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As global attitudes towards tax change, tech companies need to future-proof their tax practices to stand up to enhanced scrutiny. The way in which companies markets and sells its services can also have tax implications. Therefore, one thing is clear – tax matters, and ambitious tech companies need to develop a tax strategy that can keep pace with their growth aspirations.

New research from Grant Thornton reveals that cyber attacks are taking a serious toll on business, with the total cost of attacks globally estimated to be at least US$315bn* over the past 12 months. The Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR), a global survey of 2,500 business leaders in 35 economies, reveals that more than one in six businesses surveyed faced a cyber attack in the past year. With high-profile security breaches and hacks becoming more prevalent, nearly half of firms are putting themselves in the firing line with no comprehensive strategy to prevent digital crime.

Low productivity growth is a concern for policymakers across the globe. Steve Perkins, global leader for technology, says boosting R&D is the way to compensate for ageing populations and slower employment growth.

Rising labour costs and the quest for productivity are driving businesses to automate. Finding new roles for redundant workers will be the next challenge.

Fifty years on from the world’s first personal computer going into mass production, the Grant Thornton International Business Report reveals the scale of technology’s influence on business with the majority of firms now planning to automate operations and practices, potentially resulting in job losses.

Rob McGillen, global head of technology at Grant Thornton, asks how important ICT infrastructure to business growth prospects and which economies are performing best.

Poised to be every bit as disruptive as the internet revolution, is your business ready for the rise of the sharing economy?

Grant Thornton looks at the potential impact of IFRS 15 'Revenue from Contracts with Customers' for revenue recognition in the software and cloud services industries.

The technology industry is synonymous with innovation, fuelled by investments and a continual focus on research and development (R&D). By its very nature it is at the forefront of change. Those businesses which fail to keep up with technological change and stay current with consumer requirements are left behind.

Scaling a tech business is like walking a burning tightrope. The faster you go, the more you risk falling off. But go too slowly and the rope will burn through.

For tech companies, the regulatory environment is tougher now than ever before. To protect national interests, governments are using compliance to restrict companies that could potentially disrupt established industries which can creating a knock on effect for tech companies. Rapidly expanding companies also face a wider range of individual regulations as they expand into new territories, be it employment law, taxation, product safety or licensing.

Business-minded technologists have always planned for global business empires. It used to take decades before they could grow globally. Today, it can be more or less instantaneous – creating a new set of opportunities and threats.

On-going access to finance is a key issue for high-growth businesses. Those that lack financial firepower may find their growth constrained. Others may encounter problems with cash flow during day to day operations. At the same time the funding landscape has changed drastically since the financial crisis of 2008 – and continues to evolve.