Beware the big changes ahead for payslips
Big changes are happening to payslips in 2019 - are you ready for them?
It’s time to look ahead at what 2019 has in store for us. Personally, I’m excited for new episodes of Homes Under The Hammer, the Royal Baby and maybe a weekend away in Scarborough. But amid all this excitement there is another huge event looming on the horizon that is going to change the face of payroll for ever. *cue dramatic music*
Yes folks, from April 2019 if you have paid employees then your world is about to be flipped upside down, never to be the same again. OK that was a bit dramatic (I think it was the music) - but this is a big deal. Basically under the new system employers will have to deliver itemised payslips to every worker on their payroll, not just those classified as “employees”. This means all workers, including zero hour and casual workers, must be issued with written, printed or electronic payslips. YUP! You heard right, AND the employer must either:
- itemise the figures for different types of work worked and for different rates of pay
or
- show the combined number of hours worked for which payment is being made.
I can imagine half of you are white as a sheet at this point. Jeepers, it feels like this year couldn’t get any wooooorse! (*turns off music* - sorry, last time). At first glance, yes, this payroll change can seem daunting. It could be a huge undertaking for a large proportion of businesses if you use HMRC’s Basic PAYE tools or if your payroll does not offer a payslip facility. But if you act ASAP you can ensure that you’re ready by the deadline. No, put your pyjamas back on Greg, I didn’t mean like, right now. It’s more about ensuring that there is a smooth transition. How do you do this? Well you’ve come to the right place!
First of all, make sure you have a meeting with your HR team (even if this just consists of Laura who brings her pet Yorkie to work and gives really good hugs). As long as your employees have the right information regarding these changes and that whoever is responsible for the payroll process knows how to implement them then you’re halfway there. But most importantly, your payroll processes should be revised so that this new information will appear as it should on the payslip itself. This includes:
- earnings before and after any deductions
- the amount of any deductions that might change per pay period such as NI contributions
- an explanation of any fixed amount deductions
- and finally - everyone’s favourite part - the net wages to be paid.
I can imagine the half of you that didn’t turn white as a sheet earlier have now caught up. But don’t worry your pretty little heads - as long as you're using a dedicated payroll software you can rest easy. Payroll software such as BrightPay will have already prepared for these changes and have built in functionality to process these amendments according to each individual payslip.
Guys, I know it seems like a huge pain but at the end of the day this is a huge victory for employees who will be able to understand their pay better and also dispute missed payments with greater ease.
Liberté, égalité, employeé.
AccountsIQ updates software platform
AccountsIQ, an award-winning supplier of accounting consolidation and business intelligence solutions, has announced a major product update to their software platform, as a result of feedback from their customers and the AccountsIQ community.
AccountsIQ recently won a ranking in Deloitte Technology Ireland’s Fast 50 for the fourth year running, recognising the company’s growth in turnover, and a reflection of the its commitment to innovation.
The General Ledger Journals functions in AccountsIQ have been redesigned to help create efficiencies and improve accuracy in month end processes, and to save the finance function time.
Typically, end of month accounting procedures can be cumbersome, repetitive and lengthy, especially journal adjustments or month end journal routines, often taking up valuable time and resource which could be better used elsewhere, and which might be prone to human error.
Gavin McGahey, AccountsIQ chief technology officer, says: “The new features will create significant time savings at month end. We are really pleased to add these new enhancements, as many have been requested by customers. The first part of this upgrade has been released globally and we’re looking forward to add even more time saving features over the next couple of months.”
Clients and payroll ... the worst game of tennis you’ve ever seen!
By Aoibheann Byrne
In my last blog post, I talked about BrightPay’s new Bureau Feature - Client Payroll Entry - and how much of a game-changer it is. But BrightPay are spoiling you rotten and trying to impress your parents because they not only have one, but two, new bureau, time savings and super awesome features. This second feature goes hand in hand with the Client Payroll Entry feature and is called Payroll Approval. No no, it’s not a BrightPay team member standing over your payroll books and saying “yes, very good”. It’s a way of ensuring the payroll information is 100 per cent accurate before the payroll is finalised. How?
