1: Ed Balls
Economic secretary to the Treasury
Ed Balls is often tipped as a future chancellor. The good news is that he appears to understand how the profession works. Balls has been the driving force behind moves to prevent the London Stock Exchange from being hampered by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2006 and has moved towards establishing better financial controls within the European Union. He may not be hugely significant now, but 2007 is certain to herald greater things for this youthful political star.

2: Sir Christopher Hogg
Chairman, Financial Reporting Council
Former chairman of GlaxosmithKline and Allied Domecq Sir Christopher Hogg has been landed with the hottest potato in the profession: deciding what to do on competition and choice in the audit profession. Sir Christopher has been chairman of the FRC for a year now. If anyone is going to feel the pressure from lobbyists over the coming months, it will be him.

3: John Griffith-Jones
Senior partner, KPMG
KPMG’s senior partner, John Griffith-Jones, has been the surprise turn of 2006. Early indications suggested he was an old-school leader, but Griffith-Jones has been quick out of the blocks. More than any other Big Four chief, Griffith-Jones has shown himself willing to engage publicly with the issues concerning the profession. He has defended the Big Four against Oxera attacks, and seems happy to talk about anything that critics have to throw at him.

4: Baroness Noakes
Shadow treasury minister
Baroness Noakes, formerly Sheila Masters, and formerly of KPMG, is the power behind the Tory throne. Noakes has forced the Professional Oversight Board to be subject to the Freedom of Information Act in 2006. More than that, as a qualified member of the profession, she understands tax better than any other member of the Tory Treasury team. She drives the most important Tory tax policies, and could well be a future HMRC minister in a Tory administration.

5: Peter Wyman
Head of professional affairs, PwC
In latter years as head of professional affairs, one might be forgiven for thinking that the partner took a back seat in affairs of state. Not for Peter Wyman, however, who still works unstintingly behind the scenes, lobbying politicians of all parties, at all levels, in UK government, Europe and the US. Passionate, articulate and eloquent, Wyman is a match for anyone in any debate on the profession.

6: Simon Whitehead
Tax lawyer, Dorsey & Whitney
As head of the trial group at Dorsey & Whitney, Whitehead is one of the most important people in UK corporate tax. The challenges to the UK tax system, of which Whitehead is shepherding five (encompassing hundreds of companies), are wreaking havoc at the Treasury and prompting hundreds of millions of pounds of payouts to corporates. The cases are leading to a fight back from the Treasury, with the end of interest relief – among other things – heralding a broad revamp of UK corporate tax.

7: Dave Hartnett
Director general, HMRC
Anyone who knows what’s going on in tax knows Dave Hartnett. The undeclared head of tax legislation in the UK, Hartnett continues to rule the roost over everything from carousel fraud to minor avoidance infringements. Warmly spoken of by Whitehall figures, Hartnett’s influence is as pervasive at the department as it has ever been. Expect him to continue to make headlines in 2007, infuriating tax advisers. He’s keeping close tabs on the tax affairs of both corporates and individuals, and will be at the centre of all major tax rows in 2007.

8: Jon Symonds
CFO, AstraZeneca
Jon Symonds stood down as head of the Hundred Group of Finance Directors just over a year ago, but his importance seems to transcend even the group he headed up. He sparked off a debate about growing regulatory creep from the US in 2006 with his views on comment letters. As CFO at AstraZeneca, he is an important multinational finance director in any case. But it is his considered and intelligent response to the issues the profession faces that always command attention.

9: Philip Broadley
Group FD, Prudential
The Prudential group FD and chairman of the Hundred Group of Finance Directors, Broadley is, almost, the most influential FD in the country. He is doubtful about the value of IFRS and hinted at his group’s misgivings about the way the UK tax system works for corporates. Expect him to continue pushing his point, but don’t expect him to make a song and dance about it. He likes to do his arm twisting behind closed doors.

10: Helen Weir
FD, Lloyds TSB
Helen Weir is a rarity – she is the only female finance director currently in the FTSE 100. A former management consultant, she is the lone figurehead for women in the blue-chip index, with the loss of Alison Reed and Margaret Ewing. She is, of course, far more important besides that. Weir is admirably focused on the job at hand and, at only 44, can only be a significant figure in the profession for many years to come.

