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In the charter ACCA seeks action from Government in a number of key public policy areas. The charter calls for:
Government - put small businesses at the top of your agenda
Small business is the engine-room of the UK economy and makes a significant contribution to the funding of Britain's public services. Its importance must now be fully recognised and given the same profile and attention as issues such as education and health.
Small businesses should not just be unpaid tax collectors
Small businesses pay almost 60 times as much on tax compliance costs per employee as multinational companies. The Government should take radical action to slash these unacceptable inequalities.
Stop shifting the goalposts on tax regulations
In order to plan, businesses must know where they stand. They need transparency and consistency in the application of tax law. Today's tax break must not become tomorrow's unacceptable tax avoidance.
Intellectual Property Rights: stop the brain drain!
Research demonstrates that over two-thirds of UK Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) fail to recognise or protect their intellectual property. Too many entrepreneurs do not capitalise on their own ideas and lose these to larger competitors. The Government must prioritise this issue to ensure the UK position as a knowledge-based economy is not harmed.
Bank of England - keep the small firms division open
The cost savings from the closure of the Bank's small firms division will not offset the benefits of its valuable work. If this decision is not reversed, then the Government's Small Business Service must take charge and ensure banks continue to give small businesses a fair deal on financing. The progress made over the past 20 years must not be reversed.
Smash funding barriers that hold women entrepreneurs back
If women were to set up businesses at the same rate as men in the UK, there would be another 150,000 enterprises created every year. Government must identify and overcome barriers that stop women getting the start-up funding they need.
Regulatory Impact Assessments (RIAs) must get real!
The British Chambers of Commerce estimate the compliance costs to business of major post-1997 regulations as £30bn. Yet more than three-quarters of RIAs either fail to quantify the costs to business, or state that the costs are irrelevant.
Quantification of the additional costs for SMEs is made in just seven per cent of RIAs. The Government must develop a more realistic understanding of the impact of legislation on small business.
Regional Support Structure - its good to talk to the private sector
The Regional Development Agencies now have a budget of £2 billion and responsibility for local business support. In order to justify this, the RDAs must engage more with the private sector and share best practice, rather than creating new business support programmes in isolation.
Accountants are crucial advisors - make sure yours is qualified
A recent Federation of Small Business survey found that accountants had the highest satisfaction rating (68 per cent) for business support. Government business support services should work in partnership with the accountancy profession to raise awareness of the importance of professionally qualified accountants and the services they offer. They are crucial and trusted advisors to small business.
Succession Planning - you won't be around forever
An estimated 100,000 businesses close unnecessarily each year - with a loss of half a million jobs - due to failure to plan for succession. Qualified accountants can provide expert advice on a range of different succession situations. The Government must be more proactive in promoting the use of the advice services which are currently available for business owners and their potential successors.
Allen Blewitt, ACCA Chief Executive, said: "Small businesses are vital to the UK economy. There are around four million enterprises in Britain and 99.2 per cent of them have less than fifty employees. SMEs account for more than half of all employment and business turnover in the UK - we need nothing less than a new deal for them".
ACCA's small business manifesto - 'Putting small businesses first' (pdf format, 919k)
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Susie Hughes © Shout99.com 2005
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