ACCA News

25/01/2022

We would like to help more people, especially in these uncertain times

Process
CCABF is governed by a Board of Trustees who meet every quarter to consider applications made to it. After ascertaining the individual’s need, we can support them financially. The trustees usually review between 30 and 40 applications each year, although there has been an increase this year because of Covid.

Each application is considered on its merits, and the trustees will help with the provision of monetary grants where possible, although it should be noted that we don’t pay membership subscriptions, pay off debts or assist students.

However we are continually concerned that not all of the membership is aware of CCABF – for example, dependants of deceased members may not be aware of its existence and of how it might be able to help them when they are having difficulties.

Referrals
Sometimes members in need are referred to us from other charities; however, we do rely on our members and ACCA staff to let others know of the work we do. Through the local member networks, ACCA members and staff are key in promoting CCABF to the wider membership who they may know are going through difficulties that CCABF may be able to help with.

ACCA’s national offices around the world are also vital, as they act as very effective conduits to our members and their families. They may know of members whose circumstances have changed dramatically and who could benefit from making an application to CCABF.

The trustees are deeply grateful for the financial support that ACCA and individual members provide to CCABF. However, we would like to help more people, especially in these uncertain times of Covid and rapidly rising living costs, and we seek your assistance in drawing the CCABF to the attention of anyone you think might deserve support to make life a little less stressful for eligible applicants.

25/01/2022

Helping ACCA members and their families

ACCA members have been helping fellow members in financial distress for over a century now. The Chartered Certified Accountants’ Benevolent Fund (CCABF) was established by trust deed in 1918 and is a UK registered charity.

Over the past four years we’ve helped members and their families from 28 countries, and we have been able to do so from donations and legacies from generous ACCA members, and income from our portfolio of investments.

Even the lives of busy professionals can take unexpected turns. So CCABF is here to provide support to members (past and present) and dependants who are experiencing hardship or distress at any time.

CCABF is also here to help those who have suffered in more personal circumstances: for example, where the member has died suddenly leaving a young family to cope without the main breadwinner; where the member has had to temporarily give up work to deal with a family member’s mental health issues; where the member or family member is in need of a medical operation; or where the member has suffered domestic abuse from a partner.

Disaster Fund
Following the 2004 Tsunami, CCABF established a Disaster Fund, which it uses to help members and their families impacted by natural disaster. For example, we have helped members affected by hurricanes in the Caribbean in 2017 and the Bahamas in 2019.

In the last 18 months we have all been impacted by the global pandemic, which has led to many deaths, job losses, and income reductions due to restrictions in all parts of the world. India was particularly badly affected earlier this year from a second wave of Covid, in April and May. With ACCA’s assistance we reached out to members and gave them grants from our Disaster Fund via a fast-track application process. We also helped members in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines following the volcano eruption in April.

25/01/2022

JANUARY 2022 ISSUE
Rulebook changes

Changes have been made to ACCA’s Rulebook with effect from 1 January 2022. These arise largely from policy decisions, legislative changes and the requirements of lead regulators or standards setting organisations.

