Nick Morgan, tax partner at PwC, said: "The Government is hoping to raise £400m a year from these measures.  It's clearly right to target situations that are exploiting the the tax rules, but not those that have good commercial reasons for being there.  There's a risk the proposals as they stand could catch many legitimate arrangements.  In particular they could cause problems for firms with fixed share equity partners, reducing flexibility to have different categories of partner.

"Also, there's a risk the proposed measures could catch those partners in the fund management sector who will soon be subject to the forthcoming deferred remuneration rules. This would put them at risk of being taxed on more money than they receive, unless they change their employment status which might not make commercial sense.  Any tax changes will need take account of the new regulatory landscape for the fund management sector coming into effect in July."

Notes:

HMRC's proposal to remove the presumption of self employment for Limited Liability Partnerships which may include professional services firms, law firms and fund management companies depending on the categories of partner they have.  The full consultation can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/200503/130520_Pships_Condoc_FinalVersion.pdf

Book your place for the International Integrated Reporting Framework workshop - 5 June 2013

The IIRC is accelerating the market-led evolution in corporate reporting by producing theInternational Integrated Reporting Framework as a tool for businesses as they create integrated reports. 

The consultation document is now available on www.theiirc.org

The IIRC, with the support of CCAB, is calling on you, and all other stakeholders across the world, to read it, challenge it, critique it, and feedback to them what parts you feel work, and what perhaps does not, at an event in Cardiff.

To book your free place at the event on Wednesday 05 June please contact laura.hughes@icaew.com

• Time: 08:30 - 11:00
• Location: Radisson Blu Hotel, Cardiff, CF10 2FL
• Free of charge but places are limited

This year’s results show:

• Security breaches reach their highest ever levels costing UK plc billions of pounds every year
• The rise is most notable in small businesses who are now experiencing incident levels previously only seen in larger organisations
• Cost of breaches vary widely with several individual breaches costing over £1m
• Attacks by outsiders are increasing with the average large business facing a significant attack every few days
• Staff breaches also play a key role with 36% of the worst breaches due to inadvertent human error
• Despite businesses prioritising security, this is not being translated into effective security defences - 42% of large organisation don't provide any ongoing security awareness training for their staff
• Businesses are still struggling to keep up with security trends as well as addressing basic issues such as patch management
• We're starting to see the impact of emerging technologies on information security - 14% of large organisations had a security breach relating to social networking sites and 9% had a breach relating to smartphones or tablets

You can download the full technical report and two page executive summary below:

Executive Summary 

Full Executive Report

Explore of of the key statistics of the report

“The accomplished independent judging panel have undertaken the extremely difficult task of selecting the finalists from an impressive quality of nominations.”

The two award categories are for turnover in excess of £25m (or over 100 employees) and turnover of less than £25m (or less than 100 employees).

The 6 finalists in the larger business category are:

A-Gas Limited, headquartered in Bristol. Package, recycle and provide product stewardship and waste management of regulated gases and chemicals in UK, US, Australia, South Africa and Asia. (http://www.agas.com/main/index.php)

E.W.Beard Limited (trading as Beard), headquartered in Swindon.  A family run construction company, focussed on innovative building solutions and collaborative working styles across the west and central England. (http://www.beard-construction.co.uk/)

Centaur Veterinary Services, headquartered in Castle Cary.  A distributor of veterinary products to the UK’s veterinary market. (http://www.centaurweb.co.uk)

Pendennis Shipyard Limited, headquartered in Falmouth.  One of the world’s leading super-yacht builders with a heritage spanning 23 years.  http://www.pendennis.com/)

Vi-Spring Limited, based in Plymouth.  A leader in the market in luxury bed designs and manufacturing, whilst it has a British heritage, international exports are expanding. (http://www.vispring.co.uk/)

Watson Marlow Limited, based in Falmouth.  A worldwide peristaltic pump and tubing manufacturer with applications in the biopharma, food and chemical industries. (http://www.watson-marlow.com/en-GB/)

The 4 shortlisted finalists in the smaller business category (less than £25million) are:

Centek Limited, based in Newton Abbot.  Specialise in delivering innovation, design and engineering expertise to the Upstream Oil and Gas industry. (http://www.centekltd.co.uk/)

Gro Group International (trading as the Gro Company), based in Ashburton.  Global provider of trusted sleep solutions for families to help settle their children to sleep. (http://gro.co.uk/)

Loungers Limited, based in Bristol.  Informal, neighbourhood food led cafe/bars open all-day everyday where families, friends and locals can come for a coffee, a drink, or something to eat in a relaxed comfortable environment (http://www.thelounges.co.uk/)

Seasalt Limited, based in Cornwall.  A clothing, foot ware and accessories retailers for women and men. (http://www.seasaltcornwall.co.uk/)

The 2013 awards are proudly supporting the Wallace & Gromit Children’s Foundation and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

The winners will be announced at a gala dinner taking place on 4 July at the Wills Memorial Building in Bristol, which will be hosted by the guest presenter Ian Axton of ITV West & Westcountry.

