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Thought leadership

Our thought leadership content addresses the challenging questions in accountancy. We share innovative thinking and fresh perspectives from finance experts to drive the sector forward, push boundaries and empower a world of stronger economies.

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Women in yellow top doing accounts
Business team holding different colour cogs
connecting finance and sustainability
Tax

Principles, pillars, and priorities

In the UK, where economic resilience, fairness, and long-term investment are critical to national priorities, the strength of the tax system has never mattered more.
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Auditor Reporting Lab

The Audit and Assurance Faculty’s Auditor Reporting Lab is rethinking auditor reporting by exploring how auditors’ reports can be clearer, more informative and more useful to those who rely on them.
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Sustainability

Connecting sustainability and finance

A practical guide offering support on how finance professionals can better connect sustainability and information, performance and disclosures. And a look ahead as to what this means for the future of corporate reporting.
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Audit and Assurance

Sharpening the focus on corporate fraud
Sharpening the focus on corporate fraud: an audit committee perspective
  • Thought leadership report
This report from ICAEW's Audit and Assurance Faculty considers audit committee perspectives on the nature and extent of corporate fraud and what the corporate sector is doing to improve the chances of preventing and detecting it.
Financial reporting: who does what?
  • Thought leadership report
This overview explains in simple terms who does what in the financial reporting system for UK companies with full main market listings.
Audit quality how to raise the bar
Audit quality: how to raise the bar
  • Thought leadership report
What steps can and should audit committees, audit regulators, investors and auditors in the UK take to improve audit quality? This essay from the Audit and Assurance Faculty examines audit quality in terms of ownership, behavioural aspects, and structural drivers.
Front cover of the report
Audit quality: the role of standard-setting
  • Thought leadership report
What role do auditing standards play on audit quality? This essay from the Audit and Assurance Faculty examines how audit standards affect audit quality, and what changes could be made both to international standards and local UK standards to improve audits.
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Business

Digitalisation of tax
The internet of things and accounting: lessons from China
  • Thought leadership report
By hugely increasing their access to data, the internet of things can help organisations make smarter decisions and better manage people and assets. But, more than this, it can make possible wholly new strategies and business models.
Finance business partnering guide
  • Thought leadership report
Practical advice for those considering business partnering initiatives and those looking to improve their approach.
The finance function: A framework for analysis
  • Thought leadership report
How does your finance function compare and how do you deal with the inherent tensions we highlight?
Business performance management: When not to measure
  • Article
When not to measure, provides some ideas on why measurement systems are not resulting in the behaviours your organisation desires.
All

Corporate Finance

Evolution of the reporting accountant's work

Reporting accountants play a vital part ensuring investor confidence, but ICAEW believes their role must evolve to better support growth in a changing landscape. 
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Corporate Governance

The new boardroom agenda

The key to success in any organisation is long term, sustainable growth but managing that is harder than ever. This content series explores the central role board members play in this endeavour.
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Corporate Reporting

Target
Shaping sustainability standard setting
  • Thought leadership report
In this thought leadership report, ICAEW's Corporate Reporting Faculty reflects on the lessons learned from accounting standard setting and how these might shape the development of future sustainability reporting standards.
Moving to IFRS reporting: seven lessons learned from the European experience
  • Thought leadership report
  • PDF (366kb)
The report aims to provide practical insights and recommendations for policy-makers, regulators, standard-setters and other interested parties in jurisdictions that have recently adopted IFRS, or are considering introducing or extending the application of IFRS reporting.
Business models in accounting: the theory of the firm and financial reporting
  • Report
  • PDF (2,453kb)
Business Models in Accounting: The Theory of the Firm and Financial Reporting forms part of the Information for Better Markets thought leadership programme of the ICAEW Financial Reporting Faculty.
Non financial reporting ensuring a sustainable global recovery
  • Thought leadership report
Practical suggestions on how the EU and international actors can support the collaborative development of non-financial reporting standards.
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Economy

How the government can deliver growth

Drawing on members expertise and our research into business confidence, ICAEW offers policymakers advice on how to tackle the barriers to growth.
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Financial Services

Ethical use of big data in financial services
  • Thought leadership report
Big data and artificial intelligence are changing financial services. ICAEW’s Financial Services Faculty looks at the effects on banks, insurers, payments businesses and investment managers.
Finance business partnering guide
  • Thought leadership report
Practical advice for those considering business partnering initiatives and those looking to improve their approach.
All

Public Sector

Local government finance: skills for the future

Improving financial skills is critical in balancing the books and delivering value for citizens. ICAEW explores how local authorities can strengthen their approach to financial management.
Visit hub Grant assurance

