No Accounting for Taste ep122: The case for sustainability

Along with local temperatures, last week’s heatwave saw concerns about global warming shoot up. Having campaigned to encourage accountants in the West of England to embed sustainability into their practices, Natalie Binstead-Wey came along to AccountingWEB’s Bristol podcast studio to explain what she’s been doing in this area. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting is no longer the preserve of campaigners and pretentious corporates, interest is growing at every level of the profession. As one practitioner recently reported in Any Answers, they have been approached by clients asking them to undertake ESG-related work. Elsewhere, civil servants have been clearing their shelves ahead of the summer recess. The recent MTD draft guidance was followed last week by draft finance bill clauses and a measure to expand eligibility for the Help to Grow scheme. Both of these stories featured in the podcast discussion, along with the sad tale of a practitioner who was fined £5,000 for faling to meet their anti-money laundering obligations. After 40 years in practice, the accountant had failed to adapt because they were worried clients would feel “insulted” by their checks needed to comply with money laundering regulation. The items that feature in this epiode include: - Accountant fined over failure to adapt to AML - Finance Bill at a glance: What you need to know - Help to grow scheme: Digital scheme widens, but many firms still frozen out - Any Answers: ESG reports and audits Podcast voices: Richard Hattersley, Tom Herbert, Natalie Binstead-Wey Podcast producer: Will Cole