Governments around the world are increasingly taking steps to improve their accounting and achieve greater transparency – amidst growing recognition that the accounting framework traditionally used by the public sector isn’t fit for the 21^st century.

 A PwC survey covering 100 countries reveals that while only 24% of governments currently use ‘accrual accounting’, 37% plan to move to this form of accounting in the next five years, bringing the total adoption rate to 63% of governments surveyed and representing an increase of 142%.

The majority of governments today still rely on ‘cash accounting’, which has been the primary method used by the public sector for many years. This form of accounting – which is based on cash payments and receipts being recorded as they occur – fails to capture information on public sector assets and liabilities and therefore presents a very short-term view of public finances.

Lynn Pamment, Government and Public Services leader for West & Wales, says: “It is important that governments – which regulate accounting in the private sector – lead by example and have a high standard in their accounting system. This is not the situation today, but we see great interest in seeking improvement.”

In accrual accounting, transactions and economic events are recorded and reported when they happen, regardless of when cash transactions occur – resulting in a comprehensive view of a government’s assets and liabilities, and of its financial performance and cashflows. IPSAS (International Public Sector Accounting Standards) are often taken as a reference point.

Adds Lynn Pamment: “There is a real need for more solidity and transparency in government reporting. Public sector financial statements should reflect the full economic impact of political decisions – and this can only be fully achieved by applying accrual accounting.”

“By doing this, governments demonstrate their commitment to achieving greater transparency and accountability, and also to producing better information for decision-making – which in turn should lead to the better use of public resources.”

The research shows that the biggest shift to accrual accounting is expected in developing countries. Among the non-OECD countries surveyed, 50% plan to transition to this form of accounting in the next five years, with Africa leading the way (11 shifting countries), followed by Asia (10 countries) and Latin America (8 countries).

When asked to state the main beneficiaries of accounting reforms, the governments surveyed primarily listed citizens (77%) and politicians (69%).

Says Jean-Louis Rouvet, PwC Global Public Finance & Accounting leader: “Financial information should be available to the citizens who, as taxpayers and service recipients, hold government accountable for the use of public resources and seek to evaluate their performance. Politicians also have a role to play. They need to understand the current position of government finances to understand the government’s financial capacity before making commitments for new programmes and services.”

The governments surveyed also indicated a desire to improve their finance function, reporting the following key areas for improvement: fixed asset management, cost accounting, performance management, and long-term planning and forecasting.

Concludes Jan Sturesson: “When we talk about accounting and management of public finances, we always come back to the same questions: do we create a legacy for the next generation or do we consume their legacy and put the prosperity of their future in danger? These are fundamental questions and I think we need to take a long-term view. An efficient and cost effective finance function is essential for the sound management of public finances.” 

Contact details 
Email: Lynn Pamment
Tel: +44 (0)117 929 1500

Notes

1. The report ‘Towards a new era in government accounting and reporting’ is available to download at pwc government-accounting-and-reporting-survey
2. Survey data was collected over a 12-month period ending in March 2013, via interviews conducted in-person and by telephone, or via an online survey questionnaire. In total, 100 countries are included in the PwC global survey.
3. PwC helps organisations and individuals create the value they’re looking for.  We’re a network of firms in 158 countries with more than 180,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, tax and advisory services.  Tell us what matters to you and find out more by visiting us at www.pwc.com.

"Significantly, the Regulator highlights there is flexibility in the current funding framework to allow employers and trustees to agree workable plans for repairing deficits.  In particular, there is flexibility in how deficits are assessed and also the balance between cash contributions to repair them versus other sources of income such as investment returns.

