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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

How to improve the quality of your audits

With new quality management standards for audit on the horizon, there is an opportunity for firms of all sizes to supercharge their audits.
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Latest news

UK economy contracts in Q2 with worse to come
  • Article
  • 12 Aug 2022
Latest official GDP estimate confirms UK economic output contracted in the second quarter of the year as one-off factors and soaring inflation dampened activity.
Four-day week won’t work for small accountancy firms
  • Article
  • 12 Aug 2022
To make the four-day week work, firms would have to increase their fees by 25% to match the required output, “which wouldn’t go down too well with clients”, says director of small accountancy practice.
Corporate and personal insolvency: a mixed picture
  • Article
  • 12 Aug 2022
With the end of COVID-19 support measures, the true picture of insolvencies is beginning to emerge, with corporate insolvencies rising at their fastest rate since 2012, but individual insolvencies lower.

Latest tax news

Common errors in the calculation of CJRS grants
  • Article
  • 09 Aug 2022
HMRC offers answers to some frequently asked questions on what action, if any, employers should take if they have made a mistake when calculating Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme grants.
Latest interest rate change increases tax repayment rate
  • Article
  • 09 Aug 2022
Following the Monetary Policy Committee decision to increase the Bank of England base rate to 1.75%, HMRC has announced increases to both interest charged on late paid tax and the rate paid on repayments of tax. ICAEW’s Tax Faculty highlights what is changing and from when.
Independent customs regime: UK government publishes consultation response summary
  • Article
  • 09 Aug 2022
The government will use the responses to this call for evidence to inform the policy-making process. It intends to set out further details of its plans for a global border regime in the autumn.

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.

A graph going upwards
Inflation
  • 27 Jul 2022
A closer look at the impact of inflation on people, businesses, accountancy and the wider economy, bringing together the best expert opinion, data and analysis from ICAEW and its members.
A person working at a desk covered in papers, a notepad and a calculator
Future of Audit
  • 18 Jul 2022
Following the UK government's feedback statement on audit and corporate governance reform, we explore the various factors shaping the profession in 2022.
A fingerprint
Company reform and economic crime
  • 21 Jun 2022
The Economic Crime Act 2022 became law in March and part two of the bill is incoming. From risks to required changes, we explore key considerations for accountants on the issue.

Videos

The vital role our profession must play in reaching net zero
The vital role our profession must play in reaching net zero
  • Video
Andrew Griffith FCA, MP is the UK’s Net Zero Business Champion. He discusses the core role the profession has to play in helping all of us reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner.
Thinking differently: what are the benefits of neurodiversity in your organisation?
Thinking differently: what are the benefits of neurodiversity in your organisation?
  • Video
We explore how teams of all kinds benefit by including people who think differently, taking cricket as an example. We then examine how chartered accountants can encourage neurodiverse thinking and engage people with neurodivergent conditions in their own or their clients’ organisations, as part of wider efforts to support diversity and inclusion.
What The Dasgupta Review means for Business and Accountancy
What The Dasgupta Review means for Business and Accountancy
  • Video
Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta sat down with ICAEW to talk about his review into the economics of biodiversity and his hopes for the future.
The financial controller who stole £20,000: 4 lessons to help you stop internal fraud
The financial controller who stole £20,000: 4 lessons to help you stop internal fraud
  • Video
The real case of a financial controller who attempted to steal £20,000 from her business, and the steps that chartered accountants can take to help prevent internal fraud from happening in their organisation. Chartered accountants need to be alert to potential signs of fraud and manipulation of accounting records. We examine a real case of a business that discovered it had been the victim of internal fraud.

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.

Podcast episodes

A plane at an airport
How to fix the airline industry
  • Podcast
  • 11 Aug 2022
On the latest ICAEW Insights podcast, we explore the problems facing the aviation sector with experts Matthew Davy, director at Strategy& UK, and Eleni Kaloyirou, CEO of Hermes Airports, Cyprus.
Levelling Up won’t leave with Boris, and the big opportunity ahead
Levelling Up won’t leave with Boris, and the big opportunity ahead
  • Podcast
  • 21 Jul 2022
In this special edition of Insights In Focus, Iain Wright, ICAEW’s Managing Director, Reputation & Influence, is joined by Majeed Neky, Head of Policy, Levelling Up Taskforce at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Gill Morris, Chief Executive, Devo Connect and Sarah Longlands, Chief Executive, Centre for Local Economic Strategies.
The podcast host and guests at a table with microphones in conversation
Recession? What recession? Time for business to stop worrying and start investing
  • Podcast
  • 18 Jul 2022
In this special edition of Insights In Focus, Iain Wright, ICAEW’s Managing Director, Reputation and Influence is joined by Kitty Ussher, Chief Economist at the Institute of Directors, and Suren Thiru, ICAEW’s Director, Economies.

Charts of the week

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Chart of the week: Commonwealth Games
  • Article
  • 28 Jul 2022
Our chart this week marks the start of the XXII Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, illustrating how the numbers of events and competitors have grown since the first games in 1930.
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Chart of the week: hot weather
  • Article
  • 21 Jul 2022
Almost inevitably, our chart of the week is the topic (or is that tropic?) of temperature, illustrating how hot weather has become hotter since the 1880s.
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Chart of the week: US dollar exchange rates
  • Article
  • 14 Jul 2022
As the US dollar and euro approach parity, our chart illustrates how the US dollar has soared in value since the financial crisis compared with other major currencies apart from the Chinese yuan.

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.
Diversity and Inclusion
  • Hub page
  • 30 Sep 2021
ICAEW is committed to Diversity and Inclusion. In this hub we bring together timely D&I resources on the protected characteristics of the Equality Act, along with our latest insights into diversity in the profession.
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.
Regulatory News
  • Listing
  • 04 May 2020
A round-up of regulatory and conduct updates and communications from the ICAEW Professional Standards Department.
Insights index This page provides an entry point to the articles that have formed the daily, monthly and weekly member emails, arranged by section and month. It also contains an index of themed Insights specials and the Quarterly magazine.
Sponsored content
  • Listing
  • 09 Apr 2020
Hear what our partners are saying on topical issues impacting the accountancy profession.

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