11: Suzzane Wood
Head of CFO practice, Heidrick & Struggles
Headhunters have become a vital tool in any FD’s bag in today’s competitive environment. Any self-respecting, high-flying FD will be happy to have Suzzane Wood, who leads the CFO practice, focusing on placing finance executives at board level in their network of contacts. Renowned for matching some of the country’s leading FDs with some of the top public companies, Wood will continue to play a key role in the finances of UK plc.

12: Chris Lucas,
FD elect, Barclays
Chris Lucas is something of an unknown quantity. The heir-apparent to the Barclays’ FD throne is also its former top auditor. Despite the kudos attached to the role, his progress will be under the microscope because of his lengthy employment at PwC. How will he respond to the challenges the banks face, not least their huge contribution to the UK exchequer?

13: Gordon Brown
Chancellor, Treasury 
It’s no secret that the chancellor has his heart set on a move to No. 10, but the Scotsman will clearly remain a major influence on the accounting world, at least until the next general election. Brown’s stance on tax avoidance has changed the face of the profession, and tax advisers can only speculate about what life will be like without him, or without his day-to-day influence at least.

14: Paul Gray
Acting chairman, HMRC
A challenging year lies ahead for the man who stepped into the breach when Sir David Varney resigned as chairman of HM Revenue and Customs last year. HMRC is promising businesses more certainty in their tax affairs and simplifying compliance for all taxpayers this year, as well as a pledge to stamp out avoidance by 2008. Expectations are high and Gray will have to deliver with an ever-shrinking budget, rapidly reducing staff numbers and possibly a new chancellor to answer to.

15: Michael Izza
Chief executive, ICAEW
As head of the ICAEW, Michael Izza ought to be important. But will he be? Regarded as a man who keeps his head down and gets on with the job in hand, observers will watch with interest to see how Izza handles the ICAEW. Can he push the merger issue again? Will Izza modify ICAEW strategy, and how will he present himself to a sceptical membership and to council?

16: European Court of Justice
Tax judgments
The ECJ has already had a significant impact on the tax policies with its rulings on controlled foreign companies and the M&S GLO. Its influence is expected to become ever more pervasive in 2007 as it rules on an unprecedented number of tax cases. The character of the court is changing, however, and after tending to favour the taxpayer for a number of years it is beginning to shift towards the member state side of the debate.

17: Mark Freebairn
Head of the CFO practice, Odgers Ray & Berndtson
A number of top finance directors will be looking for work in 2007, including Alison Reed and Margaret Ewing. One person who is likely to have a significant bearing on where many end up will be Mark Freebairn. The headhunter from Odgers Ray and Berndtson is known for his relentless networking and strong contact base.

18: Chris Dickson
Executive counsel, Joint Disciplinary Scheme
Dickson’s contract runs as accounting watchdog until the end of 2007, so surely he’ll bow out quietly and take up some consulting, or perhaps a
non-executive role, soon, right? No chance. His workload, which includes the not inconsiderable issue of complaints laid against Equitable Life auditors Ernst & Young, means that JDS will continue to hit headlines in 2007.

19: Andrew Higginson
Group finance director, Tesco
The last 12 months have been momentous for Higginson: he helped the company make its first tentative steps towards a serious foray into the US, and can take pride in the fact that he won Accountancy Age’s Outstanding Contribution to Industry award. The US will figure even greater on the modest man’s time this year, and he will have to keep a close eye on the result of, and implications of, the Competition Commission’s investigation into the habits of the biggest players in the grocery market.

20: Jeremy Newman
Managing partner, BDO Stoy Hayward
Newman is a shrewd businessman and astute politician. He has dominated the Oxera debate on choice and quality in the UK audit market, and has propelled his firm into a position where it is now considered a serious challenger to the Big Four. Expect Newman to continue controlling the audit choice debate and pushing BDO’s credentials as a legitimate alternative to the giant firms.

21: John Connolly
Chief executive, Deloitte
One Deloitte partner said that if you locked the heads of the Big Four in a room and armed them with baseball bats, Connolly would be the one who came out alive. The Deloitte boss clearly means business in 2007, having boldly predicted that his firm would generate revenues of £2bn by 2008 and backed this up with the high-profile appointments of Kari Hale, Sir Digby Jones and Dame Sue Street.

