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Accountants have not had to deal with inflation for a generation and most people did not increase pricing on lockdowns, but many now find themselves having to roll out increases.  In light of the recent record rise inflation, Martin, of Avery Martin Accountants, explains to the panel why his firm, as well as many others, are having to make hard decisions on the topic of increasing pricing. Our panel also looks to dissect the week's top stories from AccountingWEB, including HMRC's breadcrumb approach to MTD, an accountant who impersonated their former employer to get a job and HMRC's offensive on overpaid SEISS grants. To read all the stories discussed on this podcast visit AccountingWEB: https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/content/no-accounting-for-taste-ep116-mtd-seiss-and-fee-hikes

Former Fluidly founder Caroline Plumb joined technology editor Tom Herbert in the first of a new series of monthly podcasts from AccountingWEB - No Accounting for Tech. In a wide-ranging interview Plumb, who recently joined ambitious mid-tier contender Jeffreys Henry as group CEO, discussed how technology is changing firms’ annual cash cycle perspective, the competitive threat tech poses to the accounting industry, and why, after a career spent following an entrepreneurial path, she decided to join an accountancy practice. Plumb outlined how a wave of tech innovation and the current shortage of talent in accountancy is forcing practices, particularly in the mid-tier that have traditionally been partnerships, to break their one-year horizons and focus on building for the longer term. She also argued that one of the biggest competitive threats in the accounting industry comes from technology - and practices need to stay on their toes to remain competitive. “People see competition as other firms,” said Plumb.

Della Hudson joins the No Accounting for Taste team this week to discuss the ICAEW’s plans to tighten up CPD requirements and all the latest news from the world of accountancy. The accountancy coach and founder of Minerva Accountants delves into the new proposal from the ICAEW which would overhaul the current output based CPD model in response to the “increasingly complex world which our members operate in”. AccountingWEB readers have raised concerns about the new requirements, arguing that the changes would lead to ICAEW members just trying to “hit their hours”. Hudson and the AccountingWEB team also cover all the latest news from the world of accountancy including plans for the FRC to take control of audit registrations, golf days and the Companies House reform that will require small companies to file their profit and loss accounts. Get all the links discussed on the podcast here: https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/content/no-accounting-for-taste-ep115-golf-days-audit-shake-ups-and-cpd

The founder of Soaring Falcon Accountancy has spent this spring searching for tools to manage the constant stream of emails and client communications. As spring shopping season heats up, Falcon Huerta tells host Richard Hattersley and AccountingWEB’s tech editor Tom Herbert how her search is going. She then reveals what other software has caught her attention this spring. The pod team also rounds up all the latest news from the world of accountancy this week, including the regulation of stablecoins. ongoing agent authorisation headaches and how AML non-compliance cost one firm a £17,000 penalty.

In this week's epidsode, our panelists look to separate the wheat from the chaff in the Chancellor's Spring Statement. In the aftermath of this year's Spring Statement, host Richard Hattersley and tech editor Tom Herbert chat with resident tax expert Rebecca Cave on the policies looking to be implemented by the Chancellor this week. With a host of new policies for our panelists to get their teeth into, from NIC tax threshold rises to the slashing of fuel duties, the question arises over whether these changes can truly tackle the current cost of living crisis. Read the stories discussed in this episode on AccountingWEB.co.uk: https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/content/no-accounting-for-taste-ep113-post-spring-statement-2022-analysis

The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is ‘breaking the bias’. On the podcast this week we’ll explore what this means for the accountancy profession. Mazuma Accountants’ Lucy Cohen takes over the No Accounting for Taste podcast this week to discuss with a panel of influential women working within the profession how they’ve experienced unconscious and conscious bias day-to-day. Joining Lucy Cohen on the panel are: Jeri Williams, the founder of Smooth Accounting. Eriona Barakurtaj, the managing director of Majors Accountants Heather Townsend, the owner of the Accountants Millionaire Club. In a wide-ranging discussion, the panel give examples of how they’ve experienced unconscious and conscious bias in their careers, explore why there are so few £1m female led firms and discuss what more can be done to make the profession more inclusive. You can find links to the stories discussed on this podcast at https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/content/no-accounting-for-taste-ep112-breaking-the-bias-in-the