Like payroll entry, the current system for getting payroll information from clients and approving payroll with the client is clunky and clumsy. After the bureau has done all the work they finalise the payroll and send a copy to the client for approval, essentially doing it blind as this is all based on the assumption that all the information provided in order to achieve the final result is correct. HA! So naive! There are almost always mistakes and these mistakes are only picked up by the client once they are sent the finalised payroll for approval.
So now the client has noticed that they forgot to tell you that Ricardo moved back home to Brazil last month and that actually, Tracy has her baby already so they tell you what changes need to be made either by email or over the phone but actually, Pierce was off sick for two days last week because he drank the gone off milk in the staff room fridge but the manager forgot to record it so they ring you again and so on and so on. It’s like the worst game of tennis you’ve ever seen; just back and forth and back and forth until everyone dies.
Even worse is if the client doesn’t pick up on a mistake and approves the payroll you’ve finalised and then only notices the week after and then they’re all up in your grill about it, pointing the finger. You’re pretty sure it’s their fault, because you’re an accountant and therefore perfect and immortal, but how do you prove it? Are you going to go through the years of email exchanges just to prove a point? (I mean, I would. But I am petty and have a lot of time of my hands). The answer is no, you couldn't be bothered. So you grit your teeth and correct the mistakes and go back and forth and back and forth and hope that North Korea finally let off a nuke and put you out of your misery.
Please welcome to the stage the new feature from BrightPay Connect - the Payroll Approval Facility! This feature allows payroll bureau users to securely send a payroll summary before the payroll is finalised. The onus is then on the client (yes the CLIENT) to review and authorise the payroll details through their online employer dashboard. Like payroll entry, this is all done through the BrightPay Connect portal which will eliminate the need for manual correction and endless emails. NOT ONLY THAT but the client is now accountable for ensuring the payroll information is 100 per cent correct before being finalised. Just because you’re an accountant, it doesn’t make you accountable (zing).
Oh and have I mentioned audit trails? Yaaaas girls and boys, audit trails of all payroll requests that have been approved by the client. It includes each step taken by your client and and includes payroll filed, approved and submitted, outstanding requests and files waiting to be approved, completed and even files ready to be downloaded to an employee file. So next time Brenda accuses you of making a mistake you can politely direct her to the audit trail section and then sass on out of there leaving her to eat your dust.
Regardless of accountability though, having clients conduct data checks and approval themselves will result in increased accuracy, reduced need to make edits after payroll has been finalised, resulting in time saved, greater productivity, improved client/bureau relationships and world peace.
Check out BrightPay.
Advising is part of an accountant's job - by definition
Accountancy goes viral? A Twitter storm? Well almost. Gary Turner, head of accounting software giant Xero, is calling for the dictionary definition of "accountant" to be amended to reflect the role of your 21st century bean counter.
It's creating quite a stir on social media.
There's an online petition urging the Oxford English Dictionary to take appropriate action that is ticking up towards 500 pretty smartly.
The 'story' has even featured on mainstream business site City AM.
Plus the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants is also backing the campaign for a change.
Financial accounts
OED defines "accountant" as “a person whose job it is to keep or inspect financial accounts”.
Not good enough, says Gary, because such an “archaic” definition omits the function to to advise companies.
Gary wrote to OED's words people: “Today, an accountant doesn’t just crunch the numbers and observe financial operations, but so much more.
"They advise business owners and aid and fuel business objectives such as business growth, improving efficiency, cost and productivity.”
Acca head Claire Bennison says: “Technology is offering accountants greater opportunity to offer provide valuable business insight and advice to their clients.
“Xero’s proposed revision to the dictionary definition of the term accountant to add a small but vital verb – ‘advise’ – is a positive development we fully support as it reflects the changing role of a professionally qualified accountant as a trusted adviser to business.”
