Bean counters must do better

BEAN COUNTERS are not standing up to the bosses of the companies whose books they inspect, a watchdog has warned.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has probed audits done by six firms – warning they needed to be more forthright with the boards which pay their lucrative fees.

Accountants have been attacked for missing major errors in financial results. PwC missed an error by Tesco which saw it overstate profits by £326m and KPMG was criticised for failing to spot problems at toxic bank HBOS.

The FRC said yesterday that it was important to have more ‘challenge of management in key areas involving judgement’.