A new “club” for finance directors has been launched by accountants and business advisers Grant Thornton to provide up-to-the-minute technical information on key topics important to business growth and sustainability.

The quarterly FD Breakfast Club programme will give finance directors an opportunity to access the latest updates on areas including raising finance, new legislation, overseas business, merger and acquisitions, taxes and company law. Attendance to the briefings will also count Continued Personal Development (CPD) programmes.

Phil Hall, tax partner at Grant Thornton’s Ipswich office, who is leading the FD Breakfast Club programme in Suffolk, said: “The role of the FD is increasingly more strategic and with rafts of regulatory and legislative changes to keep on top of, coupled with a demanding economic climate, there has never been a better time to be more informed.

“We’ve created the FD Breakfast Club programme to help local FDs stay ahead of the game with the additional benefit that, for those working on Continued Professional Development (CPD) programmes, attendance will count towards their progress.”

The first FD Breakfast Club event will take place on Tuesday, October 15 and will focus on the new financial reporting standards for SMEs which are set to replace UK GAAP from January 2015, as well as international taxes when doing business abroad and VAT, direct and employment taxes for established businesses.

The new Financial Reporting Standard FRS 102 will replace all current UK accounting standards with a single, simplified reporting regime and will change both the format of, and disclosures in, financial statements. FRS 102 will apply to accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2015, with an option for companies to adopt earlier.

Mr Hall added: “The new standard will require adjustments to be made in a number of areas of reporting and although the introduction date may seem a long way off, the starting point for applying FRS 102 will be to restate the opening balance sheet at the beginning of the comparative period for the first accounts prepared under the new guidelines.

“Therefore, for the year ending December 31, 2015, the ‘transition date’ would be January 1, 2014 so it is vital that businesses understand and fully prepare for FRS 102 now.”

The ‘FRS 102, The Future of UK GAAP and International Tax’ briefing will take place on Tuesday 15 October at the Holiday Inn, Ipswich from 7.45am to 10am.

For further information on the FD Breakfast Club programme or to book a place, email Sue Willett, event co-ordinator at Grant Thornton, on sue.p.willett@uk.gt.com.