The adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards by listed British companies has been an important event this year - but where does it leave UK accounting standards, which one could be forgiven for forgetting about, given the publicity surrounding IFRS?

The truth is that UK standards are still needed: while a few thousand companies have moved to IFRS, many hundreds of thousands are likely not to do so for now. Those staying with UK generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) will be unlisted companies ranging from large privately held groups to one-man band enterprises, but also the subsidiaries of listed groups. What sort of standards do they need?