Access to Finance

Access to finance is one of the most important issues facing business today. At the global level, the 'wall of money' spoken of three years ago - cash flowing from resource-rich economies to indebted developed nations - is no more, with the world economy enduring a slow, tentative recovery.
Leverage, the extensive use of debt, as the easiest way to gain access to finance, has gone. Banking institutions are still living in fear of lending, and distrust each other. At the more prosaic level, for the entrepreneur or for local government providing physical infrastructure, access to finance is no longer a routine matter. It has become a tangible barrier to getting things done.
For accountants acting as trusted business advisors, understanding and devising routes to access finance is one of the most valuable services they can provide. Not only must they 'keep the books' and maintain control over cashflow but, like doctors, accountants must increasingly be able to assess when they should refer effectively to the right specialists.

Carbon Accounting

The question of carbon emissions - how we manage, measure and hopefully reduce them - is central to the issues of climate change and global warming.
Lord Stern's seminal 2006 paper on the challenges posed by these issues concluded;

• the benefits of strong, early action considerably outweigh costs
• unabated climate change could cost the world at least 5% and as much as 20% of GDP each year
• the cost of reducing emissions could be limited to around 1% of GDP.

The accountancy profession is gradually recognising that, if not already at the tipping point beyond which irreversible climate change will occur, then we are very nearly at that point, with inevitable costs for business and society. There is a major part for the profession to play in developing strategies and solutions in response to the carbon challenge, and ACCA is determined to occupy a leading role.