AccountingWEB

Hosted by AccountingWEBUK

Business

Website RSS feed

Episodes

344

Latest episode

Jun 2026

Language

About the show

Podcast by AccountingWEBUK

Listen to episodes

60 recent

June 4, 202625 min

No Accounting for Taste ep215: AI reality check for tax tech

Tom Herbert shares his takeaways from Tax Tech Live in London, where the AI conversation felt more grounded. Rather than sweeping claims about revolutionising the profession, the focus was on practical use cases, how teams are using AI now, and what this could mean for training and the profession. Herbert also warns that a pricing crunch may be coming as AI costs rise. Matthew Ord then looks at EY's latest Global DNA of the CFO survey, which suggests CFO ambition is running ahead of execution. While many finance leaders want to drive value creation, fewer are leading those conversations. Ord and Herbert explore why finance still struggles to translate data, technology and insight into boardroom influence, and why the future of finance depends on effectively bringing talent and technology together. Finally, the team talks about audit, following BDO’s £2m penalty. Ord explains what happened before discussing what the Financial Reporting Council’s findings say about audit quality, professional scepticism and the question of what happens next now that audit reform has stalled.

May 21, 202618 min

No Accounting for Taste ep214: Must finance leaders be tech-savvy?

Matthew Ord opens the podcast with good news for anyone still working on their Accounting Excellence entry: the deadline has been extended to 3 June. So if you haven’t quite finished your entry or wished you’d have started one, now is the time to get it done. Tom Herbert shares news that Bokio, a cloud accounting system, is pulling the plug on its UK operations on 30 June 2026. He explains what has happened, what it means for users and whether it could be a warning sign for the latest wave of artificial intelligence (AI) products entering the accounting software market. To close, Ord asks whether finance leaders can still be effective if they are not tech-savvy. He and Herbert discuss how technology has become part of the finance leader’s day-to-day role, and whether finance professionals now need to think more like tech leaders rather than accountants.

May 7, 202623 min

No Accounting for Taste ep213: AI confidence takes centre stage

As Tom Herbert returns from sunny San Francisco, he reflects on his time at Sage Future and the event’s focus on building trust in artificial intelligence (AI). He shares the research from the conference, the push to improve user confidence and the announcements pointing towards a more practical, pragmatic phase of AI adoption. Mathew Ord explores the perception and performance gap facing finance professionals. He looks back on his conversation with Chris Argent, founder of GENCFO and Accounting Excellence judge, about the disconnect between finance teams that see themselves as strategic business partners and those genuinely operating in that role. Staying with finance, Ord also highlights this year’s Accounting Excellence finance categories, including Finance Digital Transformation, Finance Team of the Year and Finance Leader of the Year. Get your entries in before the 20 May deadline.

May 6, 202633 min

Sage CEO: Accountants won’t trust black-box AI

Speaking to AccountingWEB technology editor Tom Herbert at Sage Future, Sage’s annual user conference in San Francisco, chief executive Steve Hare argued that artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in accounting will depend less on flashy generative features and more on whether finance teams can inspect, verify and trust the outputs. Hare also addressed the wider market anxiety caused by large AI platforms such as Anthropic and Perplexity moving further into professional services software, how AI could affect software pricing in the future, and Sage’s move to take its popular desktop tool Sage 50 to the cloud. For full show notes visit: https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/tech/accounting-software/sage-ceo-accountants-wont-trust-black-box-ai

April 29, 202623 min

The Progressive Firm Podcast - S2E4: Dealing With Difficult Clients

How does an accounting firm navigate the breakdown of a relationship with a difficult client and what’s the cost of letting such a scenario play out for far too long? Muntazir Bhimji and Natasha Millward join The Progressive Firm Podcast to discuss.

