Every 2 to 3 years, Scottish legal firms can expect an inspection by The Law Society’s Financial Compliance Team of Inspectors. The following series of articles will provide tips on how to prepare and deal with these well.
1 Dealing with an inspection
2 Pre-inspection tips
3 Inspection tips
4 Post-inspection tips
DEALING WITH AN INSPECTION
You receive a recorded delivery …
Do you…
A Crawl under your desk, hope nobody will find you, and let your staff deal with the inspection?
B Call The Law Society to advise you cannot possibly accommodate them, as ALL your staff will be sick on those dates?
C Jump for joy because you know your books are in order, and you know EXACTLY what is expected at ALL times?
-OR-
D Stop panicking, use the guidance provided to ensure your whole books will be available for the inspection, and see the visit as it should be … a tune-up for your accounting procedures, which are already in place?
All too often partners panic when faced with an accounts inspection. The inspectors should not be feared. OK, they may advise you that some files or ledgers have not been dealt with as they should – but learn from that information, use the guidance received to further refine your accounting procedures, and this will go a long way to making future inspections easier.
If you cannot deal with an inspection alone, get HELP!
DOES NOT HELP | WILL HELP |
Burying your head in the sand | Rising above the panic |
Putting your inspections off | Allocating time to prepare |
Pushing the responsibility on to your staff | Taking charge of proceedings |
Pretending you understand | Asking for clarification of terms you do not understand |
Ignoring changes to the Accounts Rules | Keeping up with changes to the Accounts Rules |
Reviewing your accounts procedures ONLY |
Reviewing your accounts procedures REGULARLY |