THE
ACCOUNT
The latest in finance and business
THE
ACCOUNT
The latest in finance and business
Accounting for the future
ICAS’ training partner BDO is launching a new initiative to demystify the accounting profession for schoolchildren. The programme, called Bridge to BDO, will include a face-to-face work experience offering, with workshops for those in years 9 and 11–13 (S2 and S4–6 in Scotland).
The project aims to introduce accountancy to children much earlier than is traditional, making young people aware of the range of possibilities it can open up and encouraging them to consider the profession as a viable career option.
Bridge to BDO is being run in tandem with a second programme, Discover Finance, “a collaborative programme for students in years 12–13 (S5–6 in Scotland) from a low socio-economic background”. The aim is to broaden access to the profession and boost social mobility.
The two projects, both of which are partnerships with Connectr Early Engagement, aim to reach a combined 3,000 young people over the next three years.
Louise Sayers, Head of People, Culture and Purpose at BDO, said: “The value of modernising work experience opportunities for our younger generations should not be underestimated. It’s so important to be able to break the cycle of inequity through creating targeted experiences, reaching students at a younger age, broadening their awareness of professions like accountancy, and giving them a direct line of sight to what their career could look like.”
Accounting for the future
ICAS’ training partner BDO is launching a new initiative to demystify the accounting profession for schoolchildren. The programme, called Bridge to BDO, will include a face-to-face work experience offering, with workshops for those in years 9 and 11–13 (S2 and S4–6 in Scotland).
The project aims to introduce accountancy to children much earlier than is traditional, making young people aware of the range of possibilities it can open up and encouraging them to consider the profession as a viable career option.
Bridge to BDO is being run in tandem with a second programme, Discover Finance, “a collaborative programme for students in years 12–13 (S5–6 in Scotland) from a low socio-economic background”. The aim is to broaden access to the profession and boost social mobility.
The two projects, both of which are partnerships with Connectr Early Engagement, aim to reach a combined 3,000 young people over the next three years.
Louise Sayers, Head of People, Culture and Purpose at BDO, said: “The value of modernising work experience opportunities for our younger generations should not be underestimated. It’s so important to be able to break the cycle of inequity through creating targeted experiences, reaching students at a younger age, broadening their awareness of professions like accountancy, and giving them a direct line of sight to what their career could look like.”
Code consultation
Audit Scotland has launched a consultation on a new Code of Audit Practice, coming into effect from the 2027-28 financial year. The public spending watchdog is seeking the views of the public, auditors, public bodies and others. The consultation runs until the end of March. You can submit your views here.
The code aims to ensure financial professionals deliver independent audits of Scotland’s government spending in the public interest.
Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, and subject of a recent CA magazine feature, said: “Our overarching vision is that public money is well spent to meet the needs of Scotland’s people. Central to this is independent, high-quality audit of how public money is managed and spent.
“We must also ensure that public audit is fit for the future. The draft Code of Audit Practice sets out how we aim to provide a robust, independent and proportionate public audit model that meets the needs of tomorrow.”
Code consultation
Audit Scotland has launched a consultation on a new Code of Audit Practice, coming into effect from the 2027-28 financial year. The public spending watchdog is seeking the views of the public, auditors, public bodies and others. The consultation runs until the end of March. You can submit your views here.
The code aims to ensure financial professionals deliver independent audits of Scotland’s government spending in the public interest.
Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, and subject of a recent CA magazine feature, said: “Our overarching vision is that public money is well spent to meet the needs of Scotland’s people. Central to this is independent, high-quality audit of how public money is managed and spent.
“We must also ensure that public audit is fit for the future. The draft Code of Audit Practice sets out how we aim to provide a robust, independent and proportionate public audit model that meets the needs of tomorrow.”
Ring the alarm
Depending when you read this, the clocks will either have just gone, or be just about to go, forwards one hour, marking the beginning of British Summer Time. Either way, if the results of a new survey are to be taken at (clock)face value, it may help to explain the UK’s productivity puzzle.
The survey, carried out by Instaprint, states that one in three UK office workers are expecting a week of lost productivity when the clocks change.
The survey also revealed…
• 70% of UK office workers say they struggle to adjust when the clocks go forwards
• 32% admit it takes up to a full working week to feel back to normal
• 42% report making more mistakes at work in the days following the time change
• 18% of workplaces proactively communicate about the clock change
The survey also comes with some suggestions, which you may be inclined to greet with an eye-roll. These include encouraging staff to gradually adjust bedtimes by 15 to 20 minutes in the days before the change; and promoting exposure to natural daylight early in the day to help reset sleep patterns.
Given all this evidence, persuasive or otherwise, there is one additional piece of advice that seems genuinely practical – avoid scheduling high-pressure meetings first thing on the Monday after the change. To which we can only say three zzz to that.
Ring the alarm
Depending when you read this, the clocks will either have just gone, or be just about to go, forwards one hour, marking the beginning of British Summer Time. Either way, if the results of a new survey are to be taken at (clock)face value, it may help to explain the UK’s productivity puzzle.
The survey, carried out by Instaprint, states that one in three UK office workers are expecting a week of lost productivity when the clocks change.
