Story 1: Carillion’s Finance Directors Finally Face the Music — Eight Years On
What happened: The FRC has imposed sanctions on two former Carillion finance directors, Richard Adam and Zafar Khan, who admitted to “acting recklessly and failing to act with integrity” in the preparation of financial statements — with the misconduct covering major UK construction contracts between 2013 and 2017. Adam was fined £222,019 and Khan was fined and banned for 10 years, with penalties reduced to account for earlier FCA fines. Accountancy TodayPerspective Media
Why it matters for clients: This case is a masterclass in what happens when construction-sector finance reporting goes wrong at scale and it sends a clear signal that regulators have a long memory. For construction tech clients, many of whom handle complex revenue recognition, retentions, and milestone billing, it reinforces why robust, well-documented financial controls aren’t optional. Our expertise is in getting this right from the start.
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Story 2: FRC Tightens Audit Standards on Fraud and Going Concern — Effective December 2026
What happened: The FRC has issued final revisions to ISA (UK) 240 and ISA (UK) 570 — the two core UK auditing standards governing fraud responsibilities and going concern assessments — with both updated to embed stronger risk assessment procedures and more transparent audit reporting, taking effect for periods beginning on or after 15 December 2026. The revisions follow a public consultation and align UK requirements with recent changes by the International Audit and Assurance Standards Board. Yahoo FinanceFinancial Reporting Council
Why it matters for clients: Construction technology companies especially those seeking investment, scaling rapidly, or carrying deferred revenue are exactly the kinds of entities where going concern judgements and fraud risk assessment are live, material issues. CFOs, heads of internal audit and audit committee chairs would be well advised to engage early with their external auditors on the practical application of the revised standards, particularly in areas such as documentation, management representations and supporting evidence. Getting ahead of December 2026 now, with a specialist accountant guiding the process, is a genuine competitive advantage for clients. Scottishfinancialnews
Story 3: FreeAgent Quietly Becomes the Go-To Platform for CIS Contractors Under MTD
What happened: FreeAgent has built out a full CIS contractor and subcontractor experience inside a single platform — meaning practices supporting construction businesses can now manage contractor and subcontractor workflows in one system, rather than splitting them across different tools or manual processes. The upgrade was introduced specifically to help contractors comply with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, which from April 2026 requires all self-employed individuals with qualifying income above £50,000 to keep digital records and make quarterly HMRC updates. FreeAgentFFNews
Why it matters for clients: From April 2026, thousands of CIS contractors are now in scope for MTD for Income Tax, and practices should be preparing to digitalise relevant clients well ahead of time. For a specialist construction tech accountancy practice, this is both a tooling upgrade and a client advisory prompt — any client in our portfolio with CIS exposure needs to be reviewed now, and FreeAgent’s expanded capability makes that conversation easier to act on quickly. AccountingWEB
Sources: Accountancy Today / FRC (Carillion sanctions, 12 May 2026); FRC.org.uk / Scottish Financial News (ISA 240 & 570 revisions, 30 April 2026); FreeAgent / AccountingWEB / Accountancy Age (CIS MTD update).
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