Deloitte growing Big 4 firm

from PQ magazine, November 2022

Fun The lighter side of life; and more great PQ giveaways

Pre-seen for SBL in 2023

From September 2023, ACCA will introduce a pre-seen element to the Strategic Business Leader (SBL) exam.

These changes have been made to ensure that the SBL exam continues to remain relevant in the fast-changing world and fully meets the needs of its stakeholders.

Since much of the background information will now be provided in advance, the SBL exam duration will be reduced from four hours to three hours and 15 minutes. In addition, the format of the exam will change to reflect the reduced time available.

ACCA told PQ: “With less emphasis on reading in the exam time, students will be better able to demonstrate their strategic thinking and professional skills.

“We have been consulting employers and tutors on the pre-seen introduction and have received positive feedback.”

The association added that the pre-seen will be released two weeks in advance of the exam, to both students and learning providers at the same time. Students do not need to do further research on the industry or organisation as all the relevant information will be contained either in the preseen material, or in the case study exam released on the exam day. Deloitte has said its UK consulting headcount will grow to around 11,000 over the next five years – that’s a 40% increase.

This latest move is in addition to the 1,200 new roles created in FY22, with the practice forecasting around 1,500 new posts for the current financial year (June 2022 to the end of May 2023).

The growth plans come as a direct response to the increase in demand from businesses across the UK for help with digital transformation, cloud and sustainability. Deloitte is currently advertising for digital architects, cloud and machine engineers, app and web designers and data scientists.

Anne-Marie Malley, UK managing partner for consulting at Deloitte, said: “Whether its adopting new technology, implementing sustainability initiatives or undergoing large-scale digital transformation projects, our people help businesses and leaders up and down the UK deliver the best possible outcomes for their organisations."

High CO2-producing companies can’t comply

Current corporate reporting by a majority of companies producing the highest levels of greenhouse gas emissions would not comply with proposed new requirements from the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).

This is the key finding of research carried out by ACCA and the Adam Smith Business School at Glasgow University, which aimed to find out how prepared companies

are for new climaterelated reporting rules being developed by the International Sustainability Standards Board, formed last November.

Analysis found that most companies fall short of the type and level of disclosure that the ISSB is proposing. The researchers also found that disclosures were often scattered and duplicated across different company.