The survey also revealed…
• 70% of UK office workers say they struggle to adjust when the clocks go forwards
• 32% admit it takes up to a full working week to feel back to normal
• 42% report making more mistakes at work in the days following the time change
• 18% of workplaces proactively communicate about the clock change
The survey also comes with some suggestions, which you may be inclined to greet with an eye-roll. These include encouraging staff to gradually adjust bedtimes by 15 to 20 minutes in the days before the change; and promoting exposure to natural daylight early in the day to help reset sleep patterns.
Given all this evidence, persuasive or otherwise, there is one additional piece of advice that seems genuinely practical – avoid scheduling high-pressure meetings first thing on the Monday after the change. To which we can only say three zzz to that.
Kicking the crypto habit
Eight years ago I was asked to write a feature for a business publication to explain how Arsenal had become the first football club to have “an official cryptocurrency partner and official blockchain partner”. Said partner was a US company called CashBet.
I spoke to the man who brokered the deal, which seemed just to be a straightforward marketing agreement between Arsenal and CashBet, little different from any gambling company taking out advertising space on pitchside boards or in the matchday programme.
At no point did Arsenal say the club was going into crypto. But I was also asked to look at this then-newfangled ‘money’ and its impact on the future of sport.
I found someone called Jim Aylward, who was the front man for the London Football Exchange (LFE). I rang him up and explained that the Arsenal deal was the starting point for my piece. “But it’s just a marketing deal, mate!” said Aylward. To which I replied: “That’s what I’ve been thinking.”
He was chatty and likeable, however. LFE was pitched as a sort of football club stock exchange, where participants could purchase shares using the LFE token, or cryptocoin. Holders would be able to use the tokens to buy match tickets and merchandise and participate in events with football players. When I asked for more info, he said they were still at the launch stage and referred me to their comms team.
I couldn’t figure how this would work in real life, so I sent over my questions. When the comms team replied, I remember thinking either this is going over my head or they’ve just sent me a word salad that doesn’t amount to anything. By this point, the story lacked substance and my editor, rightly, took the decision to “put this one on hold for now”. Where it remains to this day.
Fast forward two years and Aylward’s crypto company-cum-stock exchange was on the verge of buying Australian club Perth Glory, until an audio file was published, in which he was heard boasting that LFE could manipulate the market and artificially spike or deflate the price of its cryptocoin. Then it emerged that Aylward’s real name was James Abbas Biniaz and he had been jailed for 22 months for VAT fraud in 2010. That same year, the high court issued a worldwide freezing injunction against LFE.
In the murky world of crypto investment, there’s always an opportunity for another scam. Sure enough, Biniaz turned up again last year as co-founder of TradeAI, a crypto firm based in Dubai that was being accused of conning investors.
While crypto hasn’t gripped the UK to the extent it has the US, it’s slowly working its way into politics. Some public figures here are heavily invested in cryptocurrency companies. And they deserve the highest possible levels of scrutiny – the kind of due diligence that would be second nature to any CA. Because, while crypto does have its legitimate uses, this is a space where ethics goes to die and con artists make a killing. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.
Ryan Herman
Kicking the crypto habit
Eight years ago I was asked to write a feature for a business publication to explain how Arsenal had become the first football club to have “an official cryptocurrency partner and official blockchain partner”. Said partner was a US company called CashBet.
I spoke to the man who brokered the deal, which seemed just to be a straightforward marketing agreement between Arsenal and CashBet, little different from any gambling company taking out advertising space on pitchside boards or in the matchday programme.
At no point did Arsenal say the club was going into crypto. But I was also asked to look at this then-newfangled ‘money’ and its impact on the future of sport.
I found someone called Jim Aylward, who was the front man for the London Football Exchange (LFE). I rang him up and explained that the Arsenal deal was the starting point for my piece. “But it’s just a marketing deal, mate!” said Aylward. To which I replied: “That’s what I’ve been thinking.”
He was chatty and likeable, however. LFE was pitched as a sort of football club stock exchange, where participants could purchase shares using the LFE token, or cryptocoin. Holders would be able to use the tokens to buy match tickets and merchandise and participate in events with football players. When I asked for more info, he said they were still at the launch stage and referred me to their comms team.
I couldn’t figure how this would work in real life, so I sent over my questions. When the comms team replied, I remember thinking either this is going over my head or they’ve just sent me a word salad that doesn’t amount to anything. By this point, the story lacked substance and my editor, rightly, took the decision to “put this one on hold for now”. Where it remains to this day.
Fast forward two years and Aylward’s crypto company-cum-stock exchange was on the verge of buying Australian club Perth Glory, until an audio file was published, in which he was heard boasting that LFE could manipulate the market and artificially spike or deflate the price of its cryptocoin. Then it emerged that Aylward’s real name was James Abbas Biniaz and he had been jailed for 22 months for VAT fraud in 2010. That same year, the high court issued a worldwide freezing injunction against LFE.
In the murky world of crypto investment, there’s always an opportunity for another scam. Sure enough, Biniaz turned up again last year as co-founder of TradeAI, a crypto firm based in Dubai that was being accused of conning investors.
While crypto hasn’t gripped the UK to the extent it has the US, it’s slowly working its way into politics. Some public figures here are heavily invested in cryptocurrency companies. And they deserve the highest possible levels of scrutiny – the kind of due diligence that would be second nature to any CA. Because, while crypto does have its legitimate uses, this is a space where ethics goes to die and con artists make a killing. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.
Ryan Herman
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