Diluting The Brand

A fellow member of the institute wrote to me today, voicing his fears over the dilution of the ICAEW brand wrt less demanding entry requirements for members of the profession who qualified in India and Pakistan.

"I recently discovered that ICAP(Pakistan) members just need to pass ICAEW 4 papers to become ICAEW members. Moreover ICAP members do not need to undergo any training with ICAEW ATO.

In past (until last wk) ICAP members needed to pass ICAEW 4 papers plus undergo 2 yrs training with ICAEW ATO to become ICAEW member, but now ICAP members do not need to undergo any training.

I do not know why ICAEW is giving its membership of other institutes members in this way. If ICAEW does not want other institute's members to undergo any training in ICAEW ATO (which is main strength of ICAEW), then I have to say merger with ACCA is a better option....

ICAEW has given more relaxation to ICAI(India) members."

Anyone from Moorgate care to comment?

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Wake Up!

Today (19 March 2009) I received an ICAEW Alert, on which was a link to Michael Izza's blog where he wrote a piece about HMRC customer service levels (dated Friday 13 March).

Here is an extract:

"Due to the Select Committee's timescales, the Tax Faculty is working to a very tight deadline and needs the survey completed by 9.30am Monday 16 March 2009."

Can you spot the problem here?

Yes, that's right, the deadline has long since passed!

Why alert us to a survey, that many memebrs of the ICAEW would have happily contributed to, after the deadline?

Elected To Serve?

I can appreciate that Tony Lomas has been a wee bit too busy recently to attend ICAEW Council (absent for six meetings in a row).

However, given that he evidently has other more pressing commitments, please could he explain why he wishes to remain on council?

The purpose of council, wrt the membership of the ICAEW, is what precisely?

See Accountancy Age for the background to this.

Brand Rules Out Merger

The Financial Director reports that ACCA CEO, Helen Brand, has all but ruled out the possibility of a merger with another industry body.

She is quoted:

"M & A activity has traditionally been seen to divert organisations from their strategy and take up lots of resources and time and effort."

Quite!

A Nice Little Earner

The ICAEW has fined members for the first time for failing to meet the requirements for continuing professional development.

Source Accountancy Age.

I recall, many many years ago, forgetting to pay my annual membership fee (mea culpa!) and (despite apologising profusely for my error) being charged approximately £400 by the ICAEW for the privilege of being "readmitted".

Suffice to say my membership fee is now paid by direct debit!

A Small Step Forward

Is it possible that this is the first tentative step towards merging ICAS and ICAEW (two equally prestigious professional bodies)?

See Harmonisation of Qualifications

I would welcome that.

About Time!

The ICAEW is looking at plans to slash its 100 strong council, after meetings in which some members had to sit on the steps because there were no seats.

The council met yesterday to give its views on the plans, with proposals set to be brought forward, possibly for a vote in the middle of 2009.

There are more council members than there are seats in the council chamber, and there are feelings that the number of people makes it very hard for all members to put their views across in debates.
‘Some people feel that a council of over 100 people is getting a bit unwieldy.

‘If everyone were to say their halfpennyworth, every single item would last several hours.’ one council member told Accountancy Age.

Source Accountancy Age

Have I not been saying this for several years now?

It is a pity that it is the lack of seats that has prompted the ICAEW to address this issue.

I suppose we should be grateful that they did not propose building a larger council chamber!

Piffle!

Vince Cable spoke at a fringe meeting in Bournemouth, organised by the local ICAEW.

At the meeting he said that tax avoidance is "deeply corrosive of the ethical basis of taxation".

Piffle!

We all practice tax avoidance, via using personal allowances.

Avoidance is legal and ethical.

Evasion is illegal and unethical.

I hope the ICAEW pointed that out to him?

The March of The Technocrats

Could it be that assurance reviews are no longer the "enjoyable" experience that they once were for the reviewees?

According to Accountancy Age it would seem not.

They quote one senior member of the profession as saying that:

"They [those who have passed the assurance visits] are not given positive reviews unless they are so technically competent that they speak in a technical way all the time. There’s a difference between being technically competent and knowing what the standards say and being able to apply them. But applying the rules requires judgment.

But they [the QAD inspectors] just talk in the standards..if you can't reply in a similar vein, they think you’re an idiot.

Perhaps this is why people are no longer enjoying audits at smaller firms. But we still need a balance between small and large firms."

Could it be that the ICAEW is allowing itself to continue to drift apart from its real world members, and only feed the needs of the large firms?

Why do individual accountants need to belong to the ICAEW, aside from the rule that states you cannot call yourself an FCA without belonging to the ICAEW (and paying the annual subscription)?

What do the ordinary members actually get for their money, aside from a nice certificate in a cardboard tube?