Member Article

Thousands are risking their financial health

Using an unqualified accountant puts your financial security in danger

When you go to the doctor or dentist you can be safe in the knowledge that the person treating you has done years of training and is thoroughly qualified. However, can you say the same about the person who does your finances? They do not have to be professionally qualified or experienced to call themselves an accountant, so the same cannot be said about your financial health, ACCA (the Association of chartered Certified Accountants) is warning today.

Prior to the introduction of self-assessment, only a small proportion of the population would regularly need the services of an accountant, but the government is putting more onus on the individual to take charge of their tax affairs. A further example of this is the benefit changes for child tax credits.

Certain jobs titles are protected by law: only a qualified dentist can call themselves a dentist; to call yourself a solicitor or barrister you must have the required legal qualifications and experience, however, anyone – regardless or experience, qualifications or even ability – can call themselves an accountant.

Sarah Hathaway, head of ACCA UK said: “If you use the services of an accountant it is your responsibility to check that they are professionally qualified, if you don’t you could be opening yourself up to a whole host of problems for example:

An unqualified accountant will hold no accountancy qualifications, so there are no guarantees about their knowledge or quality of their work

They will not be regulated by a professional body, which means you have no recourse if there work is substandard They are not required to keep their skills and knowledge up to date, meaning there is no requirement for them to know the latest regulations

There is no requirement for them to hold professional indemnity insurance – meaning they will not be insured against any work that may harm your finances.

In addition ACCA also requires its members to have an alternative contact, therefore if they fall ill there will be someone equally qualified and experienced to look after your finances.“

ACCA also supports government schemes such as Growth Vouchers and the Business Finance Advice Scheme. This helps businesses find qualified accountants who are best able to offer independent advice.

If you are subject to poor advice or work that falls foul of HMRC’s (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) requirements it is not the accountant who will be landed with a fine and in the worst cases criminal prosecution, it will be the individual.

The best way to make sure you accountant is professionally qualified is to use ACCA’s find an accountant.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by ACCA .