Reply to: Is convicted ex accountant Darren Upton practicing?

[Fred Bloggs]

Anyone can be an accountant, you only need to be qualified to be a chartered accountant.

Indeed.

[SimonMac]

He can be a sole trader then. But the question of disqualification was more about professional bodies. And you do not have to be a member of a professional body to practise as an accountant. Or engineer, or plumber or hairdresser etc......

Anyone can be an accountant, you only need to be qualified to be a chartered accountant.

[Fred Bloggs]

....

https://www.contractoruk.com/limited...mpany_ban.html

He can be a sole trader then. But the question of disqualification was more about professional bodies. And you do not have to be a member of a professional body to practise as an accountant. Or engineer, or plumber or hairdresser etc......

[SimonMac]

....

https://www.contractoruk.com/limited...mpany_ban.html

[Fred Bloggs]

So. Darren Upton, convicted of fraud, is still practising. Hmm. Secondary question, does he retain membership of any professional organisation?

Very doubtful unless he is registered under a different name? You don't need to be a registered professional to trade as an accountant. Or an engineer and many other professions too. But you cannot trade as a Chartered Accountant (or engineer) without professional accreditation. The UK's a bit of a mess in this respect really.

[NotAllThere]

Fraud it would seem

https://www.accountancydaily.co/pay-...ked-accountant

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/...ver-gifts.html

So. Darren Upton, convicted of fraud, is still practising. Hmm. Secondary question, does he retain membership of any professional organisation?

[vwdan]

That's £600 per day or £600 after tax as well!

(makes me wonder why we bother having accountants when every single home improvement quote I get is "cash only m8")

Most brickies are on site, under the CIS scheme

[PerfectStorm]

I sort of guessed he'd be better off retraining as a brick layer, plasterer or something. (Article in the media today about brickies in Manchester earning over £600 per day).

That's £600 per day or £600 after tax as well!

(makes me wonder why we bother having accountants when every single home improvement quote I get is "cash only m8")

[DaveB]

Indeed, that's exactly what I believed to be the case. Question is then, who would give any business to him now? I sort of guessed he'd be better off retraining as a brick layer, plasterer or something. (Article in the media today about brickies in Manchester earning over £600 per day).

Because while we all know about him here, there will be lots of folks completely unaware of any of it who just want a basic accountancy / book keeping service and won't worry too much about who it is doing it it as long as they aren't expensive.

He's a middle aged office worker, no way he is going to be able to retrain and earn decent money in the trades. You need to have put the time in and have the expertise to get those sort of rates. £600 per day is a lot but that article was about brikies laying 1000 bricks a day, day in day out. You don't just do a quick training course and start doing that. Same with plastering, plumbing etc. It's hard physical graft.

[ladymuck]

Remind me what he was convicted of?

Fraud it would seem

https://www.accountancydaily.co/pay-...ked-accountant

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/...ver-gifts.html

[NotAllThere]

Remind me what he was convicted of?

[ladymuck]

Indeed, that's exactly what I believed to be the case. Question is then, who would give any business to him now? I sort of guessed he'd be better off retraining as a brick layer, plasterer or something. (Article in the media today about brickies in Manchester earning over £600 per day).

There will always be someone who doesn't do their research, or falls for a slick sales pitch, or is simply too greedy to have any common sense.

[Fred Bloggs]

Nope, you can call yourself an Accountant with no qualifications whatsoever. To be a Chartered Accountant you do need to be a member of the ICAEW or equivalent for the other home nations. Darren was kicked out of every professional UK accountancy association in the run up to his conviction.

Indeed, that's exactly what I believed to be the case. Question is then, who would give any business to him now? I sort of guessed he'd be better off retraining as a brick layer, plasterer or something. (Article in the media today about brickies in Manchester earning over £600 per day).

[DaveB]

As "Darren Upton"? If I remember correctly, I thought he had been struck off by his professional accounting body. Perhaps you can still call yourself an accountant despite being struck off the register? (As far as I know, you don't need any actual qualifications to call yourself an accountant - Chartered Accountant title or similar is however, legally protected). Might be different with accountants, but I doubt that a doctor could still call him/herself a doctor if he/she had been struck off the professional register?

Nope, you can call yourself an Accountant with no qualifications whatsoever. To be a Chartered Accountant you do need to be a member of the ICAEW or equivalent for the other home nations. Darren was kicked out of every professional UK accountancy association in the run up to his conviction.

[Fred Bloggs]

Now a 'self employed accountant' on Linked in.

As "Darren Upton"? If I remember correctly, I thought he had been struck off by his professional accounting body. Perhaps you can still call yourself an accountant despite being struck off the register? (As far as I know, you don't need any actual qualifications to call yourself an accountant - Chartered Accountant title or similar is however, legally protected). Might be different with accountants, but I doubt that a doctor could still call him/herself a doctor if he/she had been struck off the professional register?