Can't wait to see how this plays out!
How to create a winning exit strategy
In business, nothing quite beats that warm inner feeling that business owners experience when everything is going swimmingly and the money continues to roll in as expected, day in day out, week in week out and month in month out ... with no surprises upon approving and signing off the year end accounts.
They confidently, and perhaps smugly, review another successful year of trading and look forward to a repeat performance in the subsequent year.
From your aspect it’s a satisfied client and a “nice” bill paid promptly.
Ongoing upgrades
Many SME owners have already made the majority of their investment into their business some years previously and with the exception of ongoing upgrades and maintenance of buildings and plant there are few, if any, demands for a substantial cash injection over and above anything that can be met comfortably out of retained profits.
Sometimes the business owner reflects upon the current value of a lifetime's work, usually in their own mind or perhaps because they have received an unsolicited approach in the post from a business transfer agent seeking to drum up business.
The thought of selling up is usually a fleeting one which is soon brushed aside by the notion of losing a steady and reliable income.
Entrepreneurs
There are typically two sorts of entrepreneurs and where they are on the scale will likely determine their approach to selling.
First, there is the serial entrepreneur who may be starting-up or buying and reselling businesses every few years, typically after turning around a problem company or consolidating.
Secondly, comprising the majority of successful businesses, are those founded or built up by an individual over a period of decades and are the main focus of their owners’ lives. Within this category are people with two divergent needs.
Most common is the business owner who will be selling with a view to retiring, there being no "next deal" nor any participation in the labour force or wealth creation, but there is also the one who has enjoyed their time at the helm but is too young to retire and fancies doing something less demanding, what we now refer to as a lifestyle business.
Crux of the problem
Here's the crux of the problem that is responsible for so much lost sleep.
When is it time to hit the big red button and bale out, whatever one’s ongoing income requirements?
Let me be clear on one point here. I am not discussing a case of "calling the top of the market", where there is a frenzy of consolidation taking place at eye watering multiples. Such scenarios are often quite simply almost always "no brainers".
The heart of this discussion is through the lens of making sure the business owner has not left it too late to extract maximum value out of their business.
But what is meant by too late?
Let's start from the aforementioned premise that we are dealing an SME built up and developed over 25 years by its owners without any outsiders in the boardroom. It is turning over £3m per annum and yielding a net profit before tax of £0.7m with a balance sheet worth a net figure of £2.35m.
Very nice indeed but as with everything else nowadays the world is changing quickly and the old certainties have never been less certain in a shorter timeframe. Like their competitors this business has to run hard just to stay still and survive, let alone find ways to innovate and adapt in order to continue thriving.
So what is this business actually worth on the open market?
Balance sheet
Assuming a healthy exit multiple of 4.5x it would fetch a very handsome £3.15m for its owners which is in excess of the balance sheet.
But that would mean an instant end to the income of £0.7m per annum so our business owner will be sucking hard on his or her teeth and reckoning that it's probably worth waiting another 2 or 3 years THEN banking the £3.15m.
After all, what sort of return will £3.15m generate? A pedestrian 1.5 per cent on deposit or a heart-stopping racy but riskier 10 per cent if reinvested in another venture. Either way a far cry from the current 29.8 per cent return on capital employed being enjoyed.
Surely a fair assessment?
However, how certain is the business owner that the coming years will see profits maintained in the face of external headwinds? Brexit, Political earthquake at Westminster, Tariff Wars, Sector disrupter.
I am sure you can think of more scenarios to keep you awake at night. Not forgetting that our business owner is in their early 60s and not quite got the same drive and energy as in former years to keep thing running at full pelt, let alone grow earnings.
Okay, so perhaps these doomsday scenarios won't happen.
But in a few short years he or she will be heading for 70 and health tends to worsen with age, not improve as it would with a good Scotch.