Richard Murphy joins the AccountingWEB team this week to discuss the future of KPMG and scrutinise the current state of audit. As KPMG faces a £1bn lawsuit and constant audit scrutiny, Murphy steps into the virtual pod booth to question just how long the Big Four firm can remain viable. And with the government set to outline their plans to overhaul audit imminently, he also asks what can be done to clean up what has been described as a ‘scandal-ridden industry’. The director of Tax Research UK also shared his thoughts on the big accountancy headlines from the past week, including new Making Tax Digital penalties for VAT periods beginning on and after 1 January 2023 and Adrian Chiles successful IR35 appeal against HMRC. For all the links to the articles discussed on the podcast, go to: https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/content/no-accounting-for-taste-ep111-richard-murphy-on-kpmg-and-audit-scandals

It’s been a huge week here at AccountingWEB towers, with the unveiling of Software Awards winners.  The AccountingWEB editors give their expert insights into who picked up awards in bookkeeping, ERP, payroll, tax preparation and more and also delve into some of the trends in the market.  But first, the team rounds up the big headlines hitting the site this week, including a billion pound lawsuit against KPMG, an interest rate hike, and more on the self-employed grant. For links to the article discussed on the show, go to: https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/content/no-accounting-for-taste-ep110-2021s-software-award-winners-revealed

Following the news that only nine people are taking part in the Making Tax Digital for Income Tax pilot, this week on the No Accounting for Taste we take a deep dive look at the project and explore why the numbers have plummeted. Gary Jacobs, the CEO of Eazitax, joins the AccountingWEB editorial team in the virtual studio this week to give his thoughts on the MTD ITSA pilot. Gary has been involved in the pilot since its inception in 2016.  As reported on the site this week, the number of people taking part in the scheme has eroded to just nine due to the tightening of the criteria and the exclusion of those who had received Covid support grants. Understandably, professional bodies and commentators are calling for more information on how HMRC plans to scale up its testing process. The AccountingWEB team also rounds up all the latest news and stories hitting the world of accountancy this past week, including a major cyber-attack, the Treasury writing off billions in Covid fraud and agents losing access to H

Two crypto-curious accountants join the podcast this week to explain how they’ve taken on more clients in this field and reveal what software has helped them. Host Richard Hattersley is joined in the virtual pod booth by AccountingWEB’s John Stokdyk and a returning Tom Herbert to discuss the big headlines hitting the site over the past seven days.  The team looks back at a week where HMRC waived late filing penalties on tax returns until the end of February and the AccountingWEB readers debated recent research on unaffiliated agents.  And then later in the programme, Tom Herbert is joined by Northern Ireland based chartered accountant Adrian Markey and Chris Barnard, head of tax at Accounts & Legal, to discuss the rise and rise of cryptotax.  With a growing number of clients turning to accountants for help with cryptocurrency calculations and record-keeping, Tom asks the crypto-accountants how they took the plunge and finds out some of the opportunities (and challenges). Click here to get the links to th

On this special year in review episode of the podcast, the AccountingWEB team is joined by Lucy Cohen to look back at the big stories hitting the profession in 2021. What a year it has been. The year started off with a series of compliance hurdles including the worst tax season ever, a tough lockdown, new Brexit VAT and custom rules, the VAT reverse charge and the IR35 reform was rolled out into the private sector.  Squeezed in between this was the first of two Budgets. The first of which was a leaky Budget in March which saw an extension to the furlough scheme and the introduction of the new three step BLT process (Budget, legislation and tax day) which replaced the crash-bang-wallop Budgets.  The second half of the year wasn’t much better. The furlough and SEISS schemes did wind down in the autumn, but accountants had skills shortages and a tough economic outlook to wrestle with instead.  And then there was the drama of Making Tax Digital. The digital rollercoaster took an unexpected sharp turn midway t

