Hi , I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice as to what to with regard to the opening balances for the client i have just got.There are balances on his last years balance sheet which i can not find in the documents i have been given,for example the balance sheet has debtors of £631 but i can't find who owes this money to him and the business owner doesn't know either and it is the same with creditors there is no information to say where the money is owed apart from the credit which i have statements for but this is no where near the figure on the balance sheet.
also the cash figure i have from the bank statement for the start of the year does not match and the owner says that he has no other cash than this and again there is nothing in the files to go on.
i have asked the client to speak to the accountant for some advice but as he only used him for his year end and has paid they were not too keen to do it as they said they would have to go thriugh all of the information which would take time and would give the client a large bill which he says he does not want to do.
any advice on what to do with this would be greatly appreciated thanks
I know that accountants can request for copies of the working papers from previous accountants so assuming that bookkeepers can ask for this information. If your client paid the accountant for year end then your client is entitled to any information regarding his year end accounts. If the balances don't agree to reality then maybe the accountants have made errors in his year end accounts which would then cause problems for your client. If you can't get the information maybe your client is entitled to copy of the working papers.
Hello Stephen. AS ALISON SAYS REGARDING THE WORKING PAPERS. You can ask the client to ask the Accountant for a breakdown of the Balance Sheet which should give you the info you require for Debtors and Creditors and the cash figure also . This should be reconcilled to the bank statement so the Accountant Will show you this Detail on the Working Papers.