Industry circles
So let's take a compromise view and hang on for 2 more years then and see how things look, while making tentative enquiries to business brokers and keeping a closer ear to the ground in industry circles.
Let's say in the intervening two years the steady rise in profits splutters, even just slightly and profits come in at £0.68m and £0.595m respectively . Nothing major has occurred on the macro economic front, just the loss of a couple of good contracts and the failure to replace them.
Well, the owner's lifestyle certainly won't have felt the dips but prospective buyers will certainly have taken notice.
We get to market 24 months later and the offers are coming in for what is a fundamentally sound business but the multiples offered are dropping to 3.75x 3 years average earnings - £2.47m . Not too bad because we've had the benefit of the two years' worth of earnings in the interim.
Fair enough, so let's tweak our scenario. The storm clouds have gathered on the economic front as well and profits come in the next year at £0.425m. Oh dear.
Trend of profitablity
Now the trend of profitability is heading south in an established pattern and best offer is coming is at 3x the average of the past 3 years net earnings - £1.7m. OK, so our resilient business owner looks back and sees that he or she has still come away with more overall - £3.4m instead of £3.15m.
Now let's chuck in a wildcard. The owner’s health has suffered as a result of the stress of falling profits and market uncertainty.
As the deal stretches out and it becomes clearer that the seller is getting much keener to "do the deal and be done with" , the due diligence will throw up all sorts of "issues".
And eventually our seller will be taking a multiple of 2.5x net profits, which, by the time it comes round to signing the contract have, fallen yet again to £0.295m and the average profit over three years has now dipped to £0.438m .
The proceeds from the sale are now £1.095 . The total over three years is now £2.665m against £3.15m but what if there is no buyer?
Remember – buyers face the same storm clouds and may have battened down their own hatches.
Far fetched
Far fetched? Not in my experience but why not ask your clients what they think?
Nobody knows what the future holds and often if pays to keep going but eventually there comes a point where that no longer holds true.
So, the take home here is to understand that just when you don't need it to happen, events can and do move against businesses to create the perfect storm. Many buyers out there specialise on sniffing out such opportunities and pouncing just at the right time. Our SME owner may no longer be “in the money” and possibly no longer “in the game”.
So perhaps when it comes to "calling the top of the market" sellers need to look much closer to home. That’s where sound advice from a trusted outsider, such as an accountant comes into its own.
Planning the exit for a business is always going to be more of an art than a science, with a hefty dose of good fortune but it pays to have the conversation with clients sooner rather than later, even if simply to get it on the radar for a future conversation, because you don’t want to be “too late”.
The table below uses the figures in this article and the yellow background is where the seller will reinvest at 10 per cent, the red being proceeds put on deposit at 1.5 per cent.
| Multiple | Proceeds | Income | Income | Income | Total | |||
| Sale time: | Of sale | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | ||||
| Now | 4.5 | 3.15 | 0.047 | 0.048 | 0.049 | 3.294 | ||
| 0.315 | 0.347 | 0.381 | 4.193 | |||||
| End Year 2 | 3.75 | 2.468 | 0.680 | 0.595 | 0.056 | 3.799 | ||
| 0.680 | 0.595 | 0.374 | 4.117 | |||||
| End Year 3 | a) | 3 | 1.7 | 0.680 | 0.595 | 0.425 | 3.400 | |
| b) | 2.5 | 1.095 | 0.680 | 0.595 | 0.295 | 2.665 | ||
High number of accountants are unhappy in their jobs
Accountants can be a pretty unhappy bunch, it would seem. About one in five think about quitting every week according to some pretty enlightening research.
CABA, the ICAEW's wellbeing charity, surveyed 251 members, finding that 8 per cent think about calling it a day every day; 14 per cent consider leaving up to four times a week ... and so on. Among 35-44 year olds, 34 per cent consider quitting at least once a week.
The profession led various sectors in the dissatisfaction stakes too. Manufacturing was in second place. Overall, about 15 per cent of accountants were unhappy with their careers.
