Events Boost Economy, But Who Is Accounting for Them?

A staple factor amongst the British crowds’ entertainment is large festivals and music events. With the music scene being lively and encouraging for musicians both celebrities as well as amateurs, music festivals and live events contribute a huge sum of money to the British economy every year.

Sources have suggested that the British economy is injected with around £1 Billion every year – from large music gigs and events alone! This is a lot of money, and the British economy, which is still in tatters and has had to enforce an austerity drive for stabilization, can do with such generous amount inputs.


But a larger question now looms over the gig money episode – Who’s accounting for all the money, and who is responsible for arranging for all of this to be recorded in bookkeeping files and taxed? Most of the organizers of such events have stated that they use formal and established chartered accountants from London to do this for them.

Chartered accounting firms too are assigned with such bookkeeping projects for massive music festivals or ones that involve the more popular bands or music groups, such as Oasis, Coldplay or Radiohead. As a large sum of the money that is earned as revenue from such music festivals (and paid as tax) comes from foreign tourists, this is an important source of income for the British economy. And it makes the accounting procedure even more crucial and important to get right.

Do you agree? Let us know through your comments below!

The Great Accounting Transition – Is UK Adaptive Enough?

With the recession officially over and the UK economy slowly trudging back on its own feet, it is but natural that the accounting procedures were also supposed to change.

Although the austerity drive by the UK government has made life a bit tougher for the general public in the country, the London accountants have made a pretty decent job of playing catch-up in this financial game of cat and mouse.

The transition from the generic UK-based accounting system of GAAP to the more global-faceted IFRS (International Financial Reporting standards) has been smooth to an extent, as put by the Director of Ernst & Young LLP, Mr. Matthew Williams.

According to Williams, even though most of the chartered accountants in UK have grown up and worked in the GAAP system, most have not been uncomfortable in shifting to the new framework of financial reporting.

Experts have noted that the similarities between the two systems have helped the accountants, fresh or veteran, to cope up with the change. This is not the case in the US, where accounting standards are yet to be harmonized with that of the international statute.

However, one of the major criticisms of the IFRS has been the complex taxation & real estate regulations – which often become a serious obstacle in fast accounting procedures.

What do you think? Do you think the IFRS is the right way to go for the London accountants? Or was the old system the more stable one to follow? Feel free to comment!