KPMG has received a £1.5 million ($1.93 million) fine from the UK’s accounting regulator over its audit of British advertising agency M&C Saatchi.
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said on Monday, March 4 it sanctioned KPMG for failing to meet audit requirements during its review of M&C Saatchi’s accounts for the year to December 2018.
In addition, KPMG partner Adrian Wilcox, who was responsible for the 2018 audit, was fined £48,750.
Among the failings alleged by the FRC, KPMG failed to show “sufficient professional scepticism” of a client payment which increased M&C Saatchi’s revenues by £1.2 million.
The disclosure of accounting errors forced M&C Saatchi to adjust reported profits for 2018 as well as for previous years, it is understood.
The £1.5 million penalty represents the 16th fine against KPMG since 2018, it has been reported.
Better representation needed, say female accountants
Nearly half of female accountants believe they haven’t received the same progression opportunities as male counterparts, according to a survey from European accounting platform TaxScouts.
TaxScouts canvassed the opinions of 17 female accountants in its network. The results were revealed on Thursday, March 7, the eve of International Women’s Day.
Despite 47% of respondents reporting inequal opportunities, 71% said they believe female representation and inclusion in accounting has increased somewhat in recent years.
However, the same amount feel there could still be greater representation.
Close to nine in 10 (88%) of accountants from the TaxScouts database stated they feel accounting is an appealing career choice for women.
Meanwhile, just over three quarters said flexible working hours would be the biggest draw for recruiting more female talent.
Wolters Kluwer launches cloud platform in the UK
Wolters Kluwer Tax and Accounting has rolled out practice management and compliance software platform CCH iFirm in the UK, it was announced on Monday, March 4.
According to the firm, the technology “is designed to help make tax and accountancy practices more efficient and productive”.
CCH iFirm offers automated workflows and full integration with a range of accounting tools. It also provides access to real-time data, while “adhering to top industry security standards”.
“Accounting firms are adopting technology solutions to help achieve greater business scalability, agility and resilience against the backdrop of an ever-evolving accountancy landscape,” said Bas Kniphorst, executive vice president and managing director of Wolters Kluwer TAA Europe.
He added: “Wolters Kluwer CCH iFirm provides those capabilities through a unified platform with single sign-in.”
The UK launch of CCH iFirm is the software’s first in Europe, Wolters Kluwer claimed.
Biden moots corporate and billionaire tax hikes
US president Joe Biden has vowed to raise the country’s corporate tax rate to 28%, according to a White House statement from yesterday, Thursday, 7 March.
He also proposed that a 21% minimum corporate tax rate should apply to companies with over $1 billion in revenue.
“President Biden believes large corporations should pay their fair share, and is committed to reversing the massive tax giveaway to big corporations that Republicans enacted in 2017,” the statement said.
In other commitments, Biden called for a 25% minimum tax on individual American taxpayers with wealth of over $100 million and announced an intention to scrap corporate tax breaks for executive compensation worth more than $1 million.
UN watchdog tells Ireland to reform corporate tax policy
Ireland must strengthen its measures against illicit financial flows and tax evasion by wealthy individuals and companies, a UN committee has warned.
In a report published on Monday, March 4 by the UN’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Committee, Ireland was scrutinised over its “permissive corporate tax rules”.
The committee said Ireland needed to “strengthen measures to combat illicit flows, cross-border tax evasion, and tax fraud, in particular by wealthy individuals and business enterprises operating or domiciled in the state party’s jurisdiction”.
Ireland was also instructed to “take all necessary measures to avoid a situation which allows for shell companies to be used for profit-shifting, tax evasion and fraud”.
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