In September’s blog, we bring you the latest news on the government consultation on Modernising Corporate Reporting.
Upcoming courses
You can download our booking form and brochure here.
Date – Time – Course – Presenter
29th Sept – 9.30-12.30 – ISQM 1, Quality Reviews and RCA – Peter Herbert and Edward Rands
1st Oct – 9.30-12.30 – Data Analytics and AI – Peter Herbert and John Toon
5th Oct – 9.30-12.30 – Autumn Financial Reporting Update – John Selwood
7th Oct – 9.30-12.30 – Fraud and Scepticism – Jez Williams
13th Oct – 9.30-11.30 – A-Z of Charity Accounts – Richard Hemmings
13th Oct – 12.30-1.30 – Top 5 File Review Issues – Richard Hemmings
14th Oct – 9.30-11.30 – IFRS Comprehensive Refresher – Clare Jones
14th Oct – 11.45-12.45 – IFRS Update – Clare Jones
16th Oct – 9.30-12.30 – Capital Taxes – Karen Speight
Our 2026 AML E-Learning Programme is now available to purchase.
“Excellent delivery, easily understood with some good points raised.” Delegate, Autumn series
FAQs from recent courses
Audit
We have just been appointed auditors of a company which is a subsidiary in a group. The firm that we replaced had acted for a number of years without realising an audit was required. What should we do?
This question crops up regularly, and an initial consideration for the new firm would be whether it should go back and perform audits for earlier periods or just begin with the current period. Many firms would look to begin with the current period. Clients might be advised to ask the previous accountant to perform the audits for the earlier periods, rather than the newly appointed firm doing it themselves.
Although the responsibility for identifying the need for an audit sits with the directors, the fact that this has been a problem which has persisted for a number of years doesn’t reflect well on the previous accountant. The newly appointed firm might wish to consider making a report on the other firm to its professional body under the duty to report misconduct regulations.
Practice Regulation
We have recently had an ICAEW Practice Assurance visit. As an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP), we help clients with identity verification and have been ticked off for not receiving sufficient training in this area. Does that sound right?
Although professional bodies are not responsible for regulation of ACSPs (Companies House are), this is clearly something which is cropping up on practice and quality assurance visits.
Companies House guidance on ACSPs performing IDV (identity verification) checks for clients has always made clear that where manual checks are carried out on identity documents, those performing the checks must be trained in detecting false documents and be familiar with the guidance on examining identity documents to detect basic forgeries. Companies House cannot recommend any specific training providers but they must follow the Home Office best practice guide. Be prepared to be challenged on this at the time of a professional body inspection visit.
Ethics
I’ve heard that yet more changes have been made to ICAEW’s code of ethics with effect from 1 July 2026. Are these changes significant?
Yes, it’s true that there are more changes. These reflect changes to the IESBA code of ethics in respect of tax planning services that were introduced last year. The changes align ICAEW’s code of ethics with PCRT (professional conduct in relation to tax). For practitioners that are familiar with PCRT, the ICAEW changes will have little or no impact.
Key updates in the July 2026 code revision are:
· Firms must perform adequate research to ensure that any tax planning advice provided passes the credible basis test;
· Firms must be very transparent in communications with clients about tax planning advice, particularly in respect of uncertainties regarding possible challenges to tax planning advice provided; and
· Where third parties are involved, firms need to be clear about this with clients and be comfortable about the credibility of tax planning advice developed by third parties before commending it to clients.