UK’s accountancy sector turnovers soar to record highs
The UK’s accountancy firms generated more cash in March than in any other month on record, new Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures show.
Turnover in Britain’s accountancy sector jumped 14 per cent from February to March to record highs of £4.13bn.
The multi-billion sum comes as a new high for the UK’s accountancy industry, in marking a 13 per cent increase on the previous record set at the start of this year, in January 2022.
Speaking to City PM Professor Atul Shah said it is not surprising the UK’s accountancy sector posted their best month ever, as he noted the major firms are “highly diversified” through various streams of income on top of their “income base from audit”.
The professor noted that “accounting firms profit from disruption of any kind” as he pointed to the boost the Big Four have gotten from the economic disruption caused by Covid-19.
However, Julie Mathieson, a partner at Kingsley Napley LLP, said that looking forwards, the accountancy sector should be concentrating on “upcoming regulatory headwinds” following the government’s announcement in the Queen’s speech that it will be pushing forwards with audit reform.
The plans are set to see the government replace the UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) watchdog with a new regulator called the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA).
The UK’s draft Audit Reform bill also sets out plans to force Big Four firms to share work on large-scale audits with smaller challenger firms, in a bid to increase competition in the audit sector.
The accountancy sector’s record high comes as turnover across the entirety of the UK’s services sector jumped by a fifth (20 per cent) to £243.4bn in March 2022.
The UK’s legal services sector also saw its turnovers increase 19 per cent between February and March, to heights of £4.05bn.