Accounting firms across the nation are knee-deep in tax season, but now, they are also knee-deep in a crisis no one could have predicted: the coronavirus pandemic. As the severity of the disease and its spread became clearer over the past week, many national firms have quickly put together plans for their staff to telecommute, […]
Archives for March 2020
Treasury yields fall after Fed cuts rates to zero
At around 2:45 a.m. ET, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to price, was lower at 0.6968%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also down at 1.2893%. In a bid to mitigate slow economic growth resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, the Fed on Sunday announced a 100-basis […]
BOJ joins peers to fight coronavirus fallout, ramps up risky asset buying
TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan eased monetary policy on Monday by pledging to buy risky assets such as exchange-traded funds (ETF) at double the current pace, joining global central banks in combating the widening economic fallout form the coronavirus epidemic. The central bank also decided to create a new loan program to extend […]
Top 5 Accounting and Compliance Trends in 2020 for Businesses in Singapore
The year ahead will undoubtedly involve a lot of change and uncertainty for Singapore, but how can businesses prepare? They will need to closely track the trends to stay ahead of changes in industry, regulation and policy. Here are five accounting and compliance trends that we think will influence the business environment this year. Budget […]
Under lockdown, Italy’s social and family life goes virtual
As 60 million Italians face a coronavirus country-wide lockdown, many daily interactions among family, friends and colleagues have moved to messaging platforms such as Facebook’s WhatsApp and Microsoft’s Skype. Users in Italy are placing 20% more calls and sending 20% more messages on WhatsApp compared to a year ago, the company told Reuters. A spokeswoman […]
The one thing we know for sure
This week, there will be 1.9 million coronavirus tests shipped out to hospitals, government agencies and public health professionals all over America. The one thing we know for sure is that a lot of people will test positive for COVID-19. This is bad. It’s also good. We cannot get our arms around this crisis without […]
Banks are adopting account aggregator framework on data
Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank, IDFC FIRST Bank, HDFC Bank, Indusind Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and State Bank of India are in various stages of adopting the account aggregator (AA) framework, according to an industry body, ahead of a public rollout of the new technology product in May. Account aggregators are responsible for transferring, […]
The Escape Rooms – Again!
Last week our bookkeeping and payroll team enjoyed a challenging but fun evening at the Escape Rooms in Salisbury. It was the fourth year the team have chosen to go there to experience the well planned challenge of using clues to solve the mystery. The team was evenly split this year with three very experienced […]
Spotlight is on telemedicine in the season of flu
Illustration: Rahul Awasthi As the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 continues to rise in India, telemedicine or online consultation has become the first point of contact for many who suspect they’ve contracted the disease. Companies such as Practo, 1mg, Medlife, mfine and a few others are reporting a several-fold increase in online consultations for […]
Consumer goods flying off the shelves
Illustration: Rahul Awasthi Ecommerce platforms, retail chains and kirana stores reported a sharp surge in sales of staples, daily necessities and personal hygiene products in the past few days as panic buying took hold across India amid the fear of closures as Covid-19 cases rise. Deliveries have been delayed and some items such as sanitisers […]