April 23, 202621 min

No Accounting for Taste ep212: Why AI keeps stealing the spotlight

There is just under a month to go until entries for the Accounting Excellence Awards close on 20 May. Matthew Ord shares more on this year’s awards, including the new categories, while Tom Herbert outlines the trends he expects to see in the entries and offers some good advice on what actually makes a good entry. After an Any Answers post criticised AccountingWEB for covering artificial intelligence (AI) too much, Herbert argued that AI is changing the profession too quickly to ignore. Calling it a “noisy tech transition”, he said there is a clear appetite for education and information. Drawing on conversations from Sage’s AI roadshows, Herbert noted that many attendees were sole practitioners and small firms at the start of their AI journey, looking for guidance, something which AccountingWEB can provide. Finally, Ord looks at the profession’s ongoing skills gap, which shows little sign of easing. He reflects on his conversation with AAT chief executive Sarah Beale, who warned that the profession is still not doing enough to show how much it has changed. Ord and Herbert agree that finance and accountancy have never been especially strong at selling themselves, keeping old ideas about the profession alive.

April 9, 202630 min

No Accounting for Taste ep211: MTD is finally here

Making Tax Digital (MTD) has finally become a reality, more than a decade after it was first announced. Richard Hattersley reflects on the journey so far, from the highs and lows to where MTD stands today, including the National Audit Office report, confidence levels, costs and how the initiative has changed. The team also argues that the real crunch point is not 6 April, but the first filing deadline on 7 August, as they discuss systems, preparedness, sign-ups and what comes next. Tom Herbert then turns to another hot topic, artificial intelligence (AI). After attending NetSuite, he shares what he saw, what was announced and the key themes that emerged. He also looks at OpenAI’s growing interest in tax policy, outlining what has been said and what it could mean for the profession. Finally, Matthew Ord reflects on the first series of Inside the Numbers, which featured conversations with FDs and CFOs about the metrics they use. The team explores finance leaders’ attitudes to technology and automation, what comes next as AI frees up more time, and why KPIs matter as early warning systems. Stay tuned for the second series of Inside the Numbers on AccountingWEB.

April 7, 202631 min

Software shopping season: Less sizzle, more substance

While MTD and AI dominated the chatter at the Finance, Accounting and Bookkeeping Show, one theme kept surfacing above the noise: accountants are still searching for software that solves real problems rather than just adding another shiny layer of complexity. This was the broad verdict from Hancock and Hastings director Amy Hancock and AAG managing director Aaron Patrick, who joined AccountingWEB’s No Accounting for Tech podcast from the show floor in Birmingham to talk through what had caught their eye, what had not, and where firms may be placing their bets as the software shopping window opens. For full show notes visit: https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/content/software-shopping-season-less-sizzle-more-substance

March 30, 202623 min

The Progressive Firm Podcast - S2E3: Evolving Without Risking Relationships

How can a firm broadening their horizons improve a relationship with a client? Aaron Patrick and Eriona Bajrakurtaj join The Progressive Firm Podcast to discuss the journey of introducing a new service line and knowing when the time is right.

March 26, 202630 min

No Accounting for Taste ep210: Tech security at Companies House and HMRC

Tom Herbert opens the podcast with two tech stories from Companies House and HMRC. First, he unpacks a security flaw at Companies House that left confidential details linked to more than five million companies exposed, explaining what happened, how Companies House responded and how serious the breach was. He then turns to HMRC’s decision to reintroduce multi-factor authentication for agents from June, following a series of cyberattacks on agent accounts, looking at why the measure was introduced and later withdrawn, why it is now returning, and the general reaction. Richard Hattersley then tackles one of the biggest questions in the profession’s M&A boom: what is the endgame for private equity-backed firms? He explores the possible exit routes, from sales to larger private equity houses and further consolidation, to initial public offerings, outside buyers such as banks or tech vendors, or even a wave of management buyouts if private equity interest collapses. The team weighs up each one and how realistic it may be. Matthew Ord closes the episode with news that the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has set out plans for what it calls a major evolution of its audit supervisory model, following the scrapping of the audit reform bill in January. He examines what is being proposed, when changes could take effect, and whether this latest attempt at reform has a genuine chance of improving audit oversight. The team shares their views on whether it will lead to meaningful change.