22: Alan Blewitt
Chief executive, ACCA
Welcomed by most for his outspoken attitude, Blewitt is in charge of an institute that has been ahead of the pack by focusing on its international dimension and public policy. However others, namely the ICAEW, are now doing the same. How can Blewitt keep ACCA ahead of the pack? Although rarely criticised, it was recently knocked for losing ground over a deal that allows straight access to Hong Kong-qualifieds for the ICAEW.

23: Douglas Flint
Group finance director, HSBC
Douglas Flint CBE has been group finance director of what is now Britain’s largest bank for the past ten years. The company has been at the centre of rows about corporate tax this year, indicating it could move abroad if the tax environment in the UK became hostile enough. Flint will help make the final decision on any such moves, but won’t win any friends in government, for whom he has produced reports, if the company does shift its headquarters.

24: Paul Boyle
Chief executive, Financial Reporting Council
FRC chief executive is the man who started the debate on audit competition and whether we have enough big firms by commissioning the now notorious Oxera report. The Big Four disagreed bitterly with many of its findings and have become increasingly concerned that the FRC could intervene in the market to find a solution. They will be watching Boyle’s every move and will be ready to pounce if he slips up.

25: Nick Land
Non-executive director, Royal Dutch Shell
Land is arguably one of the most well-connected people in the power list. Having stepped down from Ernst & Young this summer after 11 years as chairman Land, a clubbable figure, is set to face new challenges. He is a non-executive director of Royal Dutch Shell, the BBA Group, the Ashmore Group and Vodafone. He also sits on the advisory board of the Cambridge Judge Business School, is a member of the National Gallery’s Finance and Audit Committees, and is chairman of the practices advisory board of the ICAEW.

26: Christopher Cox
Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission
Sworn in over a year ago as chairman of the US' SEC, Cox perhaps could not have imagined the great wave of criticism his organisation would attract as it worked to implement the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Opinion is turning, however, and even senior US politicians believe the legislation went too far. Expect Cox to be instrumental in either toning down the enforcement or reforming the rules. This will not be an easy year, but he could change things significantly for FDs in the US and the UK.

27: Kieran Poynter
Chairman, PwC
As chairman of the UK’s largest firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Kieran Poynter will always be a significant figure in the profession. This year, his firm reported profits breaking through the £2bn barrier, growing by 12%. Although much of the growth must be attributed to external influences, the careful steering of the firm and gentle management of Poynter shouldn’t be underestimated. The firm is unlikely to be knocked off its top spot by its close rival, Deloitte, and is only set to be overhauled as the largest European firm by KPMG’s merger of German and UK operations.

28: Mary Keegan
MD of government accountancy, Treasury 
Government accounts continue to be heavily scrutinised as Whitehall watchdogs criticise the management of public finances. Despite sober attempts to have top-class, quality accounts, many departments’ accounts remain qualified and woefully lacking in quality. In her role as managing director of government financial management at the Treasury, Mary Keegan will have to face much of the flak.This can’t all be laid at the Treasury’s door, of course. Much of the mess stems from years of mismanagement. Nevertheless, now in her third year, Keegan will be expected to start delivering more. She is made of stern stuff, though.

29: Katherine Lee
Chief financial officer, YouGov
Lee, the CFO of online polling company YouGov, has only been in the job since the summer of 2005. And even though it is her first finance director role, she has already attracted the attention of headhunters and top FTSE 350 businesses. Lee has been earmarked as a FTSE 100 FD of the future and identified as one of the new generation of female FDs to follow on from Margaret Ewing, Helen Weir and Alison Reed.

30: Sir David Varney
Former chairman, HMRC
2006 took its toll on the relationship between HM Revenue & Customs and UK plc. HSBC hinted it might leave the UK for tax reasons and the CBI was vocal in its criticism of the tax system. Enter former HMRC chairman Sir David Varney to heal the wounds with his Varney review, which promised to provide business with more certainty in its tax planning and a far swifter service. Sir David was 49th in last year’s poll, reflecting some unpopularity at HMRC. As an adviser to the Chancellor he is now, ironically, more important.

