The Alliance

Congratulations to Anton Colella, the Chief Executive of ICAS, who has been elected Chair of the Global Accounting Alliance (the umbrella body which represents more than 775,000 accountants around the world).

Anton takes up the two-year non-executive position from November.

As I noted back in April 2006, the GAA proves that ICAS and ICAEW can work together!

I also noted the following:

"If you look up the registration of www.globalaccountingalliance.co.uk, you will see that it was registered on 15th September 2005 by the ICAEW.

This was before the merger motion was defeated in October 2005. This implies that the wheels were already in motion for the creation of the GAA.

Why then, if the ICAEW was working towards a global alliance at that stage, did they persist in telling the members that the most effective way of making our voice heard on the world/national stage was via merging with CIMA/CIPFA?

FYI, I have registered www.globalaccountingalliance.org.uk in my name, and will ensure that it redirects to this site in the next 48 hours."

Note, for reasons best known the the GAA and the ICAEW, the www.globalaccountingalliance.co.uk website leads nowhere now  (even though it is still owned by the ICAEW).

Why is that then?

Details about the appointment (below) are provided by ICAS:

The Global Accounting Alliance (GAA) is an alliance of leading professional accountancy bodies. It was created to promote quality services, share information and collaborate on international issues. The GAA works with national regulators, governments and stakeholders to take a global lead for the profession. It is headquartered in Sydney.
The GAA operates in around 165 countries. Its members are The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA)
Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA)
Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA)
Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
Chartered Accountants Ireland (ICAI)
Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS)
The Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (JICPA)
New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA)
South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA)
Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer in Deutschland e.V. (IDW)

Anton Colella said, "It is a great honour to be appointed as Chair of such a prestigious global body, representing more than three quarters of a million accountants.  This is an interesting and pivotal time for the accountancy profession.  ICAS and the other 10 membership bodies of the GAA collaborate closely to ensure we speak together and are a leading voice on the key international issues that surround our profession.  The shared expertise of the GAA is a gateway for accountants to grow and develop in what is becoming one of the first professions to be truly global.”

Anton was appointed Chief Executive of ICAS in 2006. 

The Global Accounting Alliance-Updated

Proving that the ICAEW and ICAS can work together they have announced, together with ICAI and six other accountancy bodies, the formation of the Global Accounting Alliance (GAA).

Quote:

"Representing over 700,000 of the world's leading professional accountants, the Global Accounting Alliance will promote quality professional services, global membership support, share information and collaborate on important international issues.

The Alliance will work with national regulators, governments and stakeholders, through member-body collaboration, articulation of consensus views, and working in collaboration, where possible, with other international bodies."

If we can work together in this manner, why did we need to merge?

Unfortunately, Eric Anstee current head of the ICAEW, is still trying to flog the "dead horse" of merger. He is still interested in consolidation with CIPFA and CIMA.

However, he told Accountancy Age that he would have to speak to GAA members about merger plans.

Have I missed something here?

Surely the merger plans were rejected by the membership of the ICAEW last year?

Precisely why should he hold discussions with the GAA about merging?

What part of the word "No" does he not understand?

Update 17:15 27 April 2005

If you look up the registration of www.globalaccountingalliance.co.uk, you will see that it was registered on 15th September 2005 by the ICAEW.

This was before the merger motion was defeated in October 2005. This implies that the wheels were already in motion for the creation of the GAA.

Why then, if the ICAEW was working towards a global alliance at that stage, did they persist in telling the members that the most effective way of making our voice heard on the world/national stage was via merging with CIMA/CIPFA?

FYI, I have registered www.globalaccountingalliance.org.uk in my name, and will ensure that it redirects to this site in the next 48 hours.

£1.4M Wasted

According to today's Independent, the ICAEW has spent £1.4M on trying to win the merger campaign.

I would suspect that the figure excludes the fees paid to Media Strategy, the PR firm hired by the ICAEW to persuade us.

However, the article also notes that the ICAEW is preparing itself for an embarrassing climb down; as private polls show that it might lose the vote.

I would like to make this observation, the vote is not over until the polls close; as such it is vital to ensure that everyone votes on this issue.

Please make sure that everyone you know votes.

Thanks for your help and support.

Ken

Just in case you have forgotten, here are a few reasons as to why you should vote against the merger.

I have recorded a short video outlining my personal views about the ICAEW merger proposal.

Please click the following link to watch the video ICAEW Video 10MB.

I also have a "high quality" 22MB version, which you can view here ICAEW Video 22MB.