Work life balance
CABA's research also showed that ICAEW members were struggling to achieve a work-life balance, with over half regularly working late and 22 per cent staying back every day. Nearly half took work home, while over a third regularly worked on days off (compared to 19 per cent across all sectors).
Not surprising then that about 21 per cent of accountants missed at least one personal or family event a week.
Kelly Feehan, CABA services director, says: ‘Chartered accountancy is a competitive sector, with firms striving to attract and keep the best talent.
Shockwave through the profession
"The fact that so many employees are feeling discontent in their roles should send a shockwave through the profession – put simply, employers need to act or lose their best staff.
"Replacing talent takes time, effort and is costly, so employers should consider some other fixes instead of assuming employees can be replaced like for like."
She adds: "Moving wellbeing up the corporate agenda could help facilitate this – the fact people are crying, checking emails when sick and regularly thinking about quitting shows something has got to change.
Change cultures
"Wellbeing and work-life blend will be a real priority as more millennials move into the workplace, so employers need to change cultures now to prepare themselves for the workforce of the future.
"In today’s always-on world there’s no separation between work and home – we can work wherever, whenever, which blurs the boundaries between our personal and professional lives.
"Whilst this is handy in replying to urgent emails on the commute, it also puts pressure on employees to stay connected to work, even in their downtime, as few of us can ignore multiple notifications buzzing away.
"Whilst we don’t work as many hours as previous generations have, we don’t have the disconnect they did – making us mentally fatigued, which is no doubt linked to reduced productivity levels.
"If employers want a happy, healthy workforce they need to take notice of these findings and put measures in place to help staff regain control of their equilibrium, as this will lead to a more engaged, productive team."
Quite.
Route 101 to accounting enlightenment
One of the highlights of my eventful first year producing content for Accounting Insight News was a day spent at ACCA's London Embankment HQ with Richard Sergeant.
Richard, MD of Bristol-based personal and business development group Principle Point, is a well-respected figure in the UK sphere of accountancy, marketing and software.
He’s a knowledgeable observer of the profession’s habits, practices and idiosyncrasies, which makes him eminently qualified to run his Accountant 101 course.
Insightful dive into the industry
I thoroughly enjoyed his insightful dive into the industry - as did my fellow attendees who were drawn from toe-in-the-water accounting tech start-ups and well-established groups like Thomson Reuters.
Accountant 101 is basically an overview of accountants and the accountancy market for knowledge-hungry vendors who are new to the sector.
It’s also aimed at folk who are curious about accountants as a channel; or for those already in the market, but who want to give staff a knowledge boost.
Role of technology
Here are some Accountant 101 topics:
- What an accountant actually does, what services they provide, for whom and why.
- Why all firms are the same, but completely different!
- The role of technology within a practice, and what they use with clients.
- The challenges firms face.
- Why compliance is unlikely to die, and the role of advisory.
- Business is complex!
Richard runs the course with enthusiasm and humour, always ensuring there’s plenty of opportunity for attendee participation. It all makes for a lively day that goes in a flash.
“I'm just confirming dates now. But I'm looking to run courses in Feb, March and April to coincide with the run up to Accountex," Richard tells me.
Better understanding
“One of the main draws is to help encourage better understanding of the lives and work of accountants, so you can have better and more productive conversations
“I'd like to believe that this is an ideal way to make sure that all Accountex exhibitors can make the most of their Accountex opportunity.”
Richard is offering a discount of 33 per cent to Accountex exhibitors who sign up for Accountant 101. That would be make the fee £195. Get the lowdown HERE.
Money well spent, if you ask me.
MPs force rethink of controversial HMRC loan charge
HMRC's efforts to claw back "unpaid" taxes through its loan charge have been dealt a potentially fatal blow.
A cross-party group of MPs led by Ed Davey has forced the government/Treasury to rethink the retrospective tax/anti tax avoidance measure aimed at freelancers and contractors.