Sustainability

Sustainability image with a plant and money jar
Connecting sustainability and finance
  • Thought leadership report
A practical guide offering support on how finance professionals can better connect sustainability and information, performance and disclosures. And a look ahead as to what this means for the future of corporate reporting.
nature scenarios cover
Nature scenario analysis for resilient business and finance
  • Thought leadership report
  • PDF (1,343kb)
Accelerating the use of nature scenario analysis to improve risk management, strategy and reporting.
Target
Shaping sustainability standard setting
  • Thought leadership report
In this thought leadership report, ICAEW's Corporate Reporting Faculty reflects on the lessons learned from accounting standard setting and how these might shape the development of future sustainability reporting standards.
Climate roundtable publication
  • Thought leadership report
A report summarising thoughts shared at a roundtable discussion on recent climate reporting, including findings from faculty research.
All

Tax

Laptop with a digital image of a monthly calendar floating above it
Transforming UK tax administration
  • Thought leadership report
In the second paper on building a better tax system, ICAEW sets out why HMRC’s current transformation programme risks failure and what needs to change for it to succeed.
Women in yellow top doing accounts
Principles, pillars, and priorities
  • Thought leadership report
In the UK, where economic resilience, fairness, and long-term investment are critical to national priorities, the strength of the tax system has never mattered more.
It's too difficult to do business
  • Thought leadership report
ICAEW research and member insights reveal that many feel it it is too difficult to do business in the UK, with a complex VAT regime, time wasted dealing with HMRC and duplication of reporting requirements. As part of its campaign to back business-led growth, ICAEW has explored the issues and possible solutions.
Woman viewing several computer monitors
Businesses face too much uncertainty
  • Thought leadership report
ICAEW research and member insight reveal that businesses are facing too much uncertainty, thanks to tax volatility and global issues including constantly shifting geopolitics and cyber threats. As part of its campaign to back business-led growth, ICAEW has explored the issues and possible solutions.
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Technology

Robot hand using a calculator
Artificial intelligence and the future of accountancy
  • Thought leadership report
Learn about the impact of artificial intelligence and the opportunities it presents for the accountancy profession.
Digitalisation of tax: international perspectives
  • Thought leadership report
Digitalisation is transforming how tax is reported and paid, with significant innovation and investment occurring in countries of all kinds. There is no single pathway to digitalisation, as our case studies show, but there is something to be learned from all of them.
Automation in finance
Automation in finance functions: lessons from India and the UK
  • Thought leadership report
Drawing on real-life experiences, this collaborative thought leadership report by ICAEW and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) considers how finance functions can harness automation to deliver greater value to business and the skills needed by accountants in the future.
Risks and assurance of emerging technologies
Risks and assurance of emerging technologies
  • Thought leadership report
Cognitive and automation technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) have drawn a great deal of interest, but also concern about the potential for bias and misuse. ICAEW’s Tech Faculty examines the risks associated with the adoption of emerging technology and how these risks can be tackled through internal controls and assurance.
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Technology: Excel

Twenty principles for good spreadsheet practice
Twenty principles for good spreadsheet practice
  • Helpsheets and support
The ‘Twenty principles for good spreadsheet practice’, is a list of key spreadsheet considerations that could save you hours of effort or help prevent a career-ending spreadsheet catastrophe.
Financial Modelling code
  • Thought leadership report
  • PDF (755kb)
ICAEW’s Excel Community has worked with modelling experts, taking a half dozen methodologies and paring down to the widely accepted beliefs about what constitutes good modelling to inform the Financial Modelling Code.
How to review a spreadsheet
  • Thought leadership report
Reduce the risk that your spreadsheet gives you the wrong answer.
Financial Modelling code
Improve your financial modelling practice
  • Thought leadership report
ICAEW’s Excel Community has worked with a broad swathe of modelling organisations and experts, taking a half dozen methodologies and paring down to the commonly held, widely accepted beliefs about what constitutes good modelling.
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Trust and Ethics

Acting in the puyblic interest a framework analysis
The public interest
  • Thought leadership report
How do you make a decision in the Public Interest?
close up image of raindrops
Future enterprise: assessing forms of business
  • Report
  • PDF (387kb)
Our paper future enterprise: assessing forms of business gives an overview of the main forms of business used today and explores whether they are truly serving the needs human enterprise of the 21st century or whether there might be better alternatives, perhaps modelled on the human networks we form in private life.
Real integrity – Practical solutions for organisations seeking to promote and encourage integrity
Real integrity report
  • Thought leadership report
  • PDF (724kb)
Practical solutions for organisations seeking to promote and encourage integrity. This research report looks at the meaning of integrity and how it can be promoted in organisations.
Image of a red flower
Instilling integrity in organisations
  • Thought leadership report
  • PDF (227kb)
This publication includes a number of suggested questions that directors could pose to determine the role of integrity in their organisation, and how it is assessed and instilled.
All
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Fresh perspectives

Insights specials

One-off Insights specials that focus on a particular subject – identifying developing trends and examining the underlying issues.
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Research

Academic research, funding and reports

Through ICAEW's charitable trusts, we aim to fund the highest quality accounting and finance academic research and events.
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Academic research funding and reports

Thought leadership archive

Take a look at some of our older thought leadership reports.

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