SRA Regulatory Reform Consultation – have your say

In May 2014, the SRA published their updated Policy Statement on their approach to regulation and its reform. In that statement, the penultimate point (if you got that far!) notes that the then open “consultation paper on changes to the requirements for accountants’ reports on client accounts, is an initial stage in what will be a more significant piece of work in relation to the holding of client money. This will include consideration of the current SRA Accounts Rules with the aim of reducing length and complexity and a consideration of alternatives to the holding of client money and consideration of the risks and incentives related to the holding of such money.” read more

Update to SRA Handbook effective 30th April 2015

There are three groups of changes in Version 14 (with no changes to the SRA’s Accounts Rules):

1. Changes have been made to the SRA Higher Rights of Audience Regulations 2011 to remove the transitional arrangements which have expired. The SRA have retained the power to waive any of the provisions contained within them, but this has been extended to the regulations in general.

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Legal Futures asked me: “too many or too few” Accounts Rules?

I am delighted to have been asked by Legal Futures to contribute to a feature considering the future for the SRA’s Accounts Rules. Here’s what I had to say:

“When the compliance roles were introduced, the lack of real practical guidance was a huge issue for the majority of firms – particularly smaller firms who felt the burden of compliance most keenly both in terms of increased costs and the hidden costs of lost fee earning time. read more

Update to SRA Handbook effective from 1st April 2015

Version 13 of the SRA’s Handbook became effective yesterday. Main changes were:

1. A new outcome which requires firms to assess and purchase an appropriate level of professional indemnity insurance and changes to the Minimum Terms and Conditions of cover;

2. Changes setting out the eligibility criteria for individuals able to apply for a grant out of the SRA’s Compensation Fund; Removal of transitional provisions relating to sole practitioners, ahead of changes to be made in November 2015 no longer requiring an annual endorsement; read more

Legal firms preyed on by “Vishing” con

I attended Crowe Clark Whitehall’s (www.crowehorwath.net) Cheltenham COFA breakfast yesterday hosted by Mark Hunt, Head of Professional Practices – Cheltenham with guest speaker Julie McArdle from the RBS Customer Security Team. There were several COFA’s from local law firms in attendance and I think all of us left the breakfast meeting with one shared thought:

“We must share this with our accounts team now – this is really serious!”

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Our winners at Hereford and Worcester Business Expo March 2015

We’re pleased to congratulate the winners of our
Hook-a-Duck Challenge at last Wednesday’s Expo:

First prize went to Jon Colley of Waste Management Solutions Ltd (www.wm-solutions.co.uk) winning a bottle of champagne and a voucher of 5 hours of any of our professional bookkeeping or management accountancy services. Well done Jon!

Second prize was won by Caron Crawford of Gravity Credit Control (www.gravitycreditcontrol.co.uk) who hooked herself £40 of Marks and Spencer vouchers.
Treat yourself Caron!

Third prize was won by Jeremy Matthews of Sanlam Wealth Planning (www.sanlam.co.uk) hooking himself £20 Marks and Spencer vouchers.
Enjoy Jeremy!

We’d like to say a big thank you to all the participants on the day – we had a fabulous time and really enjoyed meeting everyone who took the time to stop by our stand. read more