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Anonymous
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Asked: 2020-03-03T10:17:04+00:00 In: ,

How to take action against accountant Gross Negligence?

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I have some specific examples below which are clearly showing that my accountant was intentionally creating issues for me when I asked that I was leaving.

I decided to leave him as he started giving me the wrong advice and sending unexpected invoices.

Once I decided to leave he sent me the final invoice which I paid. Then I started asking to transfer my account to the new accountant. He started delaying it.  After a few days, I argued with him that I already paid the remaining invoice and what is the reason you are not releasing the account. He was out of control and said you would now see what I can do. The next day I got invoice showing services going back to three years back since I joined him amounting £3000. He never said anything about any of those services or charges in the past. I was regularly paying his monthly fee. I asked for a proof of the reminder/email/anything where he mentioned anything about the charges. He is not replying.

What else he did when I asked to leave.

  • I had a £200 refund from HMRC and he put that as a debt. I have a proof where he said it is a refund. I believe he intentionally did that.
  • He deleted all the historical records which were on our shared folder on Google Drive. So, rather than informing me to make a backup he deleted them. Google confirmed that the accountant deleted it. I asked the accountant to restore it but no response.
  • He is not sharing the necessary information with my new accountant.
  • He deleted the company on Companiesmadesimple account which he supposed to transfer to me via email.

Based on the above scenario what are the options I have? He is registered with ICAEW.

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    7 Answers

    1. Bette

      Usually, accountants get away with these. Why? Because the clients do not take actions. I would advise you to take the following so he would definitely suffer if he maintains his ill behaviour in the long run.

      • Report to HRMC. This will do very little in term of what you want, but HMRC will keep him on its radar to see any other patterns from his other clients. It will also save your back for the future.
      • Defiantly complain to ICAEW (https://www.icaew.com/regulation/complaints-process/make-a-complaint). Provide as much evidence from the past. Maybe you have more there, just read through your correspondence with him. I hope you would find more.
      • ICAEW says “Errors of judgement, innocent mistakes and acts of minor negligence are not generally considered as misconduct”. But do not be discouraged, keep these in mind. If more and more people starting complaining to ICAEW or other bodies, then there is a pattern. As I said, try to find as much as possible. So, multiple instances of the same mistake are gross misconduct and may be intentional in your case.
      • Do not take him to court, just by saying that he sent false/fabricated invoices. He may just resolve it in the mediation stage (by cancelling them), and you will lose your court and solicitor fee. Even if you take him to court then it is your responsibility to prove that the invoices were false. In other words, you would be doing his job by disproving that why I could be liable to pay the invoices. Let him take you to court if he could and then he needs to prove that the invoices were genuine. In that case, you would have a strong defence. If he loses, you can claim the business loss, legal fee etc. The court will award you if you can quantify the consequences, which would be much easy in such circumstances.
      • In one way it is good for you that he is not giving you the records or deleted it. Just keep records of the correspondence. In case of any financial loss occurred like fine, penalties due to this particular reason, you can easily prove it in the court and recover it. The ultimate responsibility, in this case, can be shifted from you to the accountant. As I said, the court will award you if you can quantify the consequences.

      Remember, review sites such as pilot Trustpoilt or Google review are also highly effective.

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    3. Madalena Lima
      Level 1

      I had the same situation, I reported the firm to a few bodies. So let them they deal with it. Do not be indulged with it as it will eat your time and money.

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    4. Akashabe

      I always find problems and discrepancies what they submit me for approval. I do not know how they become charted accountants.

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    6. Michael Wan
      Level 1
      This answer was edited.

      Remember accountancy is a local business. So, make sure you follow the accountant’s firm on all platform and leave an honest review so other people can avoid it. Review sites like Google Review is also a kind of watchdog which can damage the image of unprofessional firms. Consequently, less revenue.

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    7. Caron
      Level 1

      Perhaps you all should understand the background to this case in full.

      To quote the OP

      ”Later our friendship spoiled” and ”I want to give him a lesson for his selfishness and for his taking advantage of other people innocence”. Oh and

      ”At least this will give him some lessons if he is a sensible person”.

      No, Im not the Accountant.  But I will be emailing the ICAEW to warn them of this vindictive person.

       

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    9. Angela Gaspar
      Level 1

      These are the membership bodies. Check his membership through these sites. Most accounts should be registered with these bodies.

      • ICAEW – Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales

      http://www.icaew.com

      • CIMA – Chartered Institute of Management Accountants

      http://www.cimaglobal.com

      • ACCA – Association of Chartered Certified Accountants

      http://www.accaglobal.com

      • AAT – Association of Accounting Technicians

      http://www.aat.org.uk

      • CIPFA – Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy

      http://www.cipfa.org.uk

      • IIM – Institute of Interim Management

      http://www.ioim.org.uk

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    10. Sonia
      This answer was edited.

      The above list is quite comprehensive. You can report him to ICAEW. Also, find out whether he is registered with other bodies. Just report him first to ICAEW and then see go to other bodies accordingly. You can strip him from his accountancy license if you have a strong case.  It is happening literally every day. You can see some named and shamed one here.
      https://www.icaew.com/regulation/public-hearings-orders-decisions
       
       

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