Composition of Council: An amendment has been made to Regulation 3 of the Council Regulations to increase the number of members on Council from 42 to 45. The changes arise from the modernisation of ACCA’s governance structure and form part of a series of measures to support Council in being reflective of ACCA’s global membership.
AML and membership regulations: Amendments have been made to the Membership Regulations (Regulation 8(2)(k)) to update anti-money laundering (AML) legislative references. Similar amendments were made to Annex 2 to the Global Practising Regulations (Regulations 3(3), 8(2) and 9).
Annual admission fees and subscriptions: Amendments have been made to Membership Regulation 4(3)(e) to reflect annual changes to the rates of admission fees and annual subscriptions. The member subscription fee is now £270, and the member admission fee is £270.
Practising Certificate Experience Form (PCEF) exemption: Amendments have been made to Regulation 7(1)(a)(i)(cc) to give effect a change to ACCA’s Practising Certificate arrangements. The change enables members who have gained their experience in employers that are registered under the Practising Certificate Development stream of approval to obtain an exemption from completing the detailed Practising Certificate Experience Form (PCEF). Find more detail in this article.
CPD requirements and guidance for Irish statutory auditors: Changes have been made to Appendix 1 (Regulation 10) of Annex 2 to the Global Practising Regulations, which implement more specific CPD requirements and guidance for Irish statutory auditors (members and non-members) in order to comply with guidelines on continuing education issued by IAASA.
Designated Professional Body Regulations (DPBRs): The changes to the DPBRs clarify the requirements relating to the receipt of remuneration and remove a specific requirement relating to the timing of disclosure. Further information can be found in this factsheet.
Incompatibility provisions: Amendments have been made to Regulation 4(6) of the Regulatory Board and Committee Regulations (RBCRs) to address anomalies in the incompatibility (conflict of interest) provisions and extend the cooling-off period from three to six years – regulation 4(6).
ACCA requirements and guidance
ACCA’s Code of Ethics and Conduct has been amended to reflect revisions to the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants.

Role and mindset expected of all accountants: Revisions to Sections 100 (Complying with the Code), 110 (The Fundamental Principles), 120 (The Conceptual Framework), 200 (Applying the Conceptual Framework – Professional Accountants in Business), 220 (Preparation and Presentation of Information), the Glossary and Effective Date better promote the role and mindset expected of all accountants.
Objectivity of Engagement Quality Reviewers: Revisions to Sections 300 (Applying the Conceptual Framework – Professional Accountants in Public Practice), 325 (Objectivity of an Engagement Quality Reviewer and Other Appropriate Reviewers), 540 (Long Association of Personnel (Including Partner Rotation) with an Audit Client) and Effective Date provide guidance that supports International Standard on Quality Management (ISQM) 2 in addressing the eligibility of an individual to serve in an engagement quality reviewer (EQR) role.
Fee-related provisions: Revisions to Section 410 (Fees) and consequential and conforming amendments to Sections 120 (The Conceptual Framework), 270 (Pressure to Breach the Fundamental Principles), 320 (Professional Appointments), 330 (Fees and Other Types of Renumeration), 400 (Applying the Conceptual Framework to Independence for Audit and Review Engagements), 905 (Fees) and Effective Date provide enhancements to the fee-related provisions of the Code so that they remain robust and appropriate in enabling professional accountants to meet their responsibility to comply with the fundamental principles and be independent.
Non-assurance services provisions: Revisions to Section 600 (Provision of Non-assurance Services to an Audit Client) and consequential and conforming amendments to Sections 400 (Applying the Conceptual Framework to Independence for Audit and Review Engagements), 525 (Temporary Personnel Assignments), 900 (Applying the Conceptual Framework to Independence for Assurance Engagements Other than Audit and Review Engagements), 950 (Provision of Non-assurance Services to Assurance Clients), and Effective Date clarify the circumstances in which firms and network firms may or may not provide a non-assurance service (NAS) to an audit or assurance client and therefore help achieve consistent application of the NAS provisions across firms and jurisdictions; introduce several requirements that expressly prohibit firms and network firms from providing certain types of NAS to their audit clients; and provide some structural amendments to Section 600.
Commissions: Amendments to ACCA specific requirements and guidance within Section 310 of the Code align the examples of safeguards provided in paragraph 330.5 A2 of the Code, and remove the guidance to disclose amounts and terms ‘as soon as practicable’.
AML requirements: Changes to Section B2, in respect of AML requirements, remove guidance on client identification that is deemed unhelpful to ACCA and is contrary to what accountants are required to do in order to comply with legislation. Indeed, accountants do need to identify their clients irrespective of personally knowing them.
All members, students and others bound by the Rulebook should ensure they are fully aware of its contents.

25/01/2022

Since 2015, more than 5,000 ACCA members have sat the CIA challenge exam

25/01/2022

ACCA and the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) have renewed their memorandum of understanding (MoU). The three-year extension will further strengthen and extend the current cooperation agreement and allows both bodies to continue to work closely together.

