Making a claim for accountants negligence involves the same principles as other professional negligence claims. It is necessary to show the accountant owed you a duty of care, the accountant breached that duty and finally that loss has resulted from that breach.
In general, proving a duty of care will not be an issue as you will generally have either directly instructed the accountant or have a sufficiently close relationship to have reasonably relied on the accountant’s advice.
In establishing breach of duty, it is necessary to show that the accountant has failed to exercise the care and skill of a reasonably competent accountant. Accounting is not as black or white as is often assumed and there may be a variance in accounting practices which are perfectly acceptable. The Financial reporting Council, the successor to the Accounting Standards Board, lays down the applicable standards. The vast majority of professional accountants carry out a competent and responsible service for their clients, but where they do not the financial losses may be significant.
It is finally necessary to show that actual loss has directly resulted from the accountant’s negligence, rather than from other events. This is often a matter of expert opinion and expert guidance will be required throughout the process of making a claim against an accountant.
If you believe you have been the victim of accountant’s negligence, please contact our expert team on 0292 0507 507 or click here to email us.
Examples of accountant negligence
- Failing to draw up accounts correctly
- Failing to file accounts on time
- Failing to give proper tax advice
- Failing to set losses incurred in one year against other income for tax purposes
- Failing to advise a sole trader to set up as a limited company so as to claim tax relief against payment for goodwill
- Giving bad business advice
- Overvaluing company assets
- Failing to detect a fraud when auditing company accounts
Accountant negligence compensation
We aim to make the process of making a claim for legal redress as straightforward as possible and will discuss the matter with you on a no obligation basis to provide you with a free initial assessment of your case. We will then discuss a case plan and provide you with a likely timescale for the case and what steps we will need to take to recover your losses from the accountant’s negligence.
If you need to sue an accountant you will need to act quickly as time limits apply. If you have incurred financial losses due to professional negligence from your account, talk to our expert team on 0292 0507 507 or click here to email us. We have the experience to give you the best possible outcome. In most cases we are able to do so on a no win no fee basis. We will fight your case with expertise and determination to ensure you obtain redress.
