by John McCarthy Consulting Ltd. | Sep 12, 2025 | Blog, News
As part of the UK HMRC’s plan to raise standards in the tax advice market and protect taxpayers from tax advisers who are unable to meet the eligibility conditions/minimum standards, accountants and tax advisers will have to register with HMRC from 1 April 2026.
This will apply to those who represent clients and is based on a UK Government Policy Paper published in July 2025 where the announcement was made. There will be a transitional period of three months with an online registration system – yet to be set up.
The HMRC plan this tougher oversight of anyone providing tax advice and services to clients as part of plans to improve service standards and stamp out abuse of the tax system.
Overseas tax advisers will be required to provide additional evidence when registering including the requirement to provide annual assurance of matters like anti-money laundering (AML) supervision status and may incur additional costs, including the certification and translation of documents.
More details are available in the Policy Paper entitled Modernising and mandating tax adviser registration with HMRC here
For audit cold file reviews and tailored training sessions explaining more about various topics like AML, Audit, FRS 102, please send a mail to john@jmcc.ie.
For more on engagement and representation letter templates and a variety of CPD webinars on money laundering and other accounting/audit related topics, please go to our website for:
ISQM TOOLKIT, or if you prefer to chat through the different audit risks and potential appropriate responses presented by this new standard. We typically tailor ISQM training and brainstorming sessions to suit your firm’s unique requirements. Please contact John McCarthy FCA by email at john@jmcc.ie.
by John McCarthy Consulting Ltd. | Sep 3, 2025 | Blog, News
From 1 June 2025 all public/private organisations in Ireland, with 50 employees or more must report their gender pay gap (GPG) for the first time on their websites. The reporting deadline is the end of November 2025. The definition of the gender pay gap is the difference in the average hourly wage between men and women across a workforce. In Ireland, the relevant legislation is called the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 (2021 Act).
The latest amendments to the 2021 Act were made earlier in 2025 with Statutory Instrument SI 212 of 2025.
The purpose of GPG reporting is to promote transparency and address pay disparities related to gender. There are two key dates that companies need to be aware of.
- The first one is called the snapshot date, which is any date in June 2025 chosen by the organization to capture employee data. – Let’s say 30 June 2025.
- The next definition is called the reporting deadline, so that is set at five months after the snapshot date, in other words 30 November 2025.
The Government is creating a searchable online portal to open in the Autumn where different businesses can be compared to enhance the transparency of their gender pay gap reporting.
More information is available from the website of the Department of Children Disability and Equality here.
For audit cold file reviews and tailored training sessions explaining more about various topics like AML, Audit, FRS 102, please send a mail to john@jmcc.ie.
For more on engagement and representation letter templates and a variety of CPD webinars on money laundering and other accounting/audit related topics, please go to our website for:
ISQM TOOLKIT, or if you prefer to chat through the different audit risks and potential appropriate responses presented by this new standard. We typically tailor ISQM training and brainstorming sessions to suit your firm’s unique requirements. Please contact John McCarthy FCA by email at john@jmcc.ie.
by John McCarthy Consulting Ltd. | Aug 13, 2025 | Blog, News
In this second of two blogs, we look at the impact of the leasing changes to FRS 102 coming soon. Last week we looked at the main balance sheet impact. This week we look at the P&L impact.
The familiar rent expense in the P&L will largely disappear and will be replaced by:
- Depreciation of the ROU asset, along with an
- Interest expense for the lease liability.
The impact of these changes will often result in a higher EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortisation) as lease costs move from operating expenses to depreciation and finance costs.
The other impacts will be:
- Businesses, not for profit entities and charities with loan agreements tied to financial covenants (e.g., debt-to-EBITDA ratios, interest cover) will need to carefully assess the potential impact of these changes. The sooner they start having conversations with lenders the better.
- An increase in reported assets could push some businesses over the audit exemption size thresholds, potentially triggering the requirement for a statutory audit.
Work to be done:
The preparatory work to be done in advance of 1 January 2026 will include:
- Identifying all affected lease contracts
- Identifying leases ‘hidden’ within service agreements
- Obtaining detailed information from lease agreements so as to have an accurate calculation of the ROU asset and lease liability along with the payment schedules, extension options, and an appropriate discount rate.
This change in Irish GAAP lease accounting is a significant one, promising more transparency but also requiring advance preparation. The sooner the changes are understood, the sooner businesses and charities/not for profit entities can plan to ensure effective compliance by the application date.
For audit cold file reviews and tailored training sessions explaining more about various topics like AML, Audit, FRS 102, please send a mail to john@jmcc.ie.
