Ethics & policies. On the tongue, are they on the lung?
I was struck by a recent headline, “55% of small firms don’t have an ethics policy”. The article referred to a survey of ‘SMEs’ and I
Fraud should be seen as a business opportunity!!
'It’s not going to happen to us’ From time to time a major fraud scandal hits the headlines, the latest one being Toshiba. Frauds in
No internal audit? It needs a business case!
A red flag In a recent article Richard Chambers Global President and CEO of The Institute of Internal Auditors rightly described the lack of an
10 internal audit qualities for smaller businesses
Recent UK governance changes are likely to lead to smaller quoted companies looking more closely at the way they manage risk and how they ensure
How do think about risk?
Taking risk is an everyday fact of business life and entrepreneurs who take risks that come off are often admired. Risks can arise from adverse
When quality, service & price aren’t enough to win business
The majority of large companies issue less than a third of contracts to small firms according to a recent Telegraph article. While small businesses were
8 differences between internal and external audit
For many people "audit" is about the end of year accounts, which is very often the case. However internal audit has a different focus it
10 questions for proactive directors to ask about their finance function
A recent Telegraph article quoted some staggering statistics (from a survey by software company Exact) about missed invoicing and financial mismanagement in SMEs. A quarter of
Why an “us” culture adds to the bottom line
As my work often involves helping improve business processes I am all too aware that having staff “buy in” is an important factor in achieving
Why businesses need 13 week vision
It may seem bizarre but when training to become an accountant, I was never taught how to manage cash. I am sure that there are
The economy, profits – you need to get past the headline!
There has recently been talk of a triple dip recession. There is a recession when there has been two consecutive quarters of negative growth, a
Is it time to take the “Corporate” out of “Governance”?
Corporate Governance has been described as “the system by which companies are directed and controlled”. Clearly this applies to all businesses. However Corporate Governance as a