It’s always the same, every December accountants are rushing to complete their annual CPD (continuing professional development) requirement.

Taking ACCA members as an example – despite having 12 months (January to December) to complete 21 hours of verifiable CPD, a large percentage leave it till December and often the last few days of December.

Sometimes with a slight panic when they can see the deadline approaching!

The CPD hockey stick

Similar to the budgeting effect in many organisations. CPD is like a hockey stick. Most of it takes place very close to the deadline of 31st December.

Why do people leave CPD until the last minute?

Have you heard of the famous quote “If it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would get done.”?

Alas this was not said by a qualified accountant completing their CPD! It was by Rita Mae Brown an American writer, activist, and feminist. However, she did have a point!

It is easy to procrastinate one’s CPD when there are so many more urgent and more important tasks at hand. It’s only when it comes closer to 31st December that the CPD itself becomes urgent and important!

So is there anything wrong with leaving CPD till the last minute?

Many people feel the end of year holiday season when they are not working and there is less day-to-day pressure is the ideal time to complete CPD.

This may be true to some extent, however, the converse argument takes us back to the route of what CPD is all about.

Point 1: CPD is continuing professional development. It should take place on an ongoing basis and develop during the year.

Point 2: For learning to be effective it should not be crammed. Ideally learning best takes place in small increments when one has time to reflect and to implement learning points in practice.

Point 3: Fast in – Fast out. Slow in – Slow out. One’s memory works best when learning takes place in small doses.

However, perhaps this is stating the obvious and everyone knows this! Perhaps it’s just a case of practical reality which means that CPD takes place in one go at the year end.

At least people are undertaking CPD. Learning even if undertaken in not the most effective way is always better than no learning.

So how can Financial Fluency help?

Financial Fluency’s online CPD courses can help people meet the CPD deadline via e-learning. They can be undertaken anyplace / anywhere making the learning very accessible, especially when one is trying to meet a deadline!

One of the advantages of our e-learning CPD is that even if it is rushed the first time through before 31st December. It can be revisited as many times as required during the access period. Therefore, if learners uncover a key development point which would be useful in the workplace, they can always logon and repeat that part of the course.

The courses can be accessed in a non-linear fashion so it is very easy to revisit a specific part of a course. This is one way to make the learning more effective.

Find our more about our e-learning courses at financial-fluency.co.uk/online-learning

To see ACCA specific offers and information visit financial-fluency.co.uk/online-learning/acca-members

To read about our 21 hour online CPD offer visit
financial-fluency.co.uk/online-learning/acca-members/21-hours-of-acca-verifiable-cpd

CPD Year End Courses for ACCA

Complete your ACCA CPD now
whilst there is still plenty of time

The 2024 CPD year end is in
.

Are you looking for verifiable CPD hours to top up or make your allocation?

We can help with your CPD requirements

We have reasonably priced CPD courses available throughout the year.

Click on the button below to find out more about our online training courses.

Verifiable CPD

All our courses are verifiable for CPD (continuing professional development) purposes.

A verifiable certificate of completion is available for every course.

Financial Fluency are delighted to welcome our online learning customers from over 30 countries around the world.

Accessibility of online learning

The above map of the world demonstrates the power of online learning to increase accessibility to CPD for many people around the globe.

Many of our global customers would not otherwise have access to courses to complete their continuing professional development (CPD) requirements.

As our online courses can be accessed from anywhere in the world, 24/7, by anyone with access to the internet.

List of Countries currently using our online CPD courses

• Australia
• Barbados
• Botswana
• Canada
• China
• Cyprus
• Dubai
• England
• France
• Germany
• Gibraltar
• Republic Of Ireland
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• Malaysia
• Mauritious
• Netherlands
• Nigeria
• Northern Ireland
• Poland
• Russia
• Saudi Arabia
• Scotland
• Seychelles
• Singapore
• Sri Lanka
• South Africa
• Switzerland
• Trinidad and Tobago
• UAE (United Arab Emirates)
• UK (United Kingdom)
• USA (United States of America)
• Wales
• Zimbabwe

This reflects the global diversity of the accounting qualifications such as ACCA, CIMA and ICAEW.

Find out more about Financial Fluency’s online CPD courses

You can read more about our e-learning courses and browse our list of over 100 courses at
https://www.financial-fluency.co.uk/online-learning/

There are many examples of poor business plans. An ineffective business plan can undermine even the most inspired proposals

Good business plans

A good business plan can ensure your great idea gets the backing it deserves

Writing a Business Plan, by Chris Bruce, takes a practical approach to how to write a high quality plan, looking at what should be included, where to find the information, who to ask for help along the way and how you can ensure that your plan gets the backing it needs.

Writing a Business Plan helps you to create a well-constructed business plan which allows decision makers to better understand a potential project, helps you to fully think through a project and can be used as a benchmark to track the success of the project.

Throughout the course you follow two case studies from initial idea through to successful plan.

Follow the link below to find out more:
www.financial-fluency.co.uk/online-learning/business-and-strategy/writing-a-business-plan

So often people say ‘we need more data’, when there is no more available.

Anyone who has the job of putting budgets and business plans together knows the importance of the market section but market analysis is about more than the application of analytical techniques to reams of data.

Quantitative market research is not, in itself, a fundamental route to truth and enlightenment.

There is always room for personal judgement, based on qualitative research, experience and gut feeling and this course gives you the confidence to make those judgements.

Our online training course Market Analysis for Finance Professionals, is about creating a robust framework for carrying out market analysis.

It is a mixture of business strategy, marketing analysis and market research.

