I have had a recent incident and am looking for either legal advice here or where to seek the advice. I worked for a person who became a good friend during a 2 year period, 2 hours a week, maintaining very general excel files for financials and other office work. The business grew exponentially, and they opened a clinic. I continued doing their books, now utilizing Quickbooks. They asked for advice for things to provide (software, etc.) and whenever I gave my "opinion" I made it clear that the choice was ultimately theirs. There was a lot, in hindsight, that I now see I should've done much differently, but, because we were "such good friends" I opted to let some things slip, assuming we would address them at a later date, once the business was up and running and they were not consumed with construction and getting things off the ground. In the meantime, the paperwork they provided increased greatly, and was extremely disorganized. I built their QB data as best I could in the time frame that they wanted to pay me for. When their initial start up work was completed and they began to have down time, they were asking for numbers I was not able to provide, as the data was still being entered, corrected due to multiple invoices provided, incorrect information passed on to me, etc. Having done this process before, I again, assumed, we would meet when they had more time and iron out questions I had and how they specifically wanted to utilized the vast capabilities of QB. (they had vendors, customers, items, inventory, etc...all new from previous years simply keeping track of expenses. The long and short is they were upset that I was needing to spend more than 2 hours a week to organize and enter their info, did not want to pay me, asked me to not come to them with "every little thing" and I realized that this was not a good match for either of us. I then had personal issues come up with my elderly mom, and passed the job, with their agreement, on to another employee with QB knowledge. However, 2 days later, one of the owners decided he wanted to do the job. He had no QB experience of knowledge. We were not able to coordinate schedules, and he began to call me and send emails blasting me for things not being completed yet.
I was never able to specifically inform him of what needed to be completed, the hows and why's, but I am wanting to contact a lawyer to see what my liability is, as I feel they will probably seek legal action where they have now had to get their accountant's office involved to help clean up the data. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Firstly did you have a letter of engagement about what was expected of you and what was expected of them ie they needed to supply the correct paperwork? I am assuming possibly not as they were your friends. Surely they must be made aware that their job couldn't be done in a space of just 2 hours per week by the sounds of it. Have you contacted their accountant as it may not be as bad as it seems, they just probably think its bad as they don't understand QB and how much is involved in this, and if the accountant has billed them for their time they probably don't realise how much an accountants bill will be!
Regarding the legalities I am not really sure, maybe a lawyer could be a good bet? Lastly were you employed by them or self-employed?
Maybe Shaun will be on here soon hes probably the best on on this.
Sorry I am not really much help.
-- Edited by Amanda on Wednesday 17th of October 2012 12:27:45 PM
Hi Judy, I'm no legal expert, but I must say when I read your first posting on this a couple of months ago, I couldn't see a lawyer recommending action against you. The client over-complicated their records (largely to raise finance) and didn't allow you sufficient time.
@spamkebab....."doing my fruit in?" um, ???? :) Thanks Don and Amanda. I did not have an engagement letter, but had a contract from 2+ years prior when the company was another name and at another completely different, much lower level. One of the owners, who is quite computer savvy in general and was in computer software development and sales, decided to take the job over, after I trained a QB experienced employee on what I'd been doing for her to take over. I'm sure he figured he could learn QB's easily, but, after one email blasting me for the chart of accounts not making sense, it was apparent he was in trouble (he had it sorted incorrectly). Etc. Alot of his blasts were for things that were easily understood and explainable. Blasted me for entering some bills as Bill Payable and some as Write checks....yes, when the volume was low, they were entered as bill payable, but as it grew exponentially, I opted for write checks to save time....and what they were complaining about paying me. etc. etc. etc. Easier to bang my head against a wall. HUGE lessons learned for me. We shall see what they pursue. I am confident in my position, but not sure tangibly what I have vs. need to back it up. It will most likely come to a he-said/she-said type of thing. Ugh. THANK you all for your responses. Greatly appreciated!
It might be an idea to let your insurance company know of the dispute before it's blown out of proportion, but maybe Shaun will confirm if that would be jumping the gun a little.
When i read your post this morning i thought, hmm i'm sure i have read this somewhere before, you know when you can't quite put your finger on something.
Hence, it was "doing my fruit in".
I hope you get sorted, these situations are always unpleasant along with the loss of friends as well, it must be awful.
He said / she said would mean nothing in a court of law.
The onous is on those seeking recompense to prove negligence and looking at the evidence (as given only from one side in this thread) they would be on very rocky ground.
The golden rules ar that you are responsible for :
What you knew
What you ought to have known
What you ought to have done about it.
And from the recompense perspective
There must have been an enforceable duty of care (there was)
(and) That duty must have been breached (this is the bone of contention)
(and) Actual loss must have resulted (it would appear there was).
If you were hired for two hours per week and it was not possible to do the work within the two hours per week and you made representations that you can prove to that effect then the client limited the work that you were able to perform for them.
A decent lawyer would run rings around this but the issue is that if it gets to lawyers would you be able to recoup your legal costs?
Sometimes the UK legal system can punish the innocent.
As such if there is any escaltion I would certainly consider approaching both the legal team of your professional body and your supplier of PII... Although maybe not the PII chat until after the one with the legal depeartment.
Alternatively you could speak with citizens advice to get some input free of charge from them before considering whether you (or your insurers) need to hire proper legal representation.
kind regards,
Shaun.
p.s. On the client being computer literate line in your post. I despaire of the number of people who can use a computer who believe that such is the part requiring the skill and knowledge rather than understanding where the figures go an what they actually mean.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