The aim of the loan charge, set to feature in the April 2019 finance bill, is to end disguised remuneration schemes - where agency workers and the like were 'loaned' money rather than being paid a salary that would have attracted tax and NI. The "terms" of the "loans" were such that they would never have to be repaid.
The scheme gave HMRC the power to go back 20 years in pursuit of tax "avoiders". This is where it ran into trouble and earned, with some degree of justification, the label "retrospective taxation".
Review the policy
The government now has to review the policy before the end of March.
HMRC’s pursuit of retrospective loan charge taxes has been criticised by the House of Lords economic affairs, which said there was “disturbing evidence” and “reports of increasingly aggressive behaviour towards taxpayers”. It calls on the Government to reform the Loan Charge, which Lords declared is “clearly retrospective” and ”undermines basic principles of tax fairness and certainty.”
Mel Stride, finance secretary to the treasury, said the government accepted the call for the review but maintained that the disguised remuneration schemes were "gross aggressive tax avoidance."
Tax principle
Ed Davey had this to say: "This review is about an important tax principle. The government are in effect in breach of the rule of law with the retrospective nature of their loan charge. And the unfairness of that has brought misery to thousands of people. While ministers have listened, the review that’s now been established must respond to the concerns of MPs...
“Treasury ministers have a duty to respond seriously and substantively.”
Loan charge action group spokesperson Steve Packham said: “We are delighted that MPs have forced the government into accepting a review of the appalling loan charge which, if it comes in, will destroy families and cost lives. This is a victory for the campaigners, for parliament and for the rule of law." He said it was vital the review was "genuine" and not a "whitewash".
Misleading information
Phil Manley, partner at DSW Tax Resolutions and a LCAG campaigner added: “Despite being forced to concede defeat, it was an appalling and utterly ungracious response from Mel Stride. He conceded to having a review, but then tried to preempt its conclusion, parroting the same misleading information the Treasury have been peddling for months.
"As he knows full well, but again deliberately misrepresented, the Rangers case says employers are liable, not employees!
"He also continues to claim that the schemes were defective, but he knows that this is meaningless and has no basis in law, especially as he also knows the schemes were legal at the time.
“So we need some honesty at last from him and the Treasury. We call on the Government to now, at last, listen to the overwhelming evidence and majority parliamentary support for reform to this manifestly unfair legislation before it destroys the lives of tens thousands of families in just three months’ time.”
How's the future looking for HMRC?
HMRC is upbeat in a new year progress report on its modernisation programme to "become the tax authority of the future".
An update on GOV.UK says the revenue is "very close" to the target of 90 per cent of staff being able to move into regional hubs that will be replacing 170 local offices.
The civil service trade union is a tad more more downbeat. PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka reckons the HMRC readiness assessment is a "fallacy”.
“HMRC’s claim that 90 per cent of staff will be able to move to the new regional hub offices is already proving to be a fallacy. The department’s own figures show that it has lost 17,000 years' worth of experience in the last year alone as a result of the office closures," says Mark.
“With wages continuing to stagnate, HMRC is finding it difficult to retain new staff, making it harder to deliver its core functions. This government needs to accept that HMRC’s transformation programme should to be halted as it will leave us with a tax authority not fit for purpose.”
On the other hand, HMRC says the new hubs will make it easier for staff to collaborate and work flexibly.
“Our regional centres are in locations where the majority of our employees are already based – the impact on our people was key to our location decisions. We want to keep as many people as we can and still expect around 90% of our 2015 workforce across the UK will either work in a regional centre or see out their career in an existing HMRC office.
“We have been clear that, if someone can move to a regional centre, transitional site or specialist site, and has the skills HMRC needs or is able to develop them – there will be a role for them. The moves to regional centres will be phased, with some offices remaining open for longer as stepping stone sites and transitional sites remaining open for up to ten years.”