For more on engagement and representation letter templates and a variety of CPD webinars on money laundering and other accounting/audit related topics, please go to our website for:
ISQM TOOLKIT, or if you prefer to chat through the different audit risks and potential appropriate responses presented by this new standard. We typically tailor ISQM training and brainstorming sessions to suit your firm’s unique requirements. Please contact John McCarthy FCA by email at john@jmcc.ie.
by John McCarthy Consulting Ltd. | Aug 13, 2025 | Blog, News
In this first of two blogs, we look at the impact of the leasing changes to FRS 102 coming soon.
For accounting periods commencing on 1 January 2026, lease liabilities for most entities will now be on the balance sheet at 31 December 2026 and could spell trouble for EBITDA, loan covenants, and audit thresholds. The changes do not apply to micro entities (if they qualify to apply FRS 105).
Heretofore many businesses in Ireland have enjoyed the relative simplicity of ‘off-balance sheet’ accounting for their operating leases where a rent expense hit the P & L account, and for a multitude of entities, that was the end of the matter.
However, there is a significant change coming soon for Irish Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (known as Irish GAAP) under the Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 102, bringing the treatment of lease accounting more in line with the international standard, International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 16 Leases.
The good news is that there is some time to prepare, but not too long as there needs to be advance preparation but only four months at this stage.
The main change is that FRS 102 introduces the concept of the ‘right-of-use’ (ROU) model for lessees, largely based on IFRS 16 and virtually all leases will come on balance sheet. Businesses and charities will soon be required to recognise:
- A Right-of-Use (ROU) Asset: This asset represents the lessee’s right to use the leased asset over the lease term. It will appear on the balance sheet, typically alongside property, plant and equipment; and an equivalent
- A lease liability: This liability represents the obligation to make lease payments over the lease term. It will also be recognised on the balance sheet, divided into current and non-current portions.
Impact on financial statements
The impact of this change will be significant for many businesses and not for profit entities, particularly those with a substantial portfolio of operating leases. Examples include:
- Retailers with multiple leases,
- Manufacturers leasing machinery and
- Logistics firms with rolling fleet contracts.
These businesses can expect their balance sheets to grow, with an increase in both assets (ROU assets) and liabilities (lease liabilities). This will change key financial ratios, such as
- leverage and
- debt-to-equity.
More on this topic next week.
For audit cold file reviews and tailored training sessions explaining more about various topics like AML, Audit, FRS 102, please send a mail to john@jmcc.ie.
For more on engagement and representation letter templates and a variety of CPD webinars on money laundering and other accounting/audit related topics, please go to our website for:
ISQM TOOLKIT, or if you prefer to chat through the different audit risks and potential appropriate responses presented by this new standard. We typically tailor ISQM training and brainstorming sessions to suit your firm’s unique requirements. Please contact John McCarthy FCA by email at john@jmcc.ie.
by John McCarthy Consulting Ltd. | Aug 8, 2025 | Blog, News
As we forecast in our 1 July blog, the Financial Reporting Council published new draft guidance to assist auditors of Smaller Less Complex Entities with the audit process.
The new Practice Note (PN) is called ‘Guidance for Auditors of Smaller Less Complex Entities’ loosely based on the well-loved Practice Note 26 ‘Guidance on Smaller Entity Documentation’, which was withdrawn in 2018. It contains some of the examples from the original PN 26 updated for the latest trends in accounting software by including mention of Xero and Quickbooks.
PNs are well regarded among the audit profession as indicative of best practice and are intended to assist auditors and regulators alike, in applying auditing standards of general application to particular circumstances and industries and are regarded as persuasive rather than prescriptive. According to the Financial Reporting Council, the draft PN may already be used in helping auditors to determine what best practice audit documentation should look like in the audit of a small or less complex entity.
This PN is designed to assist auditors in applying auditing standards of general application to particular circumstances and industries.
The draft PN is available for consultation until 17 October 2025, and the final version should be published by Q4 of 2025.
According to the draft PN the characteristics that typically define smaller and/or less complex entities are:
- Ownership and control are often concentrated among a few individuals.
- Operations are uncomplicated, with limited sources of income and activities.
- Business processes and accounting systems are simple, with few internal controls.
- Entities may include small companies, charities, and larger entities with simple structures.
- Complexity may arise in specific areas, such as accounting estimates, even in otherwise simple entities.
For audit cold file reviews and tailored training sessions explaining more about various topics like AML, Audit, FRS 102, please send a mail to john@jmcc.ie.
For more on engagement and representation letter templates and a variety of CPD webinars on money laundering and other accounting/audit related topics, please go to our website for:
ISQM TOOLKIT, or if you prefer to chat through the different audit risks and potential appropriate responses presented by this new standard. We typically tailor ISQM training and brainstorming sessions to suit your firm’s unique requirements. Please contact John McCarthy FCA by email at john@jmcc.ie.
