Small business publications

ACCA, July 2012. This report discusses the challenges, difficulties and the successes that Growth Oriented Entrepreneurs have in the US, European and BRICSA (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and compares them to an international benchmark created by this study. The implications of the findings for governments, financiers and advisors are considered in terms of what support entrepreneurs need to build sustainable companies and thereby continue to stimulate their domestic and global economies.

FEE SMP Task Force, May 2012. This document reflects the outcome of debates held in expert roundtables organised by FEE, the Federation of European Accountants.

Emmanouil Schizas, April 2012. This paper uses data from over 10,000 interviews with UK SMEs to show how financial capability is not the result of business growth, but one of its causes. It explores the evolution of the finance function from an informal process to a formal team or departments and highlights the critical events and concerns that drive its development.

Emmanouil Schizas, March 2012. Capital markets promote economic development and growth by facilitating and diversifying firms’ access to finance. In order to do this they rely on institutions, including sound financial reporting and assurance, and these in turn depend on the accounting profession. This discussion paper considers how these relationships work and how policymakers can build on them.

Paul and Boden, February 2012. This report brings together the experiences of business owners and managers as well as credit and finance professionals in businesses large and small, from the supplier's as well as the buyer's side. It finds that there is only so much government can do to protect small firms from abusive credit terms and late payment, but also a great deal that businesses can do for themselves. Published as part of ACCA's contribution to the UK Government's Finance Fitness Campaign.

Emmanouil Schizas, December 2011. CRD IV is one of the most important pieces of regulation ever to come out of the EU institutions and its implementation could determine the shape of the recovery from one of the most challenging times in the Union’s existence. Based on its analysis of the likely impact of CRD IV on lending to SMEs, this paper endorses UEAPME’s reaction to CRD IV and makes a set of ten recommendations for European policymakers in order to address the shortcomings of current proposals.

Rosana Mirkovic, October 2011. This report examines how ACCA’s female membership has experienced the global economic conditions, by tracking their responses to ACCA’s confidence and recovery indices. The findings point towards some notable differences between the female and male respondents in the areas of business support and access to finance. These lead to lessons for policymakers and others working towards closing the gender gap, which is prevalent in much of the world’s economic activity.

Emmanouil Schizas, July 2011. The capital and liquidity provisions of Basel III are intended to shield the global financial system from a new financial crisis. Yet the extent to which they represent a good tradeoff between financial stability and economic growth is still unclear. Policymakers still know little about the potential impact of Basel III on lending to SMEs, apart from the fact that it will be disproportionate. With the sector contributing half of the world's private-sector output, this uncertainty renders all existing impact assessments virtually irrelevant. In this discussion paper, ACCA considers how an impact assessment can be designed that would be 'about right' as opposed to very precisely wrong.

Forbes, December 2010. Report of a survey of more than 1,750 SMEs from six international markets: Canada, China, Italy, Singapore, South Africa, and the UK, conducted by Forbes Insights in October 2010. The survey was carried out in association with ACCA, CGA-Canada and CNDCEC.

Emmanouil Schizas, October 2010. This report considers how regulation can possibly still be a major concern for small and medium-sized enterprises in a country such as the UK, whose regulatory reform programme is considered to be world-class. Based on a template of regulation-as-taxation, it builds on first principles to discuss the fundamental shortcomings of the UK's Better Regulation programme and how it can be reformed.

ACCA, September 2010. This policy paper outlines ACCA's research, derived policy positions and case studies from across the world. It outlines how ACCA engages with the SME sector and identifies key issues that should be high up on the SME agenda of governments, regulators, and standard setters across the world.

ACCA, February 2010.

ACCA, July 2010. A quarterly digest of information on small business access to finance.

ACCA, February 2010. Using evidence from ACCA's quarterly survey of professional accountants, which has the widest representation of any survey of its type, we look into the state of the small business sector and the different strategies being adopted by them and their advisers to enhance their fortunes. Our study suggests that by being flexible and adopting the right approach, small business is proving that it is ready to drive economic growth.

ACCA, September 2009. The International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) for Small and Medium Sized-Entities (SMEs) was published as an exposure draft by the IASB in February 2007, and was designed for companies with no public accountability. This brief report summarises the review of field testing results carried out by ACCA in UK in early 2008.

Blackburn, Carey and Tanewski, 2010. This report presents the results of a survey into the role of professional competence, trust and ethics in the demand for business services from accountants. The data from interviews with accountants and small business owner-managers in Australia and the UK provide an insight into advice-seeking behaviour of SMEs. (Ref: RR-119)

ACCA, March 2007. Report of the February 2007 seminar, where over 80 experts and interested parties gathered at the Department of Trade and Industry conference centre to discuss the issue of intangible assets and SMEs. The seminar covered a broad range of topics including how SMEs use the formal intellectual property system, how advisers can support SMEs’ intangible assets and the use of intangible assets for accessing finance.

Berry, 2006. A report of a study which examined relationships between small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and their banks. It provides some comparative data on how these relationships are viewed in five different countries, from the perspective of both SME as well as accountant. (Ref: RR-95)

The report provides a record of the points that emerged from the joint ACCA/SBS seminar of 7 June 2005.

ACCA, March 2013. Accountants for Small Business is a campaign aiming to raise awareness of the value of professional accountants in SMEs. This report is the centrepiece of the campaign, which will build partnerships between ACCA and business associations, government agencies, and service providers in order to provide practical resources and support for SMEs investing in internal finance functions.

John Davies, March 2013. This report discusses how four different countries – the UK, the US, Australia and Singapore – see the role of accounting information in protecting third-party interests in SME companies.

ACCA, November 2012. This paper presents the ACCA Global Forum for SMEs’ recommendations for the development of a series of SME-specific measures and approaches that will need to be adopted by governments, the business support community and the accountancy profession, if current efforts to engage SMEs in sustainable business practices are to gain significant momentum.

ACCA and ICM, April 2010. Experienced practitioners know that late payment and poor cashflow are leading causes of small business failure even in the best of times. During the economic downturn of 2008/9, ACCA teamed up with the Institute of Credit Management to promote ten quick and user-friendly guides to optimising cashflow for small businesses. The guides can be helpful to small business clients as a quick reference and to practitioners as a trigger for more in-depth discussions on cashflow and related services.