Auditor charged for not signing his work away

Richard Guiney was concerned about misrepresentation, but he was charged with failing to perform his duties with sufficient expedition, writes Colm Keena

Mr Richard Guiney, the accountant who this week had a case against him dismissed by the disciplinary tribunal of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI), had earlier been asked by the institute to consent to accept the charges.

Mr Guiney's decision not to accept this proposition from the ICAI's complaints committee, which found that there was a prima facie case against him, led to Tuesday's full hearing before the tribunal.

He won the case but is left having to carry his own costs because no provision exists within the ICAI's rules for paying the costs of members who have complaints against them dismissed.

The ICAI's tribunal can, under the rules, order a member to pay costs in cases where a complaint against them is upheld. There is, however, no provision allowing it to grant costs to a member who succeeds in defending such a complaint.

Mr Guiney was charged with failing to perform his duties with sufficient expedition.

During Tuesday's hearing, Mr Guiney said he was shocked by the ICAI's attitude which, he said, was in effect criticising him for not acting negligently. He said the institute's attitude, as presented in the case against him, was "absolutely disgraceful".

The hearing came as the Companies (Auditing & Accounting) Bill, 2003, is making its way through the Oireachtas. The Bill will create a structure for overseeing the regulation of accountants by their member institutes.

Tuesday's hearing had a member of an institute complaining that he was being hauled through the tribunal process on a charge of not acting with due expedition when he said what he had done was refuse to release a set of accounts until he felt sure he could stand over them.

Mr Guiney said during the hearing that, while working on the accounts, he became concerned that he might be working on a case of misrepresentation. He said that the client had attempted to get the accounts changed after they had been submitted.

The complaint against Mr Guiney was made by the Artists Association of Ireland (AAI). Mr Guiney said he was particularly concerned about the AAI's accounts because he felt they would be used in seeking State funds from the Arts Council, as well as fund-raising from the private sector.

Mr Guiney said he did not release the accounts until he felt he was in a position to stand over them. This was a standard, he said, he would have expected the ICAI would seek from members.

The case was heard by a three-member tribunal, one of whom, Mr Leo O'Donnell, was a member of the ICAI. The chairman was senior counsel Mr Aedan McGovern and the third member, Mr Pierce Butler, was described as a "lay member". The complaint was dismissed after a 10-minute recess.

A number of undisputed events formed the backbone of the case. Mr Guiney was working on the AAI accounts for the year 2000 for AAI auditor Mr John Webb. Half of the AAI's income came from the Arts Council and, as part of his verification work on the 2000 accounts, Mr Guiney set out to verify the grant paid for that year by the council.

He received a letter, dated February 14th, 2001, from the council, informing him that the grant had been €110,000. This surprised him as earlier budget figures given by the AAI had indicated a grant of €144,750. The difference in the figures was very material to the AAI and turned a small surplus for the year into a deficit. He did not inform the association of this fact.

On March 7th, 2001, Mr Guiney told the AAI the accounts were complete, subject to the verification process. The accounts were handed over in July 2001.

The AAI had dismissed Mr Guiney in mid-February and had sought the completed accounts by end-February.

During the hearing, the ICAI, represented by Mr Brian Farren BL, did not produce any expert witness to give an opinion as to whether Mr Guiney had failed to act with expedition or not.

Mr Paul Fogarty BL, for Mr Guiney, produced Mr John Donnelly, a well-known accountant who qualified in 1954, retired in the early 1990s and who holds, among other positions, the chairmanship of HVB Bank in the IFSC, and the chairmanship of the audit committee of the Department of Agriculture.

He told the tribunal: "If I thought there were open issues in relation to any set of accounts, I would not give them to the client."

He said he thought the amount of time taken by Mr Guiney in doing his work was reasonable and that the steps taken by him were reasonable.

Mr John Webb, the auditor for whom Mr Guiney was preparing the accounts, said he was kept aware of the work Mr Guiney did in relation to verifying the accounts and did not disagree with it.

The only witness called by the institute was the current chairman of the AAI, Ms Kelly Fitzgerald, who took on the position in August 2002. Mr McGovern, in dismissing the complaint against Mr Guiney at the end of the hearing, noted that Ms Kelly had no personal knowledge of the matters in question.

Mr Guiney gave extensive evidence concerning his dealings with the AAI to his counsel, Mr Fogarty. He said he had worked for the association since December 1997 and had a good relationship with it. Most of his dealings with the AAI were by way of its executive director, Ms Stella Coffey.

He said that, when given a 2000 grant figure by the Arts Council that was materially different to the figure from the association, he became concerned.

He said the grant was paid in instalments by the Arts Council with each instalment being paid on foot of requests. When you drew down the final instalment for the year, you knew how much you had received, he said.

He said that, upon receipt of the Arts Council letter, he called the AAI, but had difficulty getting Ms Coffey. When he did eventually get through to her, he said, she refused to properly discuss the issue.

A subsequent letter dismissing him came as a "bolt from the blue", he said. The letter requested that the accounts for 2000 be submitted by the end of February 2001.

He said that, by March 7th, he had "very serious reservations" about Ms Coffey's stewardship of the AAI. He felt Ms Coffey must have known the correct grant figure by this stage and that he was dealing with a case of possible misrepresentation.

Mr Guiney wrote to the AAI's directors seeking a meeting. He gave the provision of his services as the reason for seeking the meeting and did not mention the Arts Council grant. He made two requests for meetings, both of which were refused. He did not mention the grant as the letters to the board would be sent via Ms Coffey, he said.

When his requests for a meeting with the directors were not successful, he wrote seeking the board's minutes. He received these in late June 2001.

The tribunal heard that, after the accounts were delivered, Mr Guiney was asked to alter them and insert the wrong grant figure. When he refused, a complaint was made to the ICAI.

It also heard that an unnamed accountant had come to Mr Guiney's door in late 2001 with a set of AAI accounts and asked him to sign them. The tribunal did not hear much more of this matter as it was not considered relevant to Mr Guiney's actions between February and July 2001.

The tribunal heard that there was a dispute between the AAI and the Arts Council over the size of the grant that should be assigned to the year 2000. The association, which represented artists, ceased trading in 2002 after the withdrawal of funding by the Arts Council.

Ms Coffey, who was present as an observer at Tuesday's day-long hearing, has complained to the ICAI that she was not called to give evidence.