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Small and micro business: news and insights

Interviews, reflections and commentary on key issues affecting small and micro businesses.
Displaying 1-30 of 209 results
Image of Victoria Street and West Bow in Edinburgh, on a sunny day. Shoppers are in the street and bunting hangs between the shops.
Budget: Key changes impacting business taxation
  • 26 Nov 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
ICAEW’s Tax Faculty provides a summary of some of the changes affecting businesses announced at the Budget, including capital allowances and business rates as well as adjustments to penalty rates for late corporation tax filings and increasing the limits for venture capital reliefs.
Extending deemed reseller rules to combat VAT fraud – can it work?
  • 26 Nov 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Amazon proposes a change to the rules for online marketplaces that would mean the marketplace collects VAT on all third-party sales. Ed Saltmarsh analyses the practicality of the proposal ahead of the Budget.
More tax return tips for sole traders
  • 17 Nov 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
In the run up to the 31 January 2026 deadline for filing the 2024/25 tax return, ICAEW’s Tax Faculty highlights key points for applying the tax year basis, non-business expenditure and Making Tax Digital (MTD) for income tax.
How to adapt to tariffs
  • 11 Nov 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
To respond effectively to recent and emerging trade tariffs, businesses must have a comprehensive grasp of the three pillars of customs compliance.
Free CPD: Getting started on global trade
  • 07 Nov 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Branching out into international sales can feel like a big step, but it holds many opportunities. Your ICAEW membership offers access to resources that will expand your export knowledge and confidence this International Trade Week.
ITW: Five steps to identify new trade opportunities in volatile markets
  • 07 Nov 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Importing or exporting to new territories can be risky, especially when global conditions are volatile. Here’s a step-by-step guide to assessing an opportunity.
Tax return tips for sole traders: the cash basis
  • 06 Nov 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
ICAEW’s Tax Faculty explains why changes to the cash basis should not be overlooked when completing the self-employment pages of the 2024/25 tax return.
International Trade Week: How volatile geopolitics is affecting customs compliance
  • 05 Nov 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
SMEs must include measures to comply with the world’s complex web of trade rules in their risk-management control environment, says a senior economist.
International Trade Week: How to nail customs compliance as an SME
  • 04 Nov 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Ian Worth, of Crowe UK, explains why it is vital for SMEs in the UK to have the knowledge for accurately completing customs declarations for goods they import and points out that they must observe Rules of Origin for those they export. This article is part of a series of articles for International Trade Week.
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How do you become cyber certified?
  • 31 Oct 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
There are several standards and certifications for businesses to follow when it comes to cyber security. What are they, and how do you get the certifications?
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Cyber attackers: who’s targeting you?
  • 23 Oct 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
A leading cyber security expert presents a spotters’ guide of attacker types that businesses must defend themselves against.
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The seven essentials of a good cyber strategy
  • 15 Oct 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Businesses can draw upon a range of recognised standards to lay the foundations of a cyber strategy – but keeping your organisation secure doesn’t stop there. Cyber security and GDPR consultant Paul Rolison outlines best practice measures for creating an effective cyber strategy.
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Four cyber security lessons from M&S and other breaches
  • 15 Oct 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
With so many more high-profile cyber attacks taking place, it pays to learn from others’ experiences. What can you learn from attacks such as the one on M&S?
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Everything you needed to know about cyber insurance
  • 14 Oct 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Cyber insurance has never been more crucial for businesses. Here’s a guide to what you should be looking out for when choosing a provider.
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Government letter reveals audit reform intentions
  • 14 Oct 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Proposals to cap audit market share may have been abandoned while the definition of PIE may expand to organisations with more than 1,000 employees and £1bn in turnover, according to ex-DBT minister.
Acquiring another firm as a small firm: five crucial steps
  • 13 Oct 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) isn’t just for large firms – as Chris Brown can attest. He shares his acquisition journey and dos and don’ts.
How should the UK rethink regulation to support growth?
  • 13 Oct 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Regulations must be designed to foster productivity and innovation, and watchdogs must collaborate more effectively with businesses, an ICAEW roundtable event heard.
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Hackers almost breached this firm’s systems. Here’s what they learned
  • 13 Oct 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Security experts at a mid-tier audit firm knew they had to act swiftly when they discovered an attempt on their own system, in which their servers were almost breached by cyber criminals, and used it as a lesson to bolster their own security and training across the business.
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Building ethical culture in small business and practice
  • 29 Sep 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Stakeholders are now asking even the smallest entities which practical steps they are taking to embed ethics into their organisational cultures, says Vicky Andrew FCA.
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AI in deals: how to reap rewards and mitigate risks
  • 19 Sep 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
In M&A, the accessibility and rapid evolution of AI is bringing amazing functionality to the masses. But mitigating risks, devising new processes and honing new skills is key, explains Graham Dotchin.
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This is the support small businesses need
  • 18 Sep 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Small businesses across Europe are looking for more joined-up thinking from governments - and more tailored advice from professional services.
Image of Victoria Street and West Bow in Edinburgh, on a sunny day. Shoppers are in the street and bunting hangs between the shops.
Businesses to benefit from rates reforms, says government
  • 12 Sep 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
The government has announced that it will explore options for reforming business rates, including overhauling small business rates relief to make it easier for smaller businesses to invest and grow.
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FRC clarifies related party disclosures for small UK entities
  • 01 Sep 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
The Financial Reporting Council has provided clarification relating to the disclosure of directors’ remuneration by UK small entities applying the new FRS 102 Section 1A, effective from 1 January 2026.
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Study defies mutterings of corporate sustainability climbdown
  • 15 Aug 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Companies are entering a new chapter of business-led climate action, countering the prevailing narrative of “climate retrenchment and gloom”, says a new report.
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Small Business Plan: practical resources for businesses
  • 13 Aug 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Outside of the plans to tackle late payments, the government’s Small Business Plan outlines a number of support measures for small businesses.
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ICAEW technical round-up: July 2025
  • 31 Jul 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
HMRC sets out digital ambitions as service issues persist, and audit reform remains delayed, while the FRC provides clarity on related party disclosures for small entities and Companies House communicates an implementation date for changes to accounts filing requirements.
UK announces toughest anti-late payment rules in G7
  • 31 Jul 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
The government has unveiled a new Small Business Plan, which aims to cut red tape, revive high streets and end late payments with stricter penalties – offering opportunities for SMEs and their accountants.
London Westminster
Influencing policy to support you: July 2025
  • 31 Jul 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
This month, ICAEW used the Q2 Business Confidence Monitor to highlight declining business confidence and engaged with policymakers on financial services reform, employment rights, HMRC transformation and small business growth.
Class 2 NIC issue to continue until September
  • 18 Jul 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
HMRC is continuing to work on a solution to a problem affecting 2024/25 self assessment tax returns where the person is a sole trader or partner with profits in excess of £12,570.
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FRC study recognises role of SME audit in UK growth
  • 17 Jul 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Regulator’s emerging findings into a study of the SME audit market highlight widespread stakeholder concern about a lack of scalability and proportionality in auditing standards.
Displaying 1-30 of 209 results
Insights hub

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