ICAB advises businesses to use certified accountants only

Businesses and other organisations that need a chartered accountant to sign off on financial statements and other documents used to show financial soundness should ensure the accountant is qualified to give such assurances.

That was the advice from Tracy Marshall, president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados (ICAB), as she said there were people operating as chartered accountants who were not certified to do so.

Marshall, who is also an Assurance Partner with Ernst & Young (EY) in Barbados, said: “There are financial institutions such as banks, credit unions and other lenders who depend on the soundness of financial information when they are approached for loans. They want to be able to trust the information, and that means they have to trust the opinion of the accountant and/or the auditor who has signed off on it.”

Expressing concern that some uncertified accountants who service smaller businesses and organisations were offering opinions and signing their names to financial statements, she explained that to prepare or give advice on accounts or financial information, including providing services in relation to audits and financial reporting, taxation and financial or management consultancy, an individual should have a practising certificate, which is proof that “you are what you claim to be”.

“ICAB is the body that issues that certificate, and we know there are people functioning as chartered accountants who don’t have one. But it is very difficult to keep track of, which is why businesses need to ask for proof,” the ICAB president said.

Marshall was quick to point out that this issue does not exist in the local offices of the big firms that belong to global networks.

“You simply cannot work and provide opinions as an auditor for EY or PricewaterhouseCoopers or KPMG or any of the other known professional services firms if you don’t have a practising certificate,” she said. “When it comes to companies of this size, the audit rules are incredibly stringent. These rules are set by international bodies and the fines can be huge for the firms and their clients who break them.”

Smaller local companies and organisations that use small accounting firms or independent practitioners may not face the same level of scrutiny, Marshall noted, but the need for trustworthy financial information is the same.

“At the end of the day, your reputation is on the line, and the credibility of your accountant can have an impact on that,” she said.
(PR/BT)