To legislate or not to legislate
I read with interest the news article ‘Move to round up cowboy accountants’ (page 2, 16 August) and I wholly support the Montrose firms who are attempting to have the word ‘accountancy’ recognised as a legal term with restricted use.
I am amazed (not) at the attitude of ACCA and ICAS. ACCA thinks it will be a restriction on competition if only qualified accountants can hold themselves out to be called accountants. I would suspect the public at large would consider the term ‘accountant’ to be synonymous with the holding of a recognised accountancy qualification. Are non-qualified accountants who hold themselves out to be accountants therefore not deceiving the public and thereby restricting competition at present?
ICAS believes we use so many descriptions for ourselves that it would be very difficult to legislate to restrict effectively their use. I believe this is nonsense. We are talking about the public and unqualified accountants.
If a taxi driver needs his tax return prepared he will want an ‘accountant’ and may look up ‘accountant’ in yellow pages. An unqualified accountant will be ‘xyz accountants’ for example. Clearly people will be able to circumvent such simple legislation but I suspect simple legislation would go a great way towards helping the public and qualified accountants alike.
As for competent non-qualified accountants, then they may be encouraged to sit exams to reflect their competence.
In the past decade, the professional services industry has transformed significantly. Digital disruptions, increased competition, and changing market ...
View resourceIn recent months, professional services firms are facing more pressure than ever to deliver value to clients. Often, clients look at the firms own inf...
View resourceIn a world of instant results and automated workloads, the potential for AP to drive insights and transform results is enormous. But, if you’re still ...
View resourceThe first phase of Making Tax Digital (MTD) saw the requirement for the digital submission of the VAT Return using compliant software. That’s now behi...
View resourceGlobal spend on accountancy outsourcing up by 40% in the space of five years. News comes as accountancy outsourcing specialist AdvanceTrack reports en...
View articleFollowing a profitability review, Deloitte has decided to scale back its UK deals business due to lower returns. This strategic shift could lead to jo...
View articleUK-based Dow Schofield Watts (DSW), a mid-market professional services network, announced the creation of a new division called DSW Principal Partners...
View articleEY has been undergoing significant cost-cutting measures and streamlining its operations since the abandonment of Project Everest. The firm has made t...
View articleTransitioning from an accounting firm to a consultancy model is only one part of the puzzle. The next, equally vital piece is making the market aware ...
View articleThis framework, while providing a top-line view, underscores the importance of strategic vision, operational excellence, and the spirit of continuous ...
View articleLooking ahead, the Big 4 firms face a challenging year, with ongoing cost-of-living concerns, slow economic growth, rising geopolitical tensions, and ...
View articleLast month it was reported that Deloitte would be cutting approximately 1,200 jobs in the United States, making it the latest of the Big Four accounti...
View article