Here are a few more points from the HMRC:
- Through the Locations Programme, HMRC is on track to deliver savings of around £300m up to 2025. It will deliver annual cash savings of £74m in the tax year 2025 to 2026, rising to around £90m from 2028, while modernising how HMRC works, and helping to improve customer service.
- High-speed digital infrastructure will support state-of-the-art data analysis and risk assessment systems to help HMRC target compliance activity.
- Analysis shows that improved IT and high-speed broadband/WiFi at our Croydon regional centre are already allowing more flexible working.
- We have just under 60,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) colleagues, up from 57,000 FTE in 2015. In part, this is due to recruitment of nearly 3,000 people into customer services. We also received extra investment in the 2017 Budget to support our work to tackle avoidance, evasion and non-compliance which led to the recruitment of an extra 1,400 FTE.
- We’ve always had a pivotal role in making sure that goods flow into, and out of, the UK, and in making sure we collect any taxes and duty due on them. That’s why we’re now delivering essential programmes that will support access to European and world markets.
- As we prepare for an EU exit, we are creating additional roles and have launched several recruitment campaigns.
- Currently there are around 3,000 FTE working on EU exit (at 31 October). Depending on the final outcome of negotiations, we may need up to 5,300 FTE. However, we have already secured additional temporary accommodation in regional centre locations across the UK and increased the size of some regional centres to support this work.
- As a department we’ve prioritised the projects that make the most difference, pausing some work and stopping other projects to make room for this EU exit work.
As far as the future goes, HMRC's message has some phrases that will resonate with accountants everywhere...
"We need tax specialists with digital skills, along with data analysts and digital experts."
And to bring that about? "That’s why we plan to work with universities and local colleges to attract the best and brightest talent.
"We have cutting-edge systems that enable analysts to sort and sift billions of pieces of data to find discrepancies – so we need people who understand digital technology and can make the most of it.
"We are on track to achieve our ambition of becoming the world’s most digitally advanced tax authority."
All sounds good in theory...
Accountex calls for women to Speak Up
Diversity and gender equality are always in the headlines and the world of accountancy is no different, whether it’s partners in practice or pay parity.
In 2018 Accountex made big steps towards increasing the number of women speakers on its agenda-setting theatre programme.
The line-up included: HMRC boss Theresa Middleton; accountant and author Della Hudson; marketing expert Amanda C Watts; AI authority Caroline Plumb; and Elaine Clark of CheapAccounting with her popular round-table sessions. To name just a few.
Women in accountancy
Earlier in the year, at Accountex Summit North, the Women in Accountancy group was set up, thanks in no small part to Elaine.
For 2019, accountancy and finance’s biggest event – at ExCeL London on 1-2 May – is taking even greater strides to boost the number of women on the speaker programme. With that in mind, it has launched the Woman in Accountancy “Speak Up” Campaign
Accountex portfolio event director Zoe Lacey-Cooper says: “One of the most interesting discussions that we had at Accountex was about the lack of women speakers on the programme, and how women are less likely to put themselves forward to speak and why women are hesitant to speak up.
Submit speaker sessions
“So, for next year’s Accountex programme, we want more woman in accountancy and finance to “Speak up” and encourage more woman to submit speaker sessions.
“There are many woman influencers and experienced accountancy professionals, and many have probably got some great case studies and experiences to share with their peers.”
Zoe, who is spearheading the campaign alongside Elaine adds: “Standing up and speaking to an audience can be daunting, but we want to help and support those who would like to try it out and offer guidance from an experience presenter trainer who is also familiar with the accountancy profession.
Help and support
“Accountex has found a professional presenter trainer who not only runs her own accountancy and bookkeeping firm but is who is a drama teacher for Disney!”
That is Alexandra Bond-Burnett who runs Bond Ambition and who is keen to get involved in training accountants to be more confident with public speaking.
So please Speak Up! And talk to us about how we can help you to join the Accountex programme in 2019. Sign up here.