Technical resources

Getting paid: lessons for, and from, SMEs

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.

SME internationalisation in Central and Eastern Europe

Rosana Mirkovic, February 2012. This report investigates both challenges and opportunities that exist in increasing the rate of SME international activity, with a particular focus on central and eastern Europe. Insights into the barriers to SME international activity, as well as policy recommendations and practical steps that can be taken to overcome these, will be of interest to the regional policy makers and business owners alike.

Get paid! A guide for owners and managers of small businesses

A joint resource from ACCA, Experian, FPB and ICM. As part of the government’s ‘Get Paid’ campaign, this ‘quick guide’ to avoiding or managing late payment, summarises the tips outlined in ACCA's 2012 report by Boden and Paul.

CRD IV and small businesses: revisiting the evidence in Europe

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.

Nurturing Europe’s spirit of enterprise: how entrepreneurial executives mobilize organizations to innovate

Forbes, December 2011. This report uses a survey of 1,245 European executives in order to assess how personalities, external support mechanisms and internal structures determine firms ability to innovate

Female perspectives in the global economy

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.

A digital agenda for European SMEs

ACCA’s European members who work in the SME sector present recommendations aimed at increasing the demand and uptake of the digital solutions by European small firms in the areas of cloud computing, e-invoicing, social lending and e-commerce.

Framing the debate: Basel III and SMEs

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 trade-off 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.

The future of microfinance in Kenya

Emmanouil Schizas, July 2011. ACCA's conference, 'Better Business Kenya 2011', considered the prospects of the microfinance industry. This paper summarises the resulting insights into four recommendations for the present and future leaders of the industry in Kenya.

ASB: FRED 43, application of financial reporting standards, and FRED 44, financial reporting standard for medium-sized entities

Comments from ACCA to the Accounting Standards Board, April 2011

Guide to... consolidated accounts for business

Consolidated accounts is the term used when businesses under common control need to be incorporated into a single set of accounts.

Guide to...consolidated accounts

Consolidated accounts is the term used when businesses under common control need to be incorporated into a single set of accounts.

Business advice to SMEs: professional competence, trust and ethics

ACCA research report no. 119, by R. Blackburn, P. Carey and G.A. Tanewski.

Accountants as providers of support and advice to SMEs in Malaysia

ACCA research report 118, by S.S. Devi and R.H. Samujh.

Living up to expectations

This report looks into the state of the small business sector and the different strategies being adopted by them and their advisers to enhance their fortunes.

Conceptualising self-employment income in the UK

ACCA research report 113, by G. Allinson, P. Braidford and I. Stone.

Intermediation of intellectual property awareness

ACCA research report 107, by R. Pitkethly.

Connections, collaboration and networks

Katherine Ng, 2009. On 12 March 2009 ACCA hosted a highly engaging ideas forum as part of ESRC’s Festival of Social Science, focusing on communication channels for creative businesses and the role of the accountant. Fostering debate between internationally respected scholars and leading practitioners, the roundtable was part of the successful Ideas Forum series advanced by ACCA’s Research Committee.

Intangible assets and SMEs

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 property system, how advisers can support SME's intangible assets and the use of intangible assets for accessing finance.

SME intangible assets

ACCA research report 93, by C. Martin and J. Hartley.