Accountancy

Stuart Smith, a former senior auditor at KPMG, has been fined £150,000 and banned for three years after admitting to misleading the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). KPMG and Mr Smith admitted their misconduct in relation to the FRC’s Audit Quality Review (AQR) inspection of the audit o

Ross Stupart, tax partner at RSM UK, discusses the potential impacts of the Scottish Framework. The Scottish Government wants to create a sustainable fiscal environment in Scotland that embodies fairness and equality. The recent Scottish Framework for Tax sets out a plan to achieve this; but is it p

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has commenced an investigation into the statutory audits by PwC of the consolidated financial statements of Babcock International Group plc for the years ended 31 March 2019 and 2020. The FRC has extended its original investigation, which intended to analyse aud

With the cost-of-living squeeze underway, 32% of consumers plan to cut back on their household spending this year, according to a survey of 3000 UK consumers by KPMG.

Global GDP growth is expected to increase by around 4.5% in market exchange rates in 2022 as global economies continue to grow, and are likely to remain resilient in the face of the Omicron variant, according to base case projections in PwC’s latest Global Economy Watch. PwC has said that the

Michelle Elliot and Simon Carville-Briggs, partners of FRP Advisory have been appointed joint administrators of Chas Smith Group Limited (CSG), a long-established shop fitting business. Founded in 1921, the business specialised in design and installation of high-end fit outs, predominantly for autom

Thomson Cooper Accountants, which has offices in Edinburgh and Dunfermline, has announced its recent accreditation to the prestigious Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) Payroll Assurance Scheme (PAS). As the only voluntary accreditation on the market to be developed in partnership w

UK finance leaders are focused on growth, with a record 37% rating an increase in capital investment as a strong priority for their business in the next 12 months, according to Deloitte’s latest UK CFO Survey Q4 2021. Expansionary strategies, including introducing new products and services, ex

Jon Holt, the chief executive of KPMG, has admitted that the Big Four firm misled the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) over its audit of collapsed outsourcer Carillion. In a statement released on the first day of a five-week disciplinary tribunal over the behaviour of the firm and six former employ

Analysis of a decade of corporate insolvencies statistics collated by the Scottish Government from 2011 – 2021 has revealed that businesses are most likely to fail during the first six months of the year. The data, which was collated by accountancy firm Azets, reveals that during the decade th

PwC has appointed Martin Cowie as its new senior partner in Aberdeen, replacing Kevin Reynard. Kevin Reynard will retire from his post in June, after 34 years with the firm and seven in his current role.

Anderson Anderson & Brown (AAB), the tech-enabled business-critical services group, has revealed that its 2021 mergers and acquisition activity exceeded its previous records. The successful completion of over 50 transactions, with a combined total deal value in excess of £750m, represents

A record low number of UK companies are set to have gone into administration in 2021, according to the latest figures published by Interpath Advisory. Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the firm revealed that 618 firms fell into administration in 2021, which in 2020, the final full-year co

Small businesses in Scotland ramped up their spending on innovation during the first year of the pandemic, according to new figures published by Glasgow-based MCC Accountants. Firms of less than 250 employees invested £143 million in research in development in 2020. That’s a 23%rise from

As the new year gets underway, Johnston Carmichael’s experts look ahead with some optimism, despite the challenges, predicting continued opportunities as the firm adopts a low carbon economy, and increased adoption of technology creates efficiencies. 2021 was another challenging year for Scott