Reasons To Vote No

• The merger will dilute the brand



• Merging CIPFA and the ICAEW is not a merger of equals, we should be merging "like with like"



• The merger will increase the size of Council, from its current unwieldy and inefficient size of 90, to 115 members



• A two tier membership, as promised by Council, will be confusing to the membership, the outside world and impractical to administer



• Council will renege on its promise to run a dual qualification system



• To hand over control of the governing council of the ICAEW, to a new body, will denude the current membership of its right to veto who can become an accountant



• We should be talking to ICAS about merging, not CIPFA and CIMA



• The ICAEW have mismanaged the merger proposal from day one, by talking to the wrong bodies and by antagonising ICAS over the choice of name



• The Audit Commission has noted that 25% of submitted local council accounts have to be resubmitted, because of significant errors and "significant" departures from UK GAAP



• The mixture of qualifications that the merged body would embrace, would mean that it could not accurately claim to be called The Institute of Chartered Accountants



• The proposal to takeover CIPFA will add only another 13500 members to our numbers, that represents a mere 11% of our current membership. This will not alter the status quo, or increase our standing within the financial community



• If the merger were truly "revenue enhancing", as the ICAEW would have us believe, why did they raise subscriptions by 9% for 2006?



• The ICAEW is meant to represent the interests of its members, yet it is ignoring the membership and wasting our money on trying to convince us of the need to merge with CIPFA

Reasons To Vote Against The ICAEW Merger Proposal

I have recorded a short video outlining my personal views about the ICAEW merger proposal.

Please click the following link to watch the video ICAEW Video 10MB.

I also have a "high quality" 22MB version, which you can view here ICAEW Video 22MB.

Reasons To Vote No

• The merger will dilute the brand



• Merging CIPFA and the ICAEW is not a merger of equals, we should be merging "like with like"



• The merger will increase the size of Council, from its current unwieldy and inefficient size of 90, to 115 members



• A two tier membership, as promised by Council, will be confusing to the membership, the outside world and impractical to administer



• Council will renege on its promise to run a dual qualification system



• To hand over control of the governing council of the ICAEW, to a new body, will denude the current membership of its right to veto who can become an accountant



• We should be talking to ICAS about merging, not CIPFA and CIMA



• The ICAEW have mismanaged the merger proposal from day one, by talking to the wrong bodies and by antagonising ICAS over the choice of name



• The Audit Commission has noted that 25% of submitted local council accounts have to be resubmitted, because of significant errors and "significant" departures from UK GAAP



• The mixture of qualifications that the merged body would embrace, would mean that it could not accurately claim to be called The Institute of Chartered Accountants



• The proposal to takeover CIPFA will add only another 13500 members to our numbers, that represents a mere 11% of our current membership. This will not alter the status quo, or increase our standing within the financial community



• If the merger were truly "revenue enhancing", as the ICAEW would have us believe, why did they raise subscriptions by 9% for 2006?



• The ICAEW is meant to represent the interests of its members, yet it is ignoring the membership and wasting our money on trying to convince us of the need to merge with CIPFA

Reasons To Vote No

We are now approaching the last few weeks of the merger campaign, being mounted by the ICAEW.

They are hosting a series of roadshows and mounting a publicity campaign, under the direction of their PR firm Media Strategy (perversely enough paid for by us, the membership), designed to swing the vote of the membership in their favour.

Unfortunately, those of us who oppose the merger do not have the resources to be able to afford to hire Media Strategy; even though we will, via our subscriptions, be paying for Media Strategy's involvement.

Therefore I ask you to help me out in the last few weeks of the campaign, by emailing this post to as many members of the ICAEW and of the media that you know.

Please can you ask them to

-Visit this site

-Forward this post to their friends and colleagues in the ICAEW

-And, most importantly of all, vote against the merger

Reasons To Vote No

• The merger will dilute the brand



• Merging CIPFA and the ICAEW is not a merger of equals, we should be merging "like with like"



• The merger will increase the size of Council, from its current unwieldy and inefficient size of 90, to 115 members



• A two tier membership, as promised by Council, will be confusing to the membership, the outside world and impractical to administer



• Council will renege on its promise to run a dual qualification system



• To hand over control of the governing council of the ICAEW, to a new body, will denude the current membership of its right to veto who can become an accountant



• We should be talking to ICAS about merging, not CIPFA and CIMA



• The ICAEW have mismanaged the merger proposal from day one, by talking to the wrong bodies and by antagonising ICAS over the choice of name



• The Audit Commission has noted that 25% of submitted local council accounts have to be resubmitted, because of significant errors and "significant" departures from UK GAAP



• The mixture of qualifications that the merged body would embrace, would mean that it could not accurately claim to be called The Institute of Chartered Accountants



• The proposal to takeover CIPFA will add only another 13500 members to our numbers, that represents a mere 11% of our current membership. This will not alter the status quo, or increase our standing within the financial community



• If the merger were truly "revenue enhancing", as the ICAEW would have us believe, why did they raise subscriptions by 9% for 2006?



• The ICAEW is meant to represent the interests of its members, yet it is ignoring the membership and wasting our money on trying to convince us of the need to merge with CIPFA

Thanks for your help and support.

Ken Frost FCA

www.stopthemerger.org

Audit Commission Criticises Quality of Public Sector Accounts

The Audit Commission has identified that councils do not take the process of preparing, or publishing, their accounts seriously enough.

The Commission noted that 25% of submitted accounts have to be resubmitted, because of significant errors.

The Commission highlighted "significant" departures from UK GAAP, the Commission is also concerned at the delay in bringing the local government systems into line with UK standards.