Under the agreement, ACCA and the IIA will focus on advancing the careers of members, enhancing governance practices and serving the public interest. They will cooperate on research and thought leadership on topics such as diversity, governance, cybersecurity and ESG (environmental, social and governance). The organisations are already collaborating on a report to be released next year.

They will also evaluate opportunities to work together on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and will continue to collaborate on a range of activities to benefit their memberships in markets where they already work together, as well as other markets.

12/01/2022

HMRC’s one-month postponement of the Self Assessment deadline to the end of February is a welcome reprieve given the current staffing absences businesses, their accountants, as well as HMRC itself, are experiencing due to the Omicron variant.

Glenn Collins, head of policy, technical and strategic engagement at ACCA UK explains: ‘This New Year is critical for many SMEs and individual taxpayers who are coping with the uncertainty due to Covid-19 restrictions over the festive season, and so this extra month to get organised and file their returns for 2020 / 21 is much needed at such an exceptional and turbulent time. It will also help HMRC’s resilience and hopefully its performance over this period.’

This gives businesses and individuals extra time, if they need it, to complete their 2020/21 tax return and pay any tax due. Interest will be payable from 1 February, as usual, so it is still better to pay by 31 January if possible.

More than four million emails and SMS will be issued to Self Assessment customers pointing them to guidance and support, prompting them to think about how they intend to pay their tax bill, and to seek support if they are unable to pay in full by the deadline. Businesses were reminded recently by HMRC of the need to report taxable grants and payments received from Governments and local authorities during the pandemic. Loans such as Bounce Back Loans or CBILS do not need to be reported.

Glenn Collins continues: ‘There are clearly challenges ahead, both for businesses managing their cashflow, and for HMRC in seeking to recover unpaid taxes, whilst supporting those that are struggling.

‘It’s been recently reported that tax debts hit £42 billion, with 6.2 million taxpayers owing money to HMRC, an increase from 3.8 million at the start of the year. We welcome this delay as we were concerned about pressures building on small businesses who are now faced with paying back the tax bill on the grants and payments they received to keep them afloat from the early stages of the pandemic until April 2021.’

ACCA UK says that this huge tax demand will hit businesses who are just regaining profitability and will put a further squeeze on them due to increased tax on dividends and employers’ National Insurance for the health and social care levy.

ACCA UK’s also reminding business owners of the dangers of scams at this time of the year. As HMRC will be issuing emails and SMS to Self Assessment customers, they are reminding them to be on their guard after nearly 800,000 tax-related scams were reported in the last year. Fraudsters use self-assessment to try and steal money or personal information from unsuspecting individuals. In the last year alone, HMRC has received nearly 360,000 bogus tax rebate referrals.

31/12/2021

What is ACCA salary in india?

An individual with ACCA qualification can earn an average salary of up to INR 8 lac p.a. The payscale generally ranges between INR 4 lac p.a. To INR 15 lac p.a. It could go higher too, depending upon candidate's skills, company's demands, competition, etc.

29/12/2021

https://youtu.be/mDLmjhyjQ0I

28/12/2021

Finance And Accountancy Jobs In Asia Pacific
Asia Pacific is home to a range of ACCA job roles within sectors such as accounting and public practice, financial services, consulting, global business services and outsourcing. Typical roles within these sectors include Finance Manager, Business Analyst and Management Accountant. You could be working with some of the biggest public practice firms in the world, such as Deloitte.

27/12/2021

Responses from key bodies to the announcement about sustainability standards highlight urgency https://bit.ly/31A547N

Responses from key bodies to the announcement about sustainability standards highlight urgency

27/12/2021

ACCA Approved Learning Partners in Nepal.
Learn more:https://bit.ly/2Wse8qd

Find a Registered Learning Partner for non-core ACCA qualifications using our directory

24/12/2021

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24/12/2021

ANY CONFUSION ABOUT STUDING ACCA ?
YOU CAN DIRECTLY MESSAGE US.

