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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

Cost of doing business

Insights, analysis and resources for organisations facing rising costs of doing business amid a multitude of challenges, including energy prices, inflation, supply chain disruption and staff recruitment and retention.
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Latest news

How accountants should help businesses maintain strong ethics
  • Article
  • 29 Sep 2023
An ethically sound operating environment depends upon close collaboration between finance professionals and their businesses or clients. Ethics Standards Committee member Vicky Andrew shares her experiences and highlights useful resources.
How can ICAEW support you in your retirement?
  • Article
  • 29 Sep 2023
Retirement can offer significant opportunities for Chartered Accountants to pursue other interests, as well as giving back to the wider finance profession. Find out how ICAEW can help you make this transition.
Chart of the week: UK registered businesses
  • Article
  • 28 Sep 2023
Our chart this week looks at the 1.5% drop in the number of VAT- and PAYE-registered businesses in the year to 31 March 2023.

Latest tax news

Transitional arrangements ending for second-hand car sales in NI
  • Article
  • 29 Sep 2023
From 1 November 2023, businesses will have to account for VAT on the full selling price of all vehicles bought in Great Britain and sold in Northern Ireland.
HMRC updates guidance on charging company-provided electric cars
  • Article
  • 26 Sep 2023
HMRC accepts that no taxable benefit arises where an employer reimburses their employee for the cost of charging a company-owned, wholly electric car that is available for private use.
Tax checks for licence renewals expanding to Scotland and NI
  • Article
  • 26 Sep 2023
Tax checks are needed before renewing certain licences on or after 2 October 2023. In Scotland this applies to licences to drive taxis and private hire cars, operate a booking office and to be a metal dealer. In Northern Ireland this applies to licences to drive taxis.

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.

Professional development and skills
Professional development and skills
  • 13 Jul 2023
Ahead of the changes to ICAEW's requirements on continuing professional development, we bring together support on the regulatory changes and how they apply to you, as well as looking at the skills accountant need for the future.
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Pensions and Personal Finance
  • 16 Jun 2023
Amid an ever-changing economic landscape, pensions and personal finance are facing new risks, demands and opportunities. We take a closer look at these shifts and how those in the profession can respond.
hand finger pointing digital screen computer audit technology ICAEW
Audit and technology
  • 07 Jun 2023
Digital tools are helping audit to evolve in a data-heavy, fast-moving corporate world. Innovative analytical and artificial intelligence tools are transforming audit, enabling auditors to be more collaborative and provide greater insights in real time.

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

ICAEW's Director of Trust and Ethics, Laura Hough, discusses why good people do bad things with industry experts in this ICAEW Insights Podcast.
Why do good people do bad things?
  • Podcast
  • 29 Sep 2023
In this Insights In Focus episode, we discuss professional ethics and seek to answer the age-old question: why do good people do bad things?
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VAT exemptions for private schools and final CPD update
  • Podcast
  • 08 Sep 2023
In this ICAEW Insights episode, we discuss Labour’s proposals for removing VAT exemptions from private schools, as well as our final CPD update before the new regulations come into force.
ep 57
The PM’s pledges: where are we now?
  • Podcast
  • 01 Sep 2023
In this Insights In Focus episode, we analyse the health of the UK economy through the lens of the Prime Minister’s pledges for 2023.

Charts of the week

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Chart of the week: UK registered businesses
  • Article
  • 28 Sep 2023
Our chart this week looks at the 1.5% drop in the number of VAT- and PAYE-registered businesses in the year to 31 March 2023.
chart22sep
Chart of the week: Home Office financial statements 2022/23
  • Article
  • 21 Sep 2023
The Home Office spent £24.5bn in 2022/23 according to its recently published annual financial report, funded by £5.4bn in income and £19.2bn in net parliamentary funding.
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Chart of the week: Smoking in the UK
  • Article
  • 14 Sep 2023
Our chart of the week looks at how the prevalence of smoking in the UK population has continued to decline over the past decade.

Insights by topic

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.
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.
Climate hub
Climate change is a crucial issue for the accounting profession. Are you professionally ready to mitigate the risk and maximise the opportunity of climate change? Find inspiration, information and practical resources to support the goals set out in the Paris Agreement and in the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
CEO and President's insights
View an archive of blogs from ICAEW CEO, Michael Izza, and from past ICAEW presidents.
Diversity and Inclusion
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.
EU and international trade A range of resources on the implications of the UK leaving the EU on 31 December 2020.
Regulatory News A round-up of regulatory and conduct updates and communications from the ICAEW Professional Standards Department.
Sponsored content
Hear what our partners are saying on topical issues impacting the accountancy profession.

Annual Conference: Technology

Technology, particularly AI, is transforming the way we work. ICAEW's Annual Conference gives you a chance to hear experts on:

  • Whether ChatGPT could take accountancy jobs.
  • The role of AI in ESG reporting.
  • Digital transformation: reality vs hype.

Join us in London on 2 November for the full-day event to discuss these issues and much more.

Find out more
ICAEW Annual Conference 2023: Technology