31: Markets Participants
Group investors
The investors on the Market Participants’ Group have raised a few eyebrows. Robert Talbut of Royal London Asset Management, Huw Jones of M&G, Michael Power of JP Morgan Cazenove, and Derek Scott, a Stagecoach pension scheme trustee, are all charged with putting the investors’ view on the audit competition debate. All are largely unknown quantities and all enter a debate in which investors punch decidedly under their weight. Their first objective must be to show that they, who buy audits, actually care about them.

32: McCreevy, Kallas, László Kovács
European Commission
The European Commission is enough to make anyone yawn. But Charlie McCreevy, Siim Kallas and László Kovács are important. McCreevy is mulling Europe-wide changes to auditor liability and the competition debate, while Kovacs is devising a common, consolidated corporate tax base. Sounds dull? Maybe. But they will affect all of the profession in redrawing the relationship between business and practice, and the way in which business is taxed. Kallas is tackling EU fraud. Wish him luck.

33: Ken Lever
FD, Tomkins
Ken Lever is the outspoken head of the reporting committee of the Hundred Group of Finance Directors. He’s also the finance director of Tomkins, and has gone on the record to say that he thinks the Financial Reporting Council ought to be more transparent – a hot potato given the body’s desire to keep itself to itself. Lever will have a key role to play in 2007 as IFRS beds down and senior figures try to fend off ever more regulation of UK business reporting.

34: Rolf Nonnenmacher
Head of KPMG, Deutschland
Professor Rolf Nonnenmacher will jointly head up KPMG Europe from October of 2007. As the current head of KPMG Deutschland, Nonnenmacher will manage what will be the largest firm in Europe alongside John Griffith-Jones. What will he be like? UK accountants are likely to have no idea. How will he respond to the European challenges the firm is facing?

35: Ian Dyson
FD, Marks & Spencer
Marks & Spencer’s FD doesn’t make the headlines in the company’s recovery story, but you can bet that behind Stuart Rose’s turnaround Dyson will have played an integral role. Appointed in June 2005 Dyson has helped guide an ailing M&S through an expensive advertising and marketing campaign, which helped to bring the foundering brand back from the doldrums. Dyson, 44, formerly FD of The Rank Group, oversaw a 34.3% rise in UK retail operating profits (before exceptional items and asset disposals) to £790.1m in 2006.

36: Gunnar Niels
Author, Oxera
Niels is the academic author of the Oxera report on audit competition. In penning his research, he perhaps did not expect it to attract quite the level of opprobrium it has so far. More than anything else written on accountancy in the past year, his report placed a very angry cat among the pigeons. That report is unlikely to go away and will be the dominant subject of conversation for Big Four accountants for months to come.

37: Mike Rake
Global chairman, KPMG
Mike Rake is certainly well known in the profession, but having left the UK firm behind, he may have a few surprises up his sleeve as the global chairman of KPMG. The heads of the six major global networks this year sprung everyone with their call for real-time reporting, and anyone who knows Rake knows he is full of ideas and not afraid to express them. With more time on his hands these days (but with a still worthwhile £800,000 salary), how will he occupy himself? The profession is braced.

38: Anton Colella
Chief executive, ICAS
Colella has more to lose than new ICAEW chief Michael Izza. He replaces a chief executive who received little if any criticism, who moved on to what definitively is a bigger job at the Law Society. He also battles an ageing membership. Even though student numbers have been good for Colella’s crew, the concern for the institute is consolidation, more around it than affecting it directly. Sparks could fly between the new bosses this year.

39: Richard Douglas
Finance director, NHS
The NHS has to balance its books this year – the books that have been several hundreds of millions of pounds in the red. According to NHS chief executive David Nicholson, it is critical for the NHS to make a financial balance this year, plus a £250m surplus the year after, in order to achieve its strategic objective of serving the public. Douglas, of course, is in charge of this. No excuses will be accepted by Treasury select committees, or the public.

40: Mark Otty
Chairman, Ernst & Young
The towering South African took over from Nick Land in the summer, but has proved extremely hard to pin down, which may have something to do with him being in peak physical fitness, courtesy of his long-distance running. He came out of the shadows recently to discuss the firm breaking through the £1bn ceiling on its annual revenues and a 40% growth in profits. Otty hinted that the firm would reveal more about its long-term strategy in the near future.