"In our experience, the potential flexibility is not being used as much as it could be.  For example, modernising the approach to setting assumptions for discount rates and inflation could easily help reduce overly-prudent deficit assessments by over £100bn across UK plc's defined benefit pension schemes.  The cash otherwise available and not prematurely tied in up pension funds could instead be deployed by companies to strengthen their businesses and so the economy.  This in turn will be good for pension sponsors, trustees and members alike.

"The Regulator appears to be moving towards categorising schemes according to how well funded and secure they are.  As long as the Regulator is transparent about how it deals with each type of category, this should support the pensions industry to focus on the right issues and risks."

Contact details
Email: Mark Packham
Tel: + 44 (0) 117 928 1199

The PwC team shared with him the range of services being provided by the office and demonstrated how the Plymouth team was contributing to the wider national strategy. Ian talked about how the office has a great reputation locally as an integral and key part of the business community.

After leaving the Plymouth office Ian Powell lunched with a selection of long-standing and new clients, including marine defence specialist engineers Babcock, family run Rick Stein’s The Seafood Restaurant, independent supplier of quarry and concrete products Glendinning and further education provider Cornwall College at Chloe’s Restaurant.

Ian said: “It is clear that PwC Plymouth have an enthusiastic and well motivated team. It is also clear from the comments over the client lunch that we have a great reputation locally as an integral and key part of the business community.”

Ian Powell outlined the firm’s strategy in line with the wider national picture of the country’s economy and what PwC brings to the region.

Afterwards he visited Princess Yachts International Ltd to see a British success story in action, where he took the helm of one of the 72ft super yachts for a high speed cruise around Plymouth Sound.

Heather Ancient, director at the Plymouth office, said: "It was a great opportunity for our people to show Ian our commitment to the region, and for him to see first hand how the city is flourishing."

A global PwC survey of over 1,300 CEOs reveals that business leaders see the availability of key skills as the second biggest threat to their business growth, just after the increasing tax burden (63%).  CEOs in Africa (82%), the Middle East (69%) and Asia-Pacific (64%) are the most concerned about the lack of key skills.

The research shows businesses are looking to government to help them plug this skills gap. More than half of CEOs (57%) said that creating and encouraging a skilled workforce should be the government’s highest priority for business for the year ahead.

This is an area where government could do much better, according to the CEOs surveyed. Only 15% believe their government has been effective in creating a skilled workforce up to now.

Tackling the talent challenge is also an area on which CEOs plan to focus, with 61% planning to increase investment in their workforce over the next three years.

The research reveals that mining, energy, and engineering and construction companies report the most chronic shortage of skilled employees.

Caroline Jones, PwC’s Human Resource Services leader in the West and Wales, said: “Businesses are struggling with a widening mismatch between the skills of their workforce and the skills they need to achieve strong growth. There needs to be a joint approach to addressing the problem, with businesses and governments working together to plug the skills gap.

“At a time when growth is top of all businesses’ agendas, investment in employee training and development should be a key priority for CEOs for the year ahead.”

The research reveals businesses are planning to hire this year, with more businesses planning to increase their headcount (45%) than make cuts (23%). 28% of CEOs expect their headcount to remain relatively static.

Caroline Jones, PwC’s Human Resource Services leader in the West and Wales, said: “Despite the difficult economic backdrop, it is encouraging that businesses are continuing to hire. While headcount has been an obvious target for cost cutting in the past, many business leaders are finding smarter ways to strip costs out of their business which won’t damage their employees’ engagement and leave them with talent shortages in the future.

“The most successful companies will combine recruitment with developing the people they already have. Those with a balanced approach to growing their own talent and buying in key skills are most likely to succeed."

Among the other findings of the research: 

• 77% of CEOs plan to make changes to their strategies for managing talent in the next 12 months, with CEOs in Brazil (93%), Korea (90%) and South Africa (89%) leading the way, versus CEOs in Central and East Europe (59%)
• 61% of CEOs worldwide are looking to global mobility to help develop their leadership pipeline, with more CEOs in Western Europe (67%) seeing this as an effective way to develop their future leaders than CEOs in North America (54%). 

For more information please contact, Caroline Jones Tel: 0117 928 1490

Notes

1. The results are based on 1,330 interviews with CEOs in 68 countries for PwC’s 16th Annual Global CEO survey.
2. The full report, with methodology and findings by region, can be found at www.pwc.com/talentchallenge.
3. PwC helps organisations and individuals create the value they’re looking for.  We’re a network of firms in 158 countries with more than 180,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, tax and advisory services.  Tell us what matters to you and find out more by visiting us at www.pwc.com.