All 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.

Ed Nusbaum, global CEO of Grant Thornton, discusses the Q3 global economic outlook and finds the slowdown in Germany threatening eurozone and world growth prospects.

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?

Outsourcing remains widely utilized by businesses across both sides of the Atlantic. The UK is seeing increasing utilization of outsourcing services across a number of industries, including the IT, HR, tax, and finance and accounting (F&A) functions within companies. And a recent survey shows that this continues to be attractive to companies within the USA, UK and EU.

The Chinese economy is slowing. The days of rampant, double-digit expansion are in the past as we move away from massive investment and export dependency towards a more sustainable, consumption-driven model of growth. This rebalancing offers both challenges and opportunities for dynamic organisations. How these businesses adapt to the changing environment will be key to their growth prospects.

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.

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.