As tax return season cranks up a gear, on No Accounting for Taste this week we’re asking: can accountants really relax and enjoy the festive period? When the rest of the working world is winding down for the festive period, for many accountants the tax return season has only just begun. The pressure of the season hit sole practitioner Sam Mitcham when a Christmas song came on the radio and she cried. She realised that she didn’t feel festive at all. Mitcham joins the AccountingWEB editorial team to talk about juggling the demands of running a practice and Christmas. Like Mitcham, many accountants spend the Christmas period mentally submitting tax returns while attending nativity plans, wrapping presents and preparing the Christmas meal. Mitcham tells the team how she’s planning to tackle the pressures of tax return season, whether she plans on working Christmas day, and whether she’s been able to listen to THAT Christmas song since. Also on the show, the team takes a look at the big headlines maki

This week on the show, the AccountingWEB team reflects on the highlights and news coming out of last week's inaugural AccountingWEB Live Expo. The editorial team returns to the virtual podcast studio after spending a couple of days last week attending the first ever AccountingWEB Live Expo in Coventry.  Joining hosts Richard Hattersley and John Stokdyk to relive all the highlights, all the swag and all the big themes and news coming out of the event is Reza Hooda.  Reza was prolific over the two day event, where he hosted panels on the rise and rise of the virtual finance director, pricing in a post MTD world and engaged in a timesheet debate.   The team discusses the themes coming out of these sessions and the action from the tech and tax sessions. They also discuss the big product news coming out of the show, including new launches from iPlicit and TaxCalc, and share their personal highlights.  For the latest news from the world of accountancy, join us on accountingweb.co.uk

‘Socks up’ Simon Chaplin joins No Accounting for Taste this week to examine the practice bottlenecks keeping practitioners awake during the winter months. As the author of Banish the Bottleneck, Simon Chaplin knows all too well the challenges that trip up accountancy firms. Now that the starting gun has been fired on self assessment season, we’re hearing early word that some practitioners are struggling with more bottlenecks as the post-Covid workload has intensified the busy season stress. Simon draws on his experience as the owner of the accountancy firm Greenstones to share advice on how accountants can navigate the bottlenecks. He also joins the AccountingWEB editorial team to look over the big headlines shaking up the profession this week. Unsurprisingly, Making Tax Digital continues to dominate the column inches. In the third most read article of the week, the co-founder of the six figure bookkeeper and friend of No Accounting for Taste Jo Wood asks: Do bookkeepers hold the answer to Making Tax D

Matt Portt, the founder of Portt & Co, joins the AccountignWEB team to explain what his accountancy firm is doing to tackle the climate emergency. As world leaders gather in Glasgow this week for Cop26, the accounting profession is asking what role it has to play in the climate crisis. Bigger accountancy firms have typically owned this space, while previously some smaller firms have been left wondering what impact they could possibly have. But purpose-driven firms like Matt Portt’s are now stepping forward and are making environmental, social, and corporate governance matters part of their culture. With Cop26 in full swing, we'll find out why Portt and Co embraced sustainability and what it means for their practice, employees and clients. The AccountingWEB team also take a look back at last week’s Budget - was it a non-event for accountants or were there some rabbits hiding in the undergrowth of the Budget Red Book? We will focus more on the accounting profession’s role in tackling climate change at

