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Board effectiveness

How can boards work better and improve their effectiveness?

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Articles & features

Charity Governance Code revamp urges reflection on board behaviours
  • Nov 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
The biggest revision to the Code in eight years is launched during Trustees’ Week and sees a shift away from processes and recommended practice to getting charity boards to reflect on their effectiveness.
Four essential leadership skills in uncertain times
  • Sep 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
An uncertain environment is driving demand for a new breed of C-suite executives, but the skills they need are lacking. ICAEW’s forthcoming Annual Conference includes sessions to help you prepare for leadership success.
Exclusive DATA ANALYTICS COMMUNITY Comparing the CDO and CFO in the modern enterprise
  • Apr 2025
  • Craig Stirk
In an era where data can rival capital as the most valuable corporate asset, two C-suite roles have emerged as strategic cornerstones of enterprise decision-making – the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and the Chief Data Officer (CDO). As organisations grapple with digital transformation, regulatory pressures and the latest AI hype cycle, understanding the distinction and interplay between these roles is more critical than ever.
How to become a portfolio CFO
  • Aug 2024
  • ICAEW Insights
As businesses evolve, the traditional C-suite model faces challenges. Sara Daw, a pioneer of the flexible ‘C-suite as service’ model, explains how on-demand CFOs can benefit your business.
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CPD Training courses

Stay on top of the rapidly evolving corporate governance landscape and discover how to be a high-performing board director.
Corporate governance courses All CPD courses
Octopus

Guidance

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE How boards of accounting and finance firms can benefit from shadow boards
  • Helpsheets and support
  • May 2024
Shadow boards can be considered as a tool for navigating a turbulent and ever-changing business landscape. Find out how accountancy businesses can see the same benefits from setting up a shadow board that other sectors are already experiencing.
Well-led review of the Bar Standards Board: findings report
  • Report
  • Nov 2021
  • PDF (246kb)
Well-led review of the Bar Standards Board: findings report
SUSTAINABILITY Is Climate Change a Board issue?
  • Report
  • Nov 2019
Given the far-reaching impact and implications, of climate change there is a need for boards to better understand how it is likely to affect their organisations and sectors so they can make better informed and more strategic decisions. However in a recent survey of ICAEW’s UK business members (Jun/July 2019), only 37% were aware of the World Economic Forum’s Climate Governance Principles and only 15% were aware of the FSB’s Taskforce on Climate Related Financial Disclosures.
Exclusive BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT FACULTY Special Report 65 - Smart Reporting
  • Report
  • Sep 2019
  • PDF (1,597kb)
This special report will be a handy go-to guide – we take you through the latest techniques and thinking behind the new smart world with which CFOs, and aspiring CFOs, must contend.
Exclusive BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT FACULTY Special Report 50: Business reporting
  • Report
  • Sep 2015
  • PDF (3,118kb)
This special report contains a few essentials on reporting of use to finance manager, controller and directors, including micro entity reports, the visual impact of reports and lean accounting.

The new boardroom agenda

The key to success in any organisation is long term, sustainable growth but managing that is harder than ever. Faster moving, more complex risks – and opportunities – require more assiduous monitoring, more informed decision-making, and much greater coordination among all employees to ensure corporate success.

Our new content series explores the central role board members play in this endeavour and how crucial they are to any organisation’s long term health.

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Karen Hester with a wall of kegs behind her

Webinars and other recordings

Exclusive Supporting the board: Shadow boards and advisory committees
  • Webinar
  • 27 Nov 2024
Explore how shadow boards or advisory committees can keep your business at the forefront of progress.
Groupthink: the boardroom’s most pervasive problem?
  • Podcast
  • 28 Jun 2024
In this episode of Behind the Numbers, we discuss strategies to prevent and tackle groupthink at board level.
Exclusive Ten steps to become a high performing board
  • Webinar
  • 27 Jun 2023
Join us to look at this framework for good governance and how to apply the Ten Steps principles to all governance work. We will set out to discover what makes the difference between good and great in the boardroom.
Exclusive Board games: How to simplify the complex and win at board reporting
  • Webinar
  • 02 Dec 2021
The practical challenges of information governance and controls and the potential solutions.
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Bloomsbury Accounting and Tax Service

