No Accounting for Taste ep96: Basis periods, Cloud CEOs and virtual FD

Host Richard Hattersley welcomes AccountingWEB's John Stokdyk and Maddy Christopher to No Accounting for Taste pod booth to cover the latest news and trends from the profession. On the show this week the team explores the virtual finance director (VFD) trend which is sweeping the profession and has become a core offering at Lime Advisory, the firm of this week's resident accountant Jamie William. He has seen the take up of these services increase over the past 18 months as clients have leaned on his firm for cashflow forecasts and Covid loan assistance. Jamie also reveals key ingredients of his firm’s VFD techstack and how he thinks the trend will evolve. The team also rounds up the big news from the past week. The big news was the abolition of basis periods in 2022. The news was met with exasperation on AccountingWEB. We discuss the effect this will have on accountants and the implementation of Making Tax Digital. This past week also saw Xero’s Gary Turner announce his departure from operational duties at the cloud accounting software. AccountingWEB’s John Stokdyk reflects on Gary’s legacy and how these cloud titans have shaped the way accounting firms now operate. Meanwhile, the team highlights the increasing number of firms having had a post-Covid client clear out. Clearing out clients is something accountants tend to do (or need to do) in the first weeks of February after the stress of January, but it feels as if these past 18 months have made that decision easier for some accountants. But is this always the right approach? To read the articles discussed, visit www.accountingweb.co.uk