I did a self assessment return for somepne in January this year. He's now applied for a loan and must have said to the building society I was an accountant. At least the implication was there. He phoned me about it so when the building society I knew what they were talking about. I told them the amount that was put on the tax return (as well as the previous year although I hadn't done that one - and told them this).
Problem is they've now sent me an "Accountant's Certificate" to fill in. How do I tell them I'm not an accountant but AICB - although I have passed the self assessment tax retuirn exam with the ICB.
In previous years this person's wife (now ex-wife) filled his return in for him. So what would have happened in that situation if he had went for a loan then. I have known this person for close to 40 years (I'm 46).
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Never buy black socks from a normal shop. They shaft you every time.
I totally understand where you are coming from Peasie but rest assured most Bank/ Building Society Managers / Mortgage providers do not understand the difference between Bookkeepers and Accountants - in fact nor do most clients or even ourselves sometimes
As an ex Bank Manager responsible for a large amount of lending - in my view the important distinction is that you are qualified to have undertaken his SA return. While not wishing to get into the debate over qualifications rather than experience (a certain forum that we both frequent does that quite nicely i.e. badly)....in this instance provided you are happy with the figures you provided just stick all the letters after your name on it and sign it.
For the record I would have been happy to have received any nicely formatted figures from someone who clearly knew what they were doing whether they were qualified by examination or experience. It very rarely happened which is now I'm doing what I'm doing!
I would agree, in general, with Ken in what he has said but (there's always a but), as a member of the ICB you are not allowed to identify yourself as an accountant, so I would check carefully the document you have been asked to sign, and if in doubt contact the ICB.
Bit of a grey area as mentioned before, however, I do know that some banks/loan providers etc do accept these as we receive a lot of calls from them checking membership.
Check what the form says, does it ask you to tick to say you are chartered or anything? Call the building society and check with them.
If it does not then you should be fine signing it. It doesn't really affect the rule that Bill is talking about as that refers to advertising/company name etc rather than just signing a form.
To follow on from Ken's comment, Lenders will regularly ask for audited accounts. We are not auditors, we just send the statutory accounts, they seem happy with that. Even though it's not what they asked for.
To follow on from Ken's comment, Lenders will regularly ask for audited accounts. We are not auditors, we just send the statutory accounts, they seem happy with that. Even though it's not what they asked for.
More grey areas I'm afraid. That might relate to an external suitably qualified person, not as we would assume a registered auditor as such.
I know some clubs that require audited accounts, but they mean by someone external to the club not an offical auditor. The people chosen are known as the club auditors, even though they may not even be qualified.
With regard to the audit issue on clubs I make sure that it is not a statutory audit and so an independent exam. I also make sure the club/ association understand the difference.
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