41: Richard Murphy
Tax Justice Network
A vociferous campaigner against tax avoidance and sworn enemy of the aggressive tax planning has meant that Richard Murphy is not a popular figure with large accounting firms. Murphy, however, is more than a loony renegade. He is a regular visitor to HMRC and an influential media figure. The tax planning profession will once again be monitoring his activities with trepidation as he continues his crusade to make sure businesses and individuals are not short changing the Treasury.

42: Margaret Ewing & Alison Reed
Top female FDs
Ewing and Reed are two of the most high-profile, and ultimately successful, finance directors in recent times. But with a lack of female representation at the top of the
finance profession, their next forays in the business world are important.
Non-exec roles, posts at the ‘next big thing’ or consulting titles must be around the corner. The profession will be watching closely.

43: Andy Halford
FD, Vodafone
Vodafone’s FD controls the purse strings at what has been one of the UK’s most volatile companies in accounting terms. Its most recent interim report detailed a downward revision of assets which led to Vodafone posting a £3.3bn ‘loss’, after a £4.8bn pretax profit had been decimated by an £8.1bn impairment charge for its overseas companies. The write-downs and the tax issues the company is contending with make it one of the most interesting businesses to follow in 2007. Halford’s reign has seen the company take a more realistic attitude to its accounting. Will he spring any more surprises this year?

44: Patrick Way
Tax Barrister
Patrick Way is the tax barrister to the stars. Way took on Andre Agassi’s case against the taxman over sponsorship revenues, and whether the UK had a claim on them, as well as Richard & Judy’s case on the deductibility of agents’ expenses against entertainers’ income. Although he lost the former after an epic battle, he won the daytime TV stars’ battle in glorious fashion, winning over the Special Commissioners with Richard Madeley’s Ali G impression. 2007 holds bright things.

45: George Osborne
Shadow chancellor, Tory party
Shadow chancellor George Osborne is one of several tipped as a future UK finance chief. Under Tory leader and Notting Hill chum David Cameron, Osborne has insisted his party will put economic stability ahead of tax cuts. It’s important for Osborne to make an impression in 2007, but he’ll have to shrug off his geeky classroom image. That said, he could prove to be a favourite of business if he is able to stand up his pledge to develop a simpler tax system and lower corporation tax.

46: John Cullinane
President, CIoT
Tax advisers are expected to moan about how badly treated they are by government. Cullinane, as president of CIoT, pushes an influential message through the corridors of power. While others bleat, his views will be taken on board more than most, particularly by the taxman. As anti-avoidance measures continue to grip professional advice, his take on the issue continues to hold weight in 2007.

47: Nick Sabin
Chief executive, IPA
Sabin is quietly spoken, but deadly serious about improving the quality of advice provided to tens of thousands of severely debt-ridden individuals. The Insolvency Practitioners Association pushed the government to allow it to keep closer tabs on Individual Voluntary Arrangement providers, but the message didn’t get through. Some would argue that providing the backbone of self-regulation for the debt industry through new regulator Debt Resolution Forum is a poisoned chalice, and 2007 will show whether they made the right decision.

48: David Herbinet
Head of public interest markets, Mazars
Herbinet has been a ubiquitous figure in the Oxera debate on choice and quality in the audit market, calling for radical steps to improve choice, such as compulsory joint audits and regulatory intervention. Herbinet may only come from a small firm, but he has made a great deal of noise and won the support for some of his ideas from none other than Philip Broadley, the head of the Hundred Group. Though disliked by the Big Four Herbinet will continue to be a presence in the audit choice debate.

49: Peter Montagnon
Head of investment affairs, Association of British Insurers
Peter Montagnon, ABI head of investment affairs, caused a splash in 2006 when the investment body made some extraordinary suggestions as to how to limit the dominance of the Big Four on the UK audit market by limiting the number of FTSE companies a firm could audit. The Big Four pointed out that this would damage the companies unable to get the auditor they wanted – a fair point. Montagnon is described by those who know him as an intellectual figure, so comments that the suggestions were silly may have bruised.

50: Cameron Scott
Executive counsel, Accountancy Investigation & Discipline Board
Cameron Scott, the AIDB's executive counsel, has a lot to prove. He takes over the role from Chris Dickson of the Joint Disciplinary Scheme, whose record is enviable. But where Dickson’s punches rarely miss, Scott has yet to prove his mettle. His first investigation, of Mayflower accountants, has already seen various complaints thrown out. January will see the remaining charges decided on.