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2021 Index Status Report
PwC has announced bold plans for its international network. ‘The New Equation’ has been described (by PwC) as “a revolutionary approach to see new opportunities and serve clients as they work to build trust and deliver sustained business outcomes”.
To deliver on this promise PwC reportedly plans to increase its workforce by 100,000 worldwide in five years. Expanding the workforce by a third doesn’t come cheaply, and it said it will spend $12 billion to reach its goal.
In the UK, overall staff numbers will rise from 22,000 to 26,000.
Global chairman Bob Moritz said: “The profound changes in the world mean that our clients can only succeed by creating a virtuous circle between earning trust and delivering sustained outcomes.”
Living in an accrual world
By 2025, some 50% of the world’s governments will be reporting on an accrual rather than cash basis, a new report from the International Federation of Accountants and CIPFA is predicting.
The 2021 Index Status Report found in 2020 some 30% of the 165 jurisdictions it looked at reported on an accrual basis. That’s up 6% on 2018.
IFAC stressed that by providing a comprehensive view of government finances, accrual reporting helps ensure that expenditure of public funds is transparent, public officials are held accountable, and future liabilities are recognised officially and planned for properly.
It explained that with governments under more financial strain than ever following the huge levels of pandemicrelated expenditure, understanding the overall picture and making the best use of the remaining resources is crucial to long-term recovery. In addition to the support of regional and international organisations, effective implementation of accrual accounting relies on the skills of public sector accountants to interpret the richer, more comprehensive data; as more governments move to accrual, the need for need for public sector accountants will increase correspondingly.
Sage move by Manchester Met
Manchester Metropolitan University plans to boost its accounting and finance degree with IT and professional skills from this September with a new tie-up with Sage.
Manchester Met will be using Sage Business Cloud Accounting and Sage Qualifications interactive e-learning portal for all its accounting and finance students.
This new qualification will be a mandatory unit for second year students studying for their BSc Accounting and Finance course. The unit also covers key skills in both accounting software and cloud computing. The collaboration is the first in which Sage Business Cloud is being deployed by a university course using the innovative Sage Data Automarker, which allows learners to easily submit data for automatic assessment and immediate feedback.
After completing the unit, students will have a full qualification that showcases the development of high-quality accounting attributes and technological skillsets that are demanded by the industry.
The programme will also be supported by AAT.