23/12/2021

Ease of Business & Anti-Corruption Index Beacons for Any Country: ACCA’s McEnery

Read more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/ease-of-business-anti-corruption-index-beacons-for-any-country-accas-mcenery/articleshow/61584777.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Indias significant jump in the World Banks ease of doing business ranking is admirable and that it is the right thing to focus on for any economy in present times, McEnery said.

23/12/2021

ACCA launches new suite of Global Business Services qualifications

ACCA has specially designed this new professional qualification for the shared services sector, at three levels including Certificate in global business services that includes an independently-assessed online course and covers all the basic knowledge and skills required by global shared services employees.

Read more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/education/acca-launches-new-suite-of-global-business-services-qualifications/articleshow/50928911.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

23/12/2021

Indian 'shadow economy' to shrink to 13.6 per cent of GDP by 2025: ACCA

The report, titled 'Emerging from the shadows: The shadow economy to 2025', said the shadow economy in India currently represents 17.22 per cent of GDP, totalling about Rs 26,15,800 crore in 2016.

Read more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/indian-shadow-economy-to-shrink-to-13-6-per-cent-of-gdp-by-2025-acca/articleshow/59410776.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Shadow economy refers to the production of and trade in goods and services that are deliberately and often illegally concealed from public authorities.

22/12/2021

Between Finance and Accounting, What Pays Better?

ANS:
Try answering this question: Which of the following are essential for survival?

Water or Air?

If this question left you confused, because both water and air are essential for life, that’s exactly how this question is. Both Finance and Accounting go hand in hand and are essential for businesses. As a result, both offer great career opportunities that are on par with each other.

That being said, the careers in finance and accounting, within themselves are very different. Hence, one should make a well-planned and thought-out career choice based on their interests, likes, job market, and so on.

Finance:

Finance is the field that involves the management of money within an organization. Knowledge of accounts, coupled with business acumen and knowledge of reporting are the must-have skills for a person in finance. In terms of soft skills, interpersonal skills, communication ability, and problem-solving skills are necessary for a career in finance.

While numeracy skills are important in finance, they are more crucial for accountants.

In short, careers in finance involve a considerable amount of forecasting and planning for the future.

Careers in finance may include jobs such as:

Investment banker
Financial broker
Financial manager or planner
Financial advisor
Financial analyst
Accountancy:

Accounting involves the identifying, recording, and communicating of an organization’s economic results. It is a very vital function for any business. Accounting measures business activities process the information into reports and communicate the results to decision-makers.

While many people consider accounting a subsect of finance, there is a considerable difference between the two. The work of an accountant includes creating journal entries, bank reconciliations, invoicing, and similar processes that relate to the daily operation of a business. They may also create quarterly and annual financial reports, analyze profitability, manage debt, audit internal transactions and report earnings.

In short, careers in accounting involve taking note of past transactions, and recording them for the sake of compliance, and so on. To be a successful accountant, one has to have a combination of accounting expertise, general business knowledge, and soft skills to be successful.

Careers in accounting include jobs such as:

Careers in accounting include:

Auditor
Bookkeeper
Cost accounting manager
Accounts receivable clerk
Accounts payable clerk
Controller
Treasurer
Technical accounting manager
Tax accountant
Chief finance officer
Accounting Vs. Finance

Although some skills required by professionals in accounting and finance are similar, there are some differences too. Accounting includes more components of quantitative analysis, internal auditing, income taxation, and accounting practices and methods. Accounting is more hands-on and process-oriented than finance.

On the other hand, finance involves mathematics-intensive and focused on financial markets, portfolio and investment management theory, financial management, investments, and security analysis and valuation. On the whole, finance tends to be more analytical and evaluative, and less numeracy-oriented than accounting.

What Should You Choose?

This boils down to what the students want to pursue. The bottom line is that both finance and accounting are lucrative and offer good opportunities. It ultimately lies in the hands of the student and market trends.

21/12/2021