Helphire ditches Deloitte for KPMG
Deloitte out of audit role three months after £27m accounting error discovered at client
ACCIDENT MANAGEMENT business Helphire has ditched its auditors and replaced the firm with KPMG.
Deloitte resigned as auditors on the request of Helphire.
On 6 May, Helphire announced the discovery of a potential material discrepancy in the carrying amount of its receivables. KPMG was appointed to discover the cause of the issue and quantify the precise value of the discrepancy.
The value of the discrepancy was quantified by KPMG as £27m, more than 15% of Helphire’s receivables.
The main cause of the over-valuation came from an “erroneous calculation” made at 31 December 2008. The error was held only within the company’s reporting systems – a new data warehouse revealed the problem.
On 27 June, Simon Poulton joined as interim chief financial officer. The ICAEW fellow and Institute of Turnaround member has most recently served at Caparo Industries and Davenham Group and chief restructuring officer.
CFO Ian Wardle stepped down after two years in the role.