If relevant for you, Market Analysis for Finance Professionals can count as 4 hours of verifiable CPD

Financial Fluency’s new online CPD course:
Corporate Social Responsibility for Finance Professionals including accountants, looks at the responsibilities of businesses to society at large.

The course explores:
• the problems brought about by damage to the physical environment (pollution and degradation and resources);
• the risks and opportunities they engender for individual enterprises;
• the increasing amount of regulation; and
• guidance and the vital role that the finance function can play.

Find out more about our corporate social responsibility for finance online course.

The Internationalisation of Accounting Standards

The UK’s Accounting Standards Board is proposing that in the next few years some UK companies and other reporting entities will be required to, or have the option to, move to a more IFRS-based financial reporting framework.

The current situation in relation to IFRS

All EU listed companies have been reporting under IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) in their group accounts Since 2005.

The US is also considering a transition to IFRS, as are many other countries such as India and Japan.

Switching from local accounting standards to IFRS

The switch from local accounting standards to IFRS must be well thought-out, and its implications understood.

It is easy to think that only those involved with accounting and finance need to get involved or will be affected by it. However, the lessons learned by the EU’s listed companies in the last phase of conversion to IFRS indicate that a much broader perspective is needed, and that the conversion must be treated as a project to be carefully planned and executed.

Find out more with our online course on managing the transition to financial reporting under IFRS

Here are four commonly asked questions in relation to anti-money laundering procedures.

1. I understand that a report has to be made if there is knowledge or suspicion of a Money Laundering offence taking place but what is knowledge or suspicion?

Knowledge is:
• actual knowledge
• shutting your mind to the obvious
• deliberately refraining from making enquiries (although bear in mind the offence of Tipping-Off)
• deliberating deterring a person from making enquiries, the content of which one might not care to know
• knowledge of circumstances which would indicate the facts to an honest and reasonable person

Suspicion is:
• not defined in legislation, but is more definite than speculation but less than proof or knowledge • must be based on some evidence even if that evidence is tentative
• it is therefore subjective. It should be highlighted that generalised assumptions, such as ‘not all cash takings are ever declared in cash businesses’ would constitute speculation and not suspicion and are therefore not reportable unless there is a specific concern.

There can be no hard and fast rules on how to recognise money laundering. It is important for all individuals to be alert to this issue and to apply their professional judgement and expertise – or if they lack expertise, to seek appropriate advice preferably from the Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO). Whether to make a report is very much a subjective decision. You have to base this on the information you have available at the time and use your professional experience.

2. What happens once an external report is made to SOCA?

When the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) receive a report from a MLRO that involves accounting or tax issues it will be passed to a special intelligence unit within HMRC. This unit will consider whether it is suitable for investigation towards criminal prosecution and failing that then the report will either be considered for enquiry under a Civil Code of Practice or be referred to HMRC’s Centre for Research and Intelligence in Llanishen, Cardiff.

Where it is considered appropriate to pass intelligence on to relevant staff in taxpayer-facing offices neither the fact that the intelligence has come from SOCA, nor the identity of the original source of the intelligence, is disclosed.

Finally, it is important that all reports are considered for submission to SOCA and there is no de minimis limit. The reason for this is simply to enable SOCA (and HMRC thereafter) to accumulate reports from a variety of sources to support proceedings.

3. If at an initial client meeting (.i.e. before I formally act for the client) I have suspicions that a money laundering offence has taken place should I make a report?

A report should be made if, during the course of your work, you have knowledge or suspicion that a money laundering offence has taken place.

The important part here is ‘during the course of your work’. Therefore provided you have sufficient information to make a report then this should be done. If you decide not to make a report to SOCA then you should still document your decisions for not doing so as with other clients.

4. If the MLRO doesn’t make a report to SOCA when they should have, who is liable – the firm or the MLRO?

It is the MLRO’s responsibility to make a report to SOCA not the firms. The MLRO is personally liable if reports of valid money laundering suspicions received from members of staff are not reported to SOCA.

Anti-Money Laundering Online Training

If you want to learn more about anti-money laundering please review our
online training course on anti-money laundering regulations.

Trust, transparency, ethics and corporate social responsibility

• The Enron scandal

• BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill

• MPs expenses

• Wiki Leaks

• The list continues to grow……..

Issues of trust, transparency, ethics and corporate social responsibility have never been so high on the organisational agenda.

Yet recognising ethical issues and taking appropriate and effective decisions isn’t easy.

Spanning both home and personal worlds, and never black and white, the management of ethical dilemmas is a challenging situations for all professionals.

To help you consider some of these dilemmas we have launched a new online course called “Professionalism and Ethics for Finance Professionals”.

This e-learning course helps you discover the challenges and rewards of behaving ethically in the workplace, consider your own moral values and explore perspectives that will challenge your views.

The course is designed to interactive and there are opportunities to add your own thoughts and comments as well as view those of others.

>Read more our about Professionalism and Ethics for Finance Professionals course.

• cash,

• cash,

• and cash

It is essential that businesses tightly manage their supply chains, review commercial terms, discount structures and payment scenarios.

Where applicable it is imperative to minimise work in progress and monitor and analyse stock levels.

Managing the demand chain as well as supply chain will help to maximise cash flow.

In the modern financial world it is vital to appreciate the complex relationships between any organisation’s many functions. These relationships need to be understood right from when strategies are “rolled out” regarding cash flow through to when cash is actually received or paid.

Our course on Working Capital Optimisation and Cash Flow Management looks at how Working Capital Optimisation and Cash Flow Management works through supply and reverse supply chains, inventory, and demand chain transformation.