If you are considering accountancy as a career, you are more than welcome to LSBF’s PQ Conference on 23 January 2019!

You might have come across the terms private equity, mergers, and acquisitions.

These terms are usually categorised under the vast umbrella of investment capital, but what do they really mean and why are they considered important in today’s time? 

There have been instances where people use the terms trading and investing interchangeably.

However, in reality, these terms are poles apart in what they mean and entail. If you want to acquire a deeper understanding of the two, read on to know how they are different.

Financial management is one of the most important aspects in business. In order to start up or even run a successful business, you will need excellent knowledge in financial management.

So what exactly is this form of management and why is it important? Read on to find out more.

Competition from alternative lenders is driving banks to boost lending amounts for businesses, according to Conrad Ford, Chief Executive of SME finance aggregator Funding Options.

Barclays and NatWest/Royal Bank of Scotland are among the banks that are boosting access to finance for SMEs.

Research from finance and accounting recruitment firm Reed Accountancy & Finance has shown that businesses in the finance sector want clarity to be provided on the UK’s exit from the EU as concerns rise among their employees.

The study, which surveyed 800 finance professionals, showed that finance firms are calling for the government to focus on securing a free trade deal during Brexit negotiations, securing employment rights for employees, and keeping membership of the single market.

Research from mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and debt advisory firm Livingstone Partners has shown that M&A activity targeting companies in the UK increased by 13% in the second quarter of the year, with financial services being one of the main drivers of growth.

The findings showed that the UK continues to lead the way for M&A in Europe, with a total of 355 deals taking place in Q2 2018.

The latest IHS Markit jobs report has shown that there was an increase in job vacancies for permanent staff across the UK last month, with accounting and finance being among the sectors to see a rise in demand.

The report, which is sponsored by the Recruitment & Employment Federation (REC), analysed data from the Office for National Statistics and showed that job vacancies hit a record high of 824,000, with a year-on-year rise of 50% in the three months leading up to June.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced a consultation phase in its plan to create a global fintech sandbox.

The UK financial regulatory body announced plans for a global version of its domestic regulatory sandbox in February this year with the aim of tackling common cross-border issues and enabling financial technology firms to conduct tests in different countries concurrently.

Research from FIS has shown that digital-first banks are outperforming the world’s top 50 banks when it comes to customer services such as security and privacy. 

The Performance Against Customer Expectations (PACE) study surveyed thousands of banking consumers from the UK, the US, Germany and India to identify the most important performance indicators in banking and to rank the performance of service providers against consumer expectations.

Research from finance and accountancy recruitment firm Robert Half has shown that digital transformation is driving demand for new skills in the finance sector.

The study surveyed almost 14,000 Chief Financial Officers across 14 countries, exploring hiring trends and career ambitions, and found that more than 40% of UK CFOs believe that more focus is being placed on skills such as data analysis as digital transformation becomes a priority for businesses.