Eligible firms have free access to Bloomsbury Professional's comprehensive online library, comprising around 80 titles from some of the country's leading tax and accounting subject matter experts. Find out who is eligible and how you can access the Accounting and Tax Service.
Exclusive Leadership
  • eBook chapter
  • 2024
  • Andrew Chambers
  • Bloomsbury Professional
  • Corporate Governance Handbook
A chapter focusing on effective leadership by the board and its members.
Exclusive The effective board
  • eBook chapter
  • 2024
  • Andrew Chambers
  • Bloomsbury Professional
  • Corporate Governance Handbook
A chapter analysing what makes boards effective, including achieving boardroom diversity and the role of board reviews.
Exclusive Effective boards and directors
  • eBook chapter
  • 2024
  • Andrew Chambers
  • Bloomsbury Professional
  • Corporate Governance Handbook
Practical guidance on the effectiveness of boards and directors, covering a wide variety of corporate governance issues.
Exclusive Directors, the Board and the company secretary
  • eBook chapter
  • 2023
  • Mark Cardale
  • Bloomsbury Professional
  • Rights and Duties of Directors
A chapter discussing the role of the board, board sub-committees, board effectiveness and decision making, board evaluation, board meetings and the board and the company secretary.
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You are permitted to access, download, copy, or print out content from eBooks for your own research or study only, subject to the Acceptable usage terms.

eBooks

The Library & Information Service provides a collection of eBooks as a benefit of membership. Please note that ICSA publications are only available to ICAEW members and ACA students.  Please log in to access these titles. If you are unable to access an eBook, please see our Help and support or contact library@icaew.com
Exclusive Evaluations that enhance board effectiveness
  • eBook chapter
  • 2024
  • Richard Fields
  • Wiley
  • Handbook of Board Governance
Explores the practical realities of corporate governance in public, private, and not-for-profit environments. Chapter 76 looks at board evaluation with reference to the legal and regulatory landscape in several countries, demands from shareholders and proxy advisers, board members an executive leaders, and practical suggestions for designing effective evaluations.
Exclusive Board structure, composition and effectiveness
  • eBook chapter
  • 2024
  • Richard Leblanc (editor)
  • Wiley
  • Handbook of Board Governance
Explores the practical realities of corporate governance in public, private, and not-for-profit environments. Part 11 looks at the control function of boards, administering a director competency and attribute matrix, model director orientation and education policies, managing teamwork on boards and director effectiveness in general.
Exclusive Maintaining an effective board
  • eBook chapter
  • 2017
  • ICSA Publishing
  • ICSA Publishing
  • The ICSA Corporate Governance Handbook
Chapter 9 looks at the board and good governance, which includes the work of the nomination committee. Board diversity, corporate culture, succession planning and recruitment to the board, director induction and development and board evaluation are all covered.
Exclusive Good boardroom practice: a guide for directors and company secretaries
  • eBook chapter
  • 2016
  • Douglas Armour
  • ICSA Publishing
  • Company Secretarys Handbook
An authoritative guide to company secretarial practice. Detailed commentary is accompanied by over 80 precedents. Appendix 3 - Good boardroom practice: a guide for directors and company secretaries
Terms of use:

You are permitted to access, download, copy, or print out content from eBooks for your own research or study only, subject to the terms of use set by our suppliers and any restrictions imposed by individual publishers. Please see individual supplier pages for full terms of use.

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Useful links

Board diversity and efffectiveness in FT350 companies
  • Website
  • July 2021
  • Financial Reporting Council
Research by The FRC and the London Business School designed to both understand the implications of changes in board diversity in response to the Davies Review, Hampton-Alexander review and the Parker Review and to look forward, to suggest how they can be accelerated. The report was launched with the press release Diverse boards lead to better corporate culture and performance
Audit Committee effectiveness 2020 Framework
  • Website
  • January 2021
  • Deloitte
This practical self assessment guide and checklist covers all aspects of the audit committee’s remit for companies outside the financial sector.
Guidance on board effectiveness
  • Website
  • July 2018
  • Financial Reporting Council
The FRC published revised guidance on board effectiveness in July 2018
Guidance on board effectiveness
  • Website
  • July 2018
  • Financial Reporting Council
Guidance published by the FRC in July 2018 'to stimulate boards thinking on how they can carry out their role and encourage them to focus on continually improving their effectiveness.' The role of the chairman is one of the issues covered in Section 2.
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