available to register clients for self assessment
  • Article
  • 19 Oct 2021
Tax agents can still register clients for self assessment using the online SA1 form despite HMRC having moved it behind the government gateway. ICAEW’s Tax Faculty explains what has changed.

When Chartered Accountants Save the World

The world is changing – and so is the role of chartered accountants. Our major new content series explores how chartered accountants are helping to tackle some of the most urgent social challenges within the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and considers how the profession could do even more in the future. Are you ready?

Two business professionals walking side by side
It’s time for chartered accountants to save the world
  • Article
  • 30 Apr 2021
Chartered accountants must understand their unique role in making a sustainable future happen, argues Peter Bakker, CEO of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
Group of business professionals having a meeting outside
Four ways that chartered accountants can encourage diversity
  • Article
  • 27 Jul 2021
The case for diversity and inclusion is stronger than ever. From dealing with data to increasing collaboration, we explore four key areas that can drive real progress and value within the workplace and change the future of the profession.
Two lifts on the outside of a building
Why social inequality is an accountancy issue
  • Article
  • 20 Jul 2021
There are risks to businesses of all sizes and sectors when opportunities across society and the economy are unequal – and chartered accountants have a key role to play in managing and mitigating those risks
Blurry image of people in a business meeting
How can you encourage neurodiversity in your organisation?
  • Article
  • 16 Jul 2021
Neurodiverse teams bring together people with different ways of thinking. Chartered accountants can help to monitor and report on the success of recruitment and retention policies.
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Businesses must be bold and transparent in their commitment to diversity and inclusion
  • Article
  • 08 Jul 2021
D&I is now a reporting issue and chartered accountants have a key role to play in ensuring that the expectations of stakeholders both inside and outside their organisations are met.
Man in red shirt smiling at camera
A plan to promote Black talent
  • Article
  • 08 Jul 2021
Initiatives such as the Black Talent Charter are galvanising support for policies that can help address the lack of ethnic diversity in senior roles across financial and professional services.

The Crisis of Trust in Data and Information

We consider the role that chartered accountants play in safeguarding data and information that is accurate and objective.

4 ways for chartered accountants to stop criminal activity in their organisation

Chartered accountants can help to spot and prevent fraud from taking place. We examine a real case of a business that discovered its chief financial officer had been falsifying accounts. The real case of a chief financial officer who tried to manipulate his company's financial position to support its share price, and 4 ways that chartered accountants can help to stop similar criminal activity in their organisation. 

Business rescue

A house being built
Business rescue: the painful reality of a CVA
  • Article
  • 09 Apr 2021
Managing director of Perfection Alloys, Fraser Dick, speaks about how hard decisions and empathy from his insolvency practitioner helped his business successfully weather insolvency.
Two hands in silhouette
Insolvency: growing fatigue among ailing businesses?
  • Article
  • 08 Apr 2021
While formal insolvency numbers are lower now than they were pre-Covid, the statistics may be masking many businesses on the brink and many more whose business owners will question whether it’s worth carrying on as the year continues.
Cup of coffee
Insolvency in an atypical recession
  • Article
  • 06 Apr 2021
According to Greg Palfrey of Smith & Williamson, we’ll see waves of insolvency this year as sector by sector, businesses feel the pinch.
People shaking hands
Business rescue: don’t wait and see before seeking help
  • Article
  • 31 Mar 2021
We’re at a pivotal point as we start the transition out of lockdown. Now is the time to engage with professional advisers, including restructuring and insolvency practitioners.

Insights specials

A listing of one-off Insights specials that focus on a particular subject, interviewing the key people, identifying developing trends and examining the underlying issues.

Non-financial reporting: where are we headed?
  • 19 Oct 2021
The landscape for non-financial reporting is evolving at a pace with further expected changes on the horizon. What are the challenges that companies face when it comes to non-financial reports, where can improvements be made, and what does the future hold?
COP26 and climate
  • 23 Sep 2021
Find inspiration, information and practical resources to support the goals of the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow and explore why it represents a critical time for the profession.
Public sector finances
  • 15 Sep 2021
Covid has taken its toll on both the health of the general public and on public sector finances. We investigate the shape of government finances, both in the UK and internationally.
Hybrid working and the future of work
  • 18 Aug 2021
What opportunities and challenges will come with moving to a more digital workplace?

