Insights

Businesses in the world’s three biggest economies, the United States, China and Japan, are increasingly feeling the heat when it comes to recruiting skilled staff. Given that these countries together represent over a third of global output, a deficit of skilled staff could have a significant knock-on effect on economic growth not just in these economies but beyond.

Recession, economic uncertainty, and market volatility have forced many miners out of the industry and brought others to the point of insolvency.

Over the last few years, ask an economist where to look for growth and the answer would usually be the emerging markets. Now, though, with renewed optimism in Japan the UK, and US , should we be looking to the developed economies for new opportunities?

For tech companies, the regulatory environment is tougher now than ever before. To protect national interests, governments are using compliance to restrict companies that could potentially disrupt established industries which can creating a knock on effect for tech companies. Rapidly expanding companies also face a wider range of individual regulations as they expand into new territories, be it employment law, taxation, product safety or licensing.

Scaling a tech business is like walking a burning tightrope. The faster you go, the more you risk falling off. But go too slowly and the rope will burn through.

Business-minded technologists have always planned for global business empires. It used to take decades before they could grow globally. Today, it can be more or less instantaneous – creating a new set of opportunities and threats.

As global attitudes towards tax change, tech companies need to future-proof their tax practices to stand up to enhanced scrutiny. The way in which companies markets and sells its services can also have tax implications. Therefore, one thing is clear – tax matters, and ambitious tech companies need to develop a tax strategy that can keep pace with their growth aspirations.

Classification of a financial instrument as either liability or as equity has an immediate and significant effect on an entity’s reported results and financial position. Liability classification for instance affects an entity’s gearing ratios and typically results in any payments being treated as interest and charged to earnings. This guide addresses the key application issues to consider and includes interpretational guidance in certain problematic areas.

Many companies find the accounting for deferred tax causes significant practical difficulties. This guide summarises the approach required by IAS 12 'Income Taxes' and provides examples of the disclosures required by it. It also looks in detail at some of the more complex areas of preparation of a deferred tax computation, for example the calculation of deferred tax balances arising from business combinations.

On-going access to finance is a key issue for high-growth businesses. Those that lack financial firepower may find their growth constrained. Others may encounter problems with cash flow during day to day operations. At the same time the funding landscape has changed drastically since the financial crisis of 2008 – and continues to evolve.

Increasing attention on companies’ cash generation and liquidity position has led financial statement users, regulators and other commentators to focus increasingly on the Statement of Cash Flows. However, this additional focus and scrutiny has also highlighted some common errors and inconsistencies in its preparation. This Guide aims to remind management of IAS 7's basic requirements; highlight interpretative and practical application issues; and provide insights to address these issues.