The profession

2003 articles

• ACCA accountants pour their talents into Africa
• Margaret Mwanakatwe and Anna Chifungula are two accomplished Zambian accountants who have risen through the ranks in Zambia's private and public sector. They tell Colette Steckel about their successful careers in accounting and business
• To consolidate or integrate?
• Jon Ashworth discovers whether there are any lessons to be learned from the misfortunes of Tenon in the market of consolidation
• World Congress: wake for self regulation or rebirth of a profession?
• John Prosser reports on the 16th World Congress of Accountants in Hong Kong

2004 articles

• Merger collapse?
• Jon Ashworth reports on why institute mergers may be doomed to fail
• The evolving role of the financial function: keeping the score or adding to it?
• Ian Herbert, William Murphy and Richard MS Wilson want to hear from you
• Accounting comment: IFRS
• While listed companies in Europe will have to report their financial performance using international accounting standards come January 2005, where does this leave their unlisted counterparts? Richard Martin and Robin Jarvis write
• Sarbanes-Oxley: two years on
• Perhaps the most vital corporate governance legislation in recent years, Jon Rowden looks at the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which, now two years old, continues to place ever greater responsibilities on America Inc
• Reach and reputation
• Allen Blewitt, ACCA's CEO, talks to John Prosser
• Respect, reputation, renewal
• John Prosser talks to ACCA's new CEO, Allen Blewitt
• Is image letting accountants down?
• Monty Python has a lot to answer for. But should today's accountants be judged by an out-moded stereotype? Richard Brass reports
• Letter from Brussels
• Jeremy Woolfe on the latest developments
• Money laundering - understanding your responsibilities!
• Julia Penny looks at the new regulations and some useful websites
• Accounting implications of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
• Robert Casamento reports on the implications for the accounting profession of the EU's Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme, which will come into force on 1 January 2005

2005 articles

• Taking on the Sarbox challenge
• George Thomas provides some guidance
• Empowering the economy
• Black economic empowerment has revolutionised the South African economy in recent years, but how should BEE deals be accounted for, especially where IFRS 2 is concerned? Kirsty Laschinger writes
• Transparency in pensions
• Peter Williams unpicks the devil in the detail of pension accounting
• Competition or merger?
• Competition is usually regarded as a watchword for healthy business and consumer interests. So why has merger reared its head again in the UK accountancy profession? Michelle Perry reports
• Higher cost, more work, more fees: Sarbox opens new doors for accountants
• Despite the initial cynicism over Sarbox, Michelle Perry discovers how the profession is now reaping the rewards through an unexpected source of work and fee income

2006 articles

• China merger
• Such is the demand for foreign firms' accounting services in China that more and more of the businesses concerned are turning to Chinese companies for assistance, as Alysha Webb discovers
• At the cutting edge of the diamond
• Poised to launch its new professional syllabus, and on the eve of its Diamond Sponsorship of the World Congress of Accountants, John Prosser talks to ACCA’s CEO, Allen Blewitt
• Going global
• The convergence of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), both in Europe and around the world, has changed the landscape in 12 months, writes Robert Bruce
• Custodians of integrity in Africa
• An ACCA East Africa convention in Kenya has highlighted the need for corporate transparency and good governance. Philip Ngunjiri reports on the issues debated and how trust can be restored in the profession
• A steep learning curve
• Nowhere is China’s professional skills shortage more apparent than in the accounting and auditing sector, reports Peta Tomlinson
• A safe alternative to silence
• It is the belief of one high-profile commentator that “to prevent whistleblowing you need to encourage whistleblowing.” Stefan Stern considers the paradox
• Non-qualified accountants in Singapore
• Will Singapore’s newly amended Listing Rule 705 encourage more companies to have a qualified accountant as CFO? Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop reports
• Asian regulators grow their adult teeth
• Peta Tomlinson looks at financial regulators post-Enron
• UITF 40 - the spelling of fear
• UITF 40 is a series of letters and numbers to strike fear into the hearts of many accountants. But Simon Crompton believes that, with the correct approach, compliance with UITF 40 shouldn’t be such a big issue
• Regulators grow their adult teeth
• Peter Williams looks at financial regulators post-Enron

