Officials from the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (ICPAU) with the help of Uganda Police force on Monday arrested 12 people and closed 7 accounting firms in Kampala in a crackdown on fake accountants.
This comes in after the recently concluded ICPAU Annual General meeting that voted for a new council led by the new President CPA Fredrick Kibbedi who vowed to protect the accounting space in Uganda. The president promised to spearhead a cause to weed out quack accountants and accounting firms that don’t meet the minimum standards. This started off well with an operation that saw 12 arrested and 7 firms closed.
According to Mr John Ssegendo, the ICPAU Spokesman, the operation came after an outcry from genuine accountants about the escalating numbers of masqueraders who provide cheap yet un professional work to clients. Furthermore, the accountants mentioned that the Quality level keeps deteriorating all because of these quack accountants.
“We mounted a quality review programme and we established that a number of fake accountants and accounting firms had flooded the market. We have to put an end to this,” Mr Ssegendo said. “The accountants with questionable credentials, he said, charge lower rates to undercut the professionals. Others help companies to falsify business or financial records to reduce tax liability. According to Section 35(1) of the Accountants Act, 2013, a person shall not practice accountancy in Uganda without a certificate of practice,’’ he added.
The provision imposes a fine of up to Shs10m or a two-year imprisonment on illegal practitioners. According to Mr Ssegendo, the membership certificate for accountants costs Shs1m, annