Many people reading this run businesses or have experiences of businesses. Can you imagine, any business being able to raise new finance without preparing a plan to explain the intended use of the money. Well, ACCA is a law unto itself. An increase of £5 per member was agreed without any financial plan. 3,559 members voted for the increase. 734 members voted against the resolution, the largest number ever. ACCA president cast 586 delegated proxy votes for the resolution.

ACCA continues to pick members’ pockets.  The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) has recently prepared and published a plan for the next five years and asked members to support it. ACCA leadership, in contrast, can’t even tell its members what its plans and aspirations are for next week. It just wants their money.

What will the Association do with the additional £450,000? The leadership would find numerous ways of wasting the resources. Here are some example.

• Increase the pension for its outgoing chief executive from the current £125,000.
• Make good the £6 million pension hole in its accounts. ACCA’s directors are not complaining.
• Increase the salary for its outgoing chief executive from the current £192,00.
• Hire more chiefs. ACCA  has increased the number of directors from three to nine. They probably all need plush offices, personal secretaries, expense accounts and perks
• Build bigger empires for the directors. Staff has been increasing at he rate of 20% per annum. What do they do? They certainly are not supporting members.
• Increase its contribution to The Accountancy Foundation. The Association is currently paying £603,000 and it is likely to double over the next couple of years.
• Waste the money on fanciful ideas. Remember, ACCA lost millions on television programme making.
• Provide a library for members? No chance – the leadership makes pious statements but members hardly get any services.
• Increase the subsidy to the in-house magazine. Accountancy & Business is a very poor magazine. ACCA members subsidise it by £800,000. In contrast, the ICAEW sold its magazine Accountancy for £15 million.
• Increase the expenditure on the bonding sessions of its council members. Each year more than £100,000 is spent to entertain council members and their spouses at an all expenses paid event held at a 5* hotel.
• Waste it on International Assembly. Hardly anybody is bothered to vote for this toothless body. Its 48 members and their spouses have good time.