Legal Futures asked me: “too many or too few” Accounts Rules?

I am delighted to have been asked by Legal Futures to contribute to a feature considering the future for the SRA’s Accounts Rules. Here’s what I had to say:

“When the compliance roles were introduced, the lack of real practical guidance was a huge issue for the majority of firms – particularly smaller firms who felt the burden of compliance most keenly both in terms of increased costs and the hidden costs of lost fee earning time. read more

Update to SRA Handbook effective from 1st April 2015

Version 13 of the SRA’s Handbook became effective yesterday. Main changes were:

1. A new outcome which requires firms to assess and purchase an appropriate level of professional indemnity insurance and changes to the Minimum Terms and Conditions of cover;

2. Changes setting out the eligibility criteria for individuals able to apply for a grant out of the SRA’s Compensation Fund; Removal of transitional provisions relating to sole practitioners, ahead of changes to be made in November 2015 no longer requiring an annual endorsement; read more

Legal firms preyed on by “Vishing” con

I attended Crowe Clark Whitehall’s (www.crowehorwath.net) Cheltenham COFA breakfast yesterday hosted by Mark Hunt, Head of Professional Practices – Cheltenham with guest speaker Julie McArdle from the RBS Customer Security Team. There were several COFA’s from local law firms in attendance and I think all of us left the breakfast meeting with one shared thought:

“We must share this with our accounts team now – this is really serious!”

What is vishing?

Vishing is when fraudsters obtain personal details of a victim by phone. Often fraudsters will have researched the firm: through its website, its employees (particularly those in the accounts department) social media and by contacting the firm directly. Fraudsters can go on to use this personal information to commit fraud by gaining access to the firm’s on-line banking facility, creating and authorising fraudulent payments.

read more

Our winners at Hereford and Worcester Business Expo March 2015

We’re pleased to congratulate the winners of our
Hook-a-Duck Challenge at last Wednesday’s Expo:

First prize went to Jon Colley of Waste Management Solutions Ltd (www.wm-solutions.co.uk) winning a bottle of champagne and a voucher of 5 hours of any of our professional bookkeeping or management accountancy services. Well done Jon!

Second prize was won by Caron Crawford of Gravity Credit Control (www.gravitycreditcontrol.co.uk) who hooked herself £40 of Marks and Spencer vouchers.
Treat yourself Caron!

Third prize was won by Jeremy Matthews of Sanlam Wealth Planning (www.sanlam.co.uk) hooking himself £20 Marks and Spencer vouchers.
Enjoy Jeremy!

We’d like to say a big thank you to all the participants on the day – we had a fabulous time and really enjoyed meeting everyone who took the time to stop by our stand. read more

Employment Allowance

If you’re an employer, you are likely to have received a letter from David Cameron telling you about the £2,000 allowance available to employers from 6th April 2014 for the 2014/15 tax year that can be offset against Employer’s National Insurance.  This allowance is also available for 2015/16 as well and has been introduced to support employers with their employment costs which in turn leads to promoting growth in the economy. Happy Days.
read more

Business Expo 2015 Competition Winner!

We are delighted to be one of ten winners of a stand on Wednesday 4th March 2015 from 8am to 3pm at the Three Counties Showground, Malvern.

Our winning stand’s theme is “Fishing for Success?” and we’ll be inviting attendees to take part in our hook a duck challenge in which they’ll have 45 seconds to hook as many numbered ducks as possible.  Prizes will be awarded for the three highest totals of the day; first prize to be a bottle of champagne and 5 hours management accountancy.

This free event supported by the Hereford and Worcester Chamber of Commerce is a great opportunity for businesses to network, create opportunities and support local businesses.

See you there!