Melissa15 wrote:

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Hello!

I am a registered bookkeeper and have been approached by a CBS in my village to volunteer to carry out a lay audit to assure the administration and records relating to the sale of community shares.

Can anyone tell me whether I can go ahead do this without breaking any AML rules?

 

Thanks in advance,

Melissa

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 You cannot do this not sufficiently qualified nothing to do with AML

Melissa15 wrote:

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I am a registered bookkeeper 

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What is a 'registered' bookkeeper?

Melissa15 wrote:

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Hi

To clarify, I mean to say that I am a qualified bookkeeper, member in practice running my own business.

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Hi Melissa,

to clarify my agreement with sun, the key word in your question was audit.

On the legality side the question that perhaps should have been asked though is whether the turnover was less than £90k?

Its worth noting here that even done without financial regard you are legally liable for the losses of anyone who depends upon the validity of the report.

There are many accountants (myself included) that will not touch audit work with a barge pole even when we have the relevant qualifications as its a litigation nightmare which your PII works very hard to avoid paying out on.

Regardless of the AML position you need to ask yourself not whether you could, but whether you should. Personally I would politely decline and suggest one of the accountancy practices that you work with who are more likely to get the society to bend over and touch their toes whilst getting out the latex gloves and flashlight to ensure that every i is dotted and t crossed before putting their name to anything.

They will also charge the society a tidy sum for doing the work. Always remember, the society may be running themselves like a charity but you are not. If you put yourself at any financial risk (which you would be doing here) there has to be a payment worth doing that for.

Just tell them that your professional body does not allow its members to do this sort of work (whether it does or not) and walk away... You will sleep much better at night I promise you!

Shaun (FCCA)

Hi Shaun,

Thanks for your explanation. I have now declined the invitation and had a great night's sleep!

Hopefully they will find a retired person to volunteer for this role.

Cheers,

Melissa