Legal options for accountant missing EOY filing

[bazinga]

Hi all,

I changed accountants at the point I completed exactly 1 year of trading. My previous accountant agreed in writing that they would do the end of year accounts for me. They tend to leave EOY accounts for 9 months so that they file and submit close to the deadline. However, I suspect as I am not a current client of theirs, they forgot to do mine which meant a late submission and a late filing fee from Companies House. I did appeal to Companies House but they rejected the appeal as expected as this was not an extenuating circumstance.

The accountant accepted their mistake and offered to pay half of the fine citing that my current accountant should have received reminder letters from Companies House. I checked with my current accountant who confirmed that they haven't received any reminders. There was only one reminder which was received by my previous accountant after I ceased my services with them which they kept on file but didn't forward to me; this was discovered in my email exchanges with them.

Companies House has extended my deadline to pay the fine. Where do I legally stand now? I know that responsibility lies with the company director, but I had done all that I can up front to ensure that the accountant does their job but stating in clear terms that I expect certain things once I part ways with them to which they confirmed that they will do all of the things I stated. My only mistake here was that I didn't set a reminder for the filing date which the previous accountant had mentioned when I was parting ways with them.

Based on the last point, I suspect the advice will be to accept the offer. However, I would still like to see the strength of any legal options; if they exist.

Thanks

[Lance]

Legal options for accountant missing EOY filing

How much is the fine?

I suspect that the offer to pay half is more than generous as they don’t have the legal responsibility. Their agreement to do it for you is evidence if you want to pursue them for not doing it, but I reckon that would only get the cost of doing the return refunded at best, not the fine.

IANAL

[Invisiblehand]

Legally you could probably take them to small claims court but this will of course cost you more than the fine in terms of both time and money.

Wipe your mouth and walk away.

[Maslins]

Is this a £150 fine? If so, don't waste any more time worrying about it, accept them paying half and you pay the balance yourself.

I'd suggest primarily old accountant is at fault, though ideally new accountant would have noted the impending deadline and contacted you to check it was all in hand...but given the low amount at stake, I'd suggest annoying but not worth pursuing any further.

[bazinga]

Thanks all

[northernladyuk]

I broadly agree. But if you really want them to pay the full amount, then make noises about going to their professional body. Not worth going legal over.

[pr1]

if paying half is their first offer I'd bet they'll pay all of it if you push them, I'd definitely be pushing for it with another couple of emails

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Your first responsibility is to pay the fine and make sure your accounts are submitted if they haven't been already.

Then you can pursue the accountant for the costs if you think they are liable, but this isn't Companies House's problem so they aren't going to wait for you to negotiate.