Having an accountancy qualification or holding a masters of business administration (MBA) are the two most common routes to the top roles in the UK’s largest companies, according to a survey from recruitment specialist Robert Half

In this week’s accountancy career moves, partner hires at Grant Thornton, BHP, UHY Hacker Young and RSM, EY adds 57 partners, new council members at the Financial Reporting Council, board appointments at the Institute of Internal Auditors and Parasol bolsters IR35 service

Simon Wright, managing director at CareersinAudit.com gives the accountancy profession some pointers on how to ensure your online presence is professional and reflects your skills and experience

Fraud is costing businesses and individuals in the UK £130bn each year, while the cost to the global economy is put at £3.89 trillion, with losses rising by 56% in the past decade

Top twenty firm Haines Watts has reported turnover of £96m for the year, up from £84m, recording a 13% hike in revenues  from both organic growth and an active acquisition strategy

Progress on improving diversity in senior roles at the UK’s largest companies has stalled according to two research reports, with one estimating FTSE 350 boards are unlikely to achieve gender balance before 2090 at the current rate

Smith & Williamson, the financial and professional services firm, has reported 4.3% growth as operating income hits £278m and confirmed it is still planning to list in 2020

In this week’s accountancy career moves, partner hires at RSM, CVR Global and Carey Olsen, promotions at Wylie & Bisset, onshore MD for trust specialist Zedra, and Revenue Scotland ramps up board members

Mazars plans to expand its presence in the US and Canada with the creation of the Mazars North America Alliance in a tie-up with five major accounting firms to challenge the Big Four in the region

FTSE 100 companies are being criticised for a failing to tackle the lack of diversity on their boards despite new figures showing they are on track to hit a 33% target for female board representation by 2020

Baldwins accountancy group, a member of CogitalGroup, has acquired two additional long-established practices as part of moves to build up its presence in the West Country

PwC has taken a leap into the sporting world signing a partnership with British Athletics to improve how the Olympic and Paralympic world class programmes work with performance data and analytics in a bid to increase the medals haul at next year’s Olympics

CIOT and ICAS have signed a strategic partnership and a launched a joint qualification in accountancy and tax, which will be available from September 2019

In this week’s accountancy career moves, managing partner appointment at Thomas Westcott, partner hires at Mazars and Grant Thornton, director hires at Johnston Carmichael and MHA Henderson Loggie, CFO for Elder and Float ramps up leadership team

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) to replace human intervention for auditing processes and financial transactions will not remove the need for professional judgment, ICAEW warns