ACCA suffered a mortal blow today. The final report (click here for the full report) of the Company Law Review steering group has recommended that annual statutory audits should be abolished for companies  with a turnover of less than £4.8m, a balance sheet total of no £2.4m, and 50 or less employees.

These proposals are likely to be implemented soon and represent  a major blow for the ACCA which has spent huge amounts on a PR campaign requiring all small limited liability companies to have an audit. The failed campaign has been led by ACCA Deputy-President Jonathan Beckerlegge. Most ACCA members are opposed to the ACCA policies and have been keen to secure audit exemptions for small companies.

Previously the government raised the small company threshold to £1 million turnover. The proposed arrangements would mean that hardly any ACCA member would be eligible to conduct company audits. Meanwhile ACCA has locked itself into meeting costs of the UK auditing regime. It has agreed to pay 28% of the costs of the new regulatory arrangements.

The new audit requirements would also free ACCA members from the audit registration and monitoring tyranny operated by the Association. They will all save considerable time and money. But ACCA bureaucrats are planning new ways to raise money. They will insist that any ACCA member engaged in public practice (e.g. tax, consultancy) would need to be monitored by the Association.

We urge ACCA members to stand firm against the pressures from ACCA bureaucrats. They can join another accountancy body and be licensed by it. They can choose to trade as limited liability company and/or a LLP, or call an EGM to protest at the way the ACCA bureaucrats continue to milk them.