Fieldwork for this latest edition of the survey was carried
out between 22 November and 20 December 2010 and
attracted 608 responses from professional accountants
around the world. Our general findings point to a reversal in the momentum of the recovery, with
accountants’ confidence in the recovery and the
prospects of their own organisations falling back to the
lowest levels in some time, possibly the last year and a
half; deterioration in key fundamentals such as business
incomes and insolvencies; continued resilience among small businesses but a
strong reversal of fortunes for big financials and even
more stress in the public sector; and continued weakness in investment as the supply of
finance and government support recede.