Top videos

What the Dasgupta Review means for business and accountancy

Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta sat down with ICAEW to talk about his review into the economics of biodiversity and his hopes for the future.

Navigating a pandemic through data visualisation

What the COVID-19 crisis can tell us about visualising data effectively.

The opinions expressed by external guest speakers in interviews or other publications included on this website are, by their nature, those of the speaker. They are not necessarily fully endorsed by the ICAEW or purport to reflect the official policies and views of the ICAEW or its members.

Top podcast episodes

A person's hand typing into a calculator
Autumn Budget and Spending Review: turbocharge or temperance?
  • Podcast
  • 20 Oct 2021
In this special edition of the Insights podcast, we’re joined by experts from across ICAEW’s tax and public sector team to preview the government’s Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021.
A padlock sitting on a keyboard
Anatomy of a cyber attack
  • Podcast
  • 13 Oct 2021
With cyber attacks on the rise, we tell the story of a real ransomware attack, and explore what lessons people can take away from one.
The top half of a person's face visible over a computer monitor
Less Complex Entity audits
  • Podcast
  • 08 Oct 2021
Sophie Campkin, ICAEW’s Technical Lead, Audit and Assurance, is joined by a panel of experts to discuss Less Complex Entity (LCE) audits.
A person looking a computer screens showing graphs
National Insurance rise, ransomware and charity fraud
  • Podcast
  • 23 Sep 2021
In this ICAEW Insights podcast we examine the government’s new Health and Social Care Levy, look at the rising tide of ransomware, and outline how the pandemic has changed fraud in the charity sector.

Top charts of the week

Chart of the week: UK public sector employment
  • Article
  • 07 Oct 2021
Our chart this week is on public sector employment, the cost of which is one of the largest components of the Spending Review in a few weeks’ time.
Chart of the week: capital investment before the Spending Review
  • Article
  • 30 Sep 2021
Given that capital budgets are often the first to be cut when money is tight, will the planned growth in capital investment survive the Spending Review later this month?
Chart of the week: German federal budget 2022
  • Article
  • 23 Sep 2021
As Germany heads to the polls this weekend to elect a new federal parliament, the topic of the public finances has moved to centre stage. Our chart this week looks at the federal budget for 2022 and the current plan to sharply reduce the deficit from 2023 onwards.
Chart of the week: School-age demographic change
  • Article
  • 16 Sep 2021
This week’s chart illustrates how the number of 10 year-olds in the UK is expected to fall sharply over the rest of the decade, just as the number of 18 year-olds is expected to peak in 2030.

Top Infographics

5 key areas of the BEIS White Paper

5 key areas of the BEIS White Paper

This chart reflects the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA)’s significant new powers and the expanded director and auditor duties being proposed in the BEIS White Paper.

It shows at a glance the main areas the White Paper addresses, from establishing ARGA to improving the reliability of audits.

Insights by topic

CEO and President's insights
  • Listing
  • 03 Aug 2020
View an archive of blogs from ICAEW CEO, Michael Izza, and from past ICAEW presidents.
COP26 and climate
  • Hub page
  • 23 Sep 2021
Find inspiration, information and practical resources to support the goals of the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow and explore why it represents a critical time for the profession.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) hub Coronavirus is not just a world health emergency; it is an economic one too. The economic impacts are plain to see and emergency provisions are being made worldwide in an attempt to support individuals, business and anyone who advises them. ICAEW is monitoring the situation closely and collating resources as conditions unfold.
Brexit – impact on ICAEW members ICAEW's Brexit hub highlights a range of resources to help you prepare for the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020. ICAEW is working to ensure that business and the profession is able to work as seamlessly as possible in the public interest across Europe and beyond.
COVID-19: global recovery Recovery from the worldwide economic crisis brought about by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic will be piece-meal but informed by initiatives from around the world. While national government schemes will continue to support business and practice during the immediate crisis, international action will help shape the recovery. Here we track those regional, national and supra-national activities.
Student Insights Interviews, guides and features giving you fresh insights, innovative ideas and an inside look at the lives and careers of ICAEW students and members. No matter what stage you’re at in your journey with us, you’ll find content to suit you.
Regulation ICAEW protects the public interest by making sure our firms, members, students and affiliates maintain the highest standards of professional competency and conduct.
Sponsored content Hear what our partners are saying on topical issues impacting the accountancy profession.

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