Tuesday 31 May 2011
Last month we reported on the high level of interest we were receiving with regard to Academies and the Bribery Act, both of which have continued to remain extremely popular throughout May. Last week saw our first Academies Conference run with a full house, great feedback and early orders for our soon to be released Academies audit manual. Please note that our second conference date is also nearly full so if you haven't registered already then best not to delay. For those of you who want to fast track some basic knowledge of Academies we have prepared a brief resume of the current rules, which you can download from the audit and accounts section below.
You may have seen that ICAEW have also been drawing all of our attention to the Bribery Act this month. If you attended one of their recent presentations and would like to advise your clients of the impact this Act could have on them, we have prepared a client letter and a factsheet. See below for the details.
We know from your feedback that many of you appreciate our free downloadable pdfs on current topics and those of you with group audits may find this months 'Auditing groups: twenty questions' will help answer some of the remaining questions you have on implementing ISA+ 600. You'll also find this in the audit and accounts section below.
Somewhat unusual that our intro is focussed primarily on audit and accounts related matters, so don't forget to read the latest tax round-up below.
Nicola Hurley
Director
nicola.hurley@mercia-group.co.uk
Partners' Conference 2011: Growth - Explore New Waters
As the economy comes out of recession, the focus of most practitioners will be on achieving 'real' growth within their practices. Our panel of expert presenters, including the return of Ros Taylor by popular demand, will explain how this can be achieved and there will be plenty of opportunities to discuss these will fellow delegates.
The full day conference is at the Marriott Hotel, M1 Junction 21, Leicester on Friday 10 June 2011. It costs £295 (plus VAT) and breakfast and lunch are included, £50 for MembershipPLUS and 25% discount for Members.
To view the full programme, please click here.
New Bribery Act client letter - 'Thank you, but no thank you'
With the date for the implementation of the Bribery Act 2010 now set at 1 July 2011, what should you be telling your clients about this important new legislation?
While the new Act replaces and updates the existing UK law against bribery and corruption, it also extends it to include a new corporate offence of 'failure of commercial organisations to prevent bribery'.
If you would like to inform your clients about this new legislation and also provide practical help, we have two options available - Client Letter or Client factsheet - including action checklist. Please click here for further information.
Audit and Accountancy Issues
Technical round up
It's been a fairly quiet month for audit and accountancy technical news. The APB has however issued a revised version of Practice Note 27, the Audit of Credit Unions in the UK. The PN has been updated for 'clarified' ISAs and you can access a copy here.
The APB has also issued a new technical Bulletin. 2011/1, Developments in Corporate Governance Affecting the Responsibilities of Auditors of Companies Incorporated in Ireland is again available on the APB's website
Auditing groups: top twenty questions
In continuing our series of practical guidance on the implementation of clarified ISAs we have put together a list of the top 20 questions that our lecturers and file reviewers have been asked regarding ISA+ 600. Click here to download your copy. As always, we'd be delighted to hear of any other areas that you would like to see similar guidance on.
An introduction to Academies
Academy status within the education sector has certainly become more prominent following the introduction of the Academies Act 2010. This leads to new opportunities for accountants and auditors to provide advice and other services to the growing number of schools that are converting to academy status.
If you are interested in providing your services to this sector there are a number of issues to get to grips with. You can find an introduction to these and the academies sector in general here with our compliments.
If you would like to find out more we are holding our next specialist Academies Conference in the East Midlands on 22 June. The conference will be held again in the autumn in London.
The writing of our new Academies Specialist Assignment Manual is progressing well. The manual will provide you with all of the documentation needed to undertake an academy audit.
News for Mercia technical manual subscribers
An update to our Pension Schemes Specialist Assignment Manual (SAM) that takes account of Practice Note 15, as well as the revised version of APB Bulletin 2010/2 on audit reports was issued after last month's newswire. If you have any administrative questions about the update please contact karina@mercia-group.co.uk or call her on 0116 258 1200.
Tax Issues
New task forces to tackle tax dodgers
HMRC are introducing specialist teams which will undertake intensive bursts of compliance activity in specific high risk trade sectors and locations across the UK.
HMRC state that the first task force will focus on the restaurant trade in London over the coming weeks, with the restaurant trade in Scotland and the North West later.
Mike Eland, Director General Enforcement and Compliance, said:
'These task forces are a new approach which uses HMRC's resources to identify and tackle rule-breakers and evaders swiftly and effectively.
Only those who choose to break the rules, or deliberately evade the tax they should be paying, will be targeted. Honest businesses have absolutely nothing to worry about.
But the message is clear - if you deliberately seek to evade tax HMRC can and will track you down, and you'll face not only a heavy fine, but possibly a criminal prosecution as well.'
HMRC is planning a further nine task forces in 2011/12, with more to follow in 2012/13. To read more, please click here.
Improving the Operation of Pay as You Earn: Real Time Information Technical Pack
HMRC have announced that they will pilot RTI reporting from April 2012, with all employers submitting RTI by October 2013. The Technical Pack will enable software developers to build payroll software products capable of reporting using the internet through the Government Gateway.
However, in response to concerns from the software and banking industries about the timescales for developing the ISO standards for use in the Bacs channel, HMRC will accept RTI data through Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) until at least April 2014 in addition to the internet channel. To read more, please click here.
High Net Worth Unit e-magazine
HMRC's High Net Worth Unit has launched a new e-magazine to give tax agents and advisers an insight into how the unit works and how they see it developing in the future. To read more, please click here.
HMRC confirms that the German hot food cases don't affect the UK
HMRC have confirmed that it considers that the ECJ's decision in the German 'takeaway food' cases has no implications for the treatment of takeaway food in the UK. HMRC take the view that, as the UK's zero-rating provisions are permitted under a different provision in the EU VAT Directive, the ECJ's decision in the German cases has no implications in the UK.
This issue (click here to view) continues to generate significant interest and looks likely to be ultimately decided in the UK courts. Any business in the hot food takeaway sector should consider submitting a protective claim. IVC can advise both on the prospect of success and the opportunity to stand VAT appeals behind a lead VAT case.
Office Gossip and Idle Chat!
What's all this fuss about social media then? Watch this space... 
We have formed a strategic team to launch Mercia into the social media world and have been working this month with Rob Wilmot, one of the founding members of the internet company Freeserve (Rob is also presenting an excellent session on how best to use LinkedIn at our partners' conference in June). Over the next few months you will find an increasing Mercia presence online on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. We hope that we will be able to offer those of you (and your practices) who might be considering venturing into this world some useful thoughts and guidance from our firsthand experiences. For those of you who are already established in social media we look forward to 'connecting, following and tweeting' with you in due course!
Vote for Mercia - but don't get fobbed off!!
You may have attended a conference or course and used one of our voting pads (similar to the ones used in Who Wants to be a Millionaire when they ask for help from the audience). Feedback suggests that you enjoy using them and the lecturers like them as it shows them you are still awake! As they are so popular we have decided to order additional sets so we can use them on more courses. However, some of you seem to love them so much you take them back to the office with you and some of the sets are now sadly depleted. If you do find one, please return it to us on the next course or by post.
Shan is off to the finals!
You may remember we told you about Shan Hughes and her drama groups' successes in last month's newswire, well we have more exciting news...
Shan and her fellow actors were victorious at the recent semi finals and they have now progressed to the All England Theatre Festival Final! This is taking place in Harrogate on 4 June - Break a leg Shan!
A new arrival!
Congratulations to Claire Cole of our Accounts Department (and her husband Iain) who have had a baby girl, Sophie Grace - her big sister Ellie is very excited!
