Rebecca Roberts

Three Financial Controllers I placed a couple of years ago have all stepped up to CFO recently within the same business. No external search needed, they got the job because the leadership believed they were ready. A few common themes came through in what they did and how they made it happen which I thought would be useful to share: -They knew trust and advocacy from senior leadership wasn’t optional. Each of them identified the key decision makers early and built strong working relationships. Without that, they knew it would never happen. -They created a personal brand around always making marginal improvements, however small, what ever it is, how can we make this better? -They started winning over the wider team that would eventually report to them, long before they got the promotion. -They weren’t afraid to respectfully challenge how things had always been done, but they made sure they had the facts to back it up (always!) -They aligned their own priorities with the business, showing executives they cared about what the business cared about. -They immersed themselves in the business for the first few months, then wasted no time demonstrating capability and driving outcomes, even if it upset the applecart. They needed a bit of luck on timing for the role to become available, but everything else was entirely down to them. They took control and made it happen. If anyone else wants to share pieces of wisdom that helped them make that internal promotion happen, please share in the comments!

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***Head of Finance recruitment*** Old market assumptions no longer apply. I recently partnered with the CFO of a high growth listed business to recruit a Head of Finance. It’s a critical hire. Lots of acquisitions driving growth. Knowing how year-end pressures can impact candidate engagement, I advised starting the search early. We moved quickly and delivered a strong shortlist. The candidates were technically sound, all capable. But something didn’t click with the CFO and I agreed. Rather than settle, I suggested bringing in a professional contractor. It gave us breathing room to find the right long-term fit. When we re-ran the search just weeks later, the difference was night and day. Many of the candidates didn't surface during our first round. The only thing that changed was the timing. Pre-COVID, I wouldn’t have expected high-calibre candidates to consider a move during year-end. But today, the market is less predictable. Old assumptions no longer apply. So my advice is this: Don’t rush permanent hires. If needed, run the search twice. Use interim solutions to protect business continuity. In this case, the CFO now has real choice and full confidence in the decision ahead #cfo #GMFinance #reogroup

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Pretty brief but interesting snapshot from BDO I read this morning. No significant growth in M&A activity but reassuringly it was pretty much flat from H1 2024. Money is still coming from Trade, PE very quiet. H1 deal volumes have remained fairly static The unsurprising rise of AI and automation UK continues to attract investment from a diverse set of overseas buyers but is still dominated by UK trade acquirers H1 has seen an increase in unemployment levels from 4.6% to 4.7% Last year, H2's activity was spurred on by pre-budget activity so year on year H2 comparison is likely to be down, in my opinion. See the report here if you're interested. https://lnkd.in/eQEg9JwP

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Your Tax Return Says One Thing. Your Instagram Says Another. Guess Who Notices? Your accounts show £14,000 of profit. Your Instagram shows a £75k Audi, a week in Dubai, and dinner at The Ivy. Spot the problem? So does HMRC. HMRC now uses AI to cross-check lifestyle against declared income. Social media, online ads, even tagged photos - it’s all data. If the maths doesn’t add up, the algorithm flags it. Sometimes it’s innocent - the Rolex was borrowed, the car was leased, the trip was business. But AI doesn’t care about context. It just kicks off an enquiry. So what should you do? • Make sure your declared income matches reality • Remember: social media is public and permanent • Be ready to explain if the lifestyle looks bigger than the numbers Tax isn’t just about receipts anymore. It’s about the story your digital footprint tells. ⸻ If you’d like a free copy of my full 89 Tax Tips guide, just send me a PM and I’ll get it over to you. #TaxTips #HMRC #DigitalTax

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🤓 Tax Bill Deep Dive #4: The PAYE v FBT distinction is one of the most vexxed areas of employment tax. No one wants to find out they've paid FBT when they should have paid PAYE because an employee paid for something and was reimbursed. The concept of "expenditure on account of an employee" (see section CE 5 and CW 17 of the Income Tax Act 2007) is not well understood, is confusing, unintuitive and I would feel like the cat in the picture if I was told I'd got it wrong. The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2025−26, Compliance Simplification, and Remedial Measures) Bill contains a new clause (no 9) to insert new section CE 1BA to give employers flexibility to pay either PAYE or FBT: 𝗖𝗘 𝟭𝗕𝗔 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗺𝗯𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁 (1) This section applies when an employer pays an amount to reimburse an employee for expenditure the employee has incurred for a benefit that, if the employer provided it directly to the employee, would constitute an unclassified benefit under section CX 37 (Meaning of unclassified benefit).  (2) The amount paid by the employer is, at the employer's election, either - (a) employment income of the employee under section CE 1; or (b) an unclassified benefit under section CX 37. The intent behind this section is great - 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘹 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘢𝘹 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴? However... before celebrating too much, it's important to read that last sentence. There are a decent number of exclusions from FBT, including the on-premises exemption, the charities exemption, the public transport exemption etc. I 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 this rule can operate to flip something out of PAYE and into FBT to then take advantage of an FBT exemption (i.e. no tax is paid). This is because the definition of "unclassified benefit" in section CX 37 excludes "a benefit excluded under this subpart" (sorry... I hate double negatives). This isn't explicitly called out in the Bill Commentary, so hopefully this will be made clearer though the submission process. As an aside the $22,500 de minimis rule isn't an exclusion under subpart CX, so that should still be in play. So, all in all, great proposal, but still the potential for people to be tripped up. The moral of the story is that if you want to provide employees with something that you think is exempt from FBT, then legal form still matters - make sure you're in the FBT rules and not the PAYE rules. #tax #FBT #PAYE #whichone #unclassifiedbenefits

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