2007 articles

• Stern stuff
• What does the Stern Review mean for business – and for the way we account for its activities? Richard Young investigates
• IFAC at 30: from Munich to the world
• Peter Williams tracks IFAC's progress over the past 30 years, and discovers what lies ahead
• Letter from... Australia
• Janine Mace reports on the efforts being made in Australia to establish a stronger and more profitable biopharmaceutical industry
• Letter from... Singapore
• What keeps Singapore's CFOs awake at night? asks Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop
• Auditor liability
• Images of handcuffed CEOs have become commonplace in the US media. To many it is a sign that shareholder-driven litigation is working. But audit firms are getting nervous, reports Christian Doherty
• An appetite for greater choice
• Increasing choice in the audit market is fast becoming the Holy Grail for capital market regulators across the globe, says Peter Williams
• IFAC at 30: a job well done
• IFAC is 30 years young. Calum Robson asks ACCA members - some of whom qualified in 1977, others who were born then - for their thoughts on how the organisation has shaped the profession, and what its priorities should now be
• Code to joy
• The Combined Code, the corporate governance framework introduced for UK-listed entities in 2003, has been reviewed by the Financial Reporting Council this year. Is the Code working well? asks Richard Young
• IFAC at 30: the world's accountant
• Fermin del Valle, partner in Deloitte Argentina and President of the International Federation of Accountants, is in town. And John Prosser is hoping it won't rain
• Facing the war on talent
• From accountants to chief financial officers, finding finance professionals with the right mix of accounting and business skills is proving quite difficult for employers in Singapore, reports Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop

2008 articles

• Next stop...?
• Sarah Perrin looks at the growing interest in international travel for accountants
• Online bookkeeping: evolution or revolution?
• Online bookkeeping has come of age, so accountants in business and practice would do well to check out the options. Lesley Meall writes
• A decade of regulatory evolution
• In the last decade some significant changes have been made to the regulatory environment in which accountants operate. Looking ahead, further change is anticipated, reports Sarah Perrin
• Acquisition and US business
• As the year-end corporate reporting cycle comes to a close in the US, companies there are beginning to turn their minds to the new acquisition accounting standard passed in January - and they may be in for a surprise, says Lauren Keane
• Letter from... Canada
• A recent report by Canada's Competition Bureau criticised Canada's accounting profession for being over-regulated, particularly in the limits it places on who can offer certain professional services, reports Alison Arnot
• Next stop: the boardroom
• Peta Tomlinson charts the evolution of the accountant from mere number-cruncher to key player in vital business decisions
• Going global
• ACCA has come a long way in 10 years. Colette Steckel reviews a decade of progress
• Contributing to the campaign coffers
• With the US presidential campaign well under way, just how big a role has the accounting profession played in terms of financial donations to the political players? asks Holly Yeager
• Waiting on the regulatory platform
• A majority of company finance professionals in Asia believe that a correlation exists between enhanced shareholder value and increased regulation, according to a recent survey. John Church reports
• Principles or rules?
• Although the convergence battle has been decided, with all parties agreeing to the need for an international set of accounting standards, the debate still rages on, as Christian Doherty discovers
• Letter from... Scotland
• David Evans reports on the implications of new reforms to the Scottish legal profession
• The simple life
• Growing complexity is the bane of many accountants in business. But if the UK's Financial Reporting Council gets its way, things might start to get simpler in 2008, says Richard Young
• What does IFAC actually do for me?
• Allen Blewitt, ACCA's chief executive, goes head to head with Ian Ball, IFAC's chief executive, in a wide-ranging discussion of IFAC's work and the added value it offers both to its members and to accountancy professionals worldwide
• The FD's straitjacket
• If there is one subject guaranteed to get the UK’s finance directors talking, it is regulation, says Christian Doherty
• Do the right thing...
• Jude Curtis, chief ethics and compliance officer, PricewaterhouseCoopers US, tells Colette Steckel why ethics and compliance is the responsibility of everyone