‘The QuickBooks chap’ Aaron Patrick joins No Accounting for Taste to discuss the latest news and a sneak peak at MTD ITSA software. As the head of accounting at the online cloud accountancy firm Boffix, Patrick enjoys getting his hands on the latest accounting tech. Now wonder then that he was figuratively in the front row at the latest QuickBooks Connect event to learn more about their MTD ITSA offering.  Patrick joins No Accounting for Taste regulars Richard Hattersley and John Stokdyk to explain more about his exploration into the great unknown of MTD ITSA software and his efforts to get into a beta.  This week on the show, the AccountingWEB editorial team reviews the latest Westminster rumours and place their bets on latest the riders and runners for next week’s Budget. Will we be having a green Budget? Is Sunak going to pull a rabbit out of the hat? In the other big stories shaking up the profession, the team explores some of the reasons behind the profession’s talent gap and asks: are the big softwa

Compliance isn’t going anywhere, but as Kirsty McGregor points out on the podcast this week, it will do in 10 - 20 years. So, is now the time for practices to embrace advisory services? Advisory vs compliance - it’s the story as old as time.The AccountingWEB team reignites the debate on No Accounting for Taste this week and welcomes McGregor to the virtual pod booth to discuss why firms should take notice of advisory services. “If a firm chooses not to offer this service line and wants to be a pure compliance firm, they have to be incredibly efficient if you’re going to offer this service only,” said McGregor. The founder of the corporate finance network, also joins hosts Richard Hattersley and John Stokdyk to discuss some of the biggest stories of the week. Shaking up the profession this week includes the costs and benefits of Making Tax Digital, the timesheets debate rages on, and it’s acquisition season in the accounting tech market with Sage acquiring GoProposal. To read the articles discussed o

It’s episode 100 of the podcast. To celebrate, host Richard Hattersley has invited a couple of familiar voices back to the show to reminisce over some of the big news stories covered on No Accounting for Taste. Days after the then Chancellor Philip Hammond his Budget in late November 2017, AccountingWEB launched its podcast, No Accounting for Taste. The editorial team crowded around the microphone and dissected what was an underwhelming Budget. At the time, we questioned whether the Budget was really the best way to launch the government’s fiscal policy. With two different chancellor’s since Hammond and a lot of fiscal policy announcements, it’s safe to say a lot has changed since then. We’ve also had a global pandemic, grappled with SEISS and furlough and seen IR35 eventually roll out in the private sector. On the show this week we welcome back former editor Tom Herbert and former business editor Francois Badenhorst discuss all this and more.  Richard Hattersley is also joined by AccountingWEB’s tax edito

On this episode of No Accounting for Taste, we probe the government’s new health and social care levy, chew over the latest MTD ITSA developments and take a deep dive look at the ‘guilt free’ exit plan of employee ownership. Chris Maslin, the founder of Maslins tax advisers, steps into the virtual pod booth this week to tell AccountingWEB’s Richard Hattersley and John Stokdyk about his decision to transfer a controlling stake in his firm to an employee ownership trust.  The pod team also rounds up the big stories of the week, including the unveiling of the new health and social care levy. The PM’s plan is to increase national insurance by 1.25% from April 2022 to stem the post-Covid health and social care crisis. But the accountancy profession has already raised concerns over how this will be a further complication of the tax system.  And as Making Tax Digital for income tax continues to dominate the headlines, the team looks at the calls to delay the basis period reform and the reasons why some Accounting

Dan Heelan, director at Heelan Associates, joins No Accounting for Taste to discuss his post-pandemic plans and the latest news from the week, including the calls to delay the mandation of MTD ITSA. As firms contemplate downsizing office space to accommodate hybrid working, Heelan steps into the virtual pod booth to explain to hosts Richard Hattersley and John Stokdyk why he’s upgraded his office. Communication tools have made client contact easier throughout lockdowns and continues to ensure teams stay connected, but the need for face-to-face contact remains. It’s not just for client experience but newer team members can easily learn through osmosis when working in a physical office with their colleagues. Heelan’s office upgrade is also a result of growth. But this comes with other challenges such as recruitment and getting the right people. Dan and the AccountingWEB editorial team also chew over the biggest stories of the week, including: - The on-field and off-field management techniques account