Four out of five small company finance directors are completely unaware of FRS17, the UK pensions accounting standard that may force them to slash their dividends, according to multi-manager SEI.

SEI conducted a survey of 101 directors of companies with turnovers ranging between £1m (€1.6m) and £100m to determine the extent of their knowledge of the rule, which was introduced last year. Consultants have long feared that corporate profits could be hit by the change to how pension costs are accounted for on a company's balance sheet. This could force some companies to close their traditional final salary pension funds altogether.