Highlights from the Annual ICB Summit 2025 and the LUCA Awards

This year's ICB Summit was held on the 17th November at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in Westminster, London. It was a great day with some inspiring speakers, reminding us all of the importance of the job we do as bookkeepers!

My personal highlights were:

‘A bookkeeper saved my business!’

Small Business Commissioner Emma Jones was drowning in admin, chasing invoices and not getting paid. She hired a bookkeeper part-time and they made such an impact that the business thrived and the bookkeeper became the full-time Financial Director!

Emma Jones is championing a fair payment code and

encouraging small businesses to get paid fairly for their work. She’s pushing for 30 days terms on all invoices to improve cashflow. A prompt paying business is a good business.

MTD Update from HMRC

All suppliers were chatting about MTD - but they’re not HMRC…

We found out from the experts what’s ACTUALLY happening. Not long until until MTD for IT is in place - it’s the bookkeepers time to shine!

Craig Ogilvie, Director of MTD for IT at HMRC, backed how supportive, flexible and adaptive the bookkeeping industry has to be. 'MTD is in safe hands with ICB Bookkeepers!' - we completely agree.

Anti Money-Laundering update

With the Financial Conduct Authority taking over Anti Money-Laundering we found out that the earliest any changes will take place is 2027. It'll be in the King’s speech after it gets passed in Parliament June 2026. This will mean a bit of an admin handover in 2028… and all of this is in-hand with ICB so we feel we’ll be supported in the transition.

AI and the Industry

We had a great update on how AI is rapidly developing the bookkeeping industry. It really brought home the idea that its there to be embraced, not feared.

Marketing for Bookkeepers

Jo Wood and Zoe Whitman gave us a thought-provoking exercise to get us thinking about how our marketing is landing with those all important lurkers.

It's something we all know but their nudge made is all so accessible and front of mind: The no-brainer choice for an ideal client looking for a bookkeeper is consistent marketing; safety and professionalism; relatability and connection; alignment; and obvious value.

FreeAgent update on MTD for IT

Gem Malek from FreeAgent gave us all the confidence that FreeAgent are amazingly ahead of the curve with MTD for IT.

As always keeping things friendly, upbeat and forward thinking.

Mentoring services from Xero

It was so lovely hearing how Xero are supporting small business financial literacy gaps by providing mentoring services.

It's something we’ve been passionate for a while already and will be embracing moving forwards too.

LUCA Awards

After all of these inspiring presentations, we ended on a high note with the LUCA Awards. They are soooo much more than the food & fancy dresses. They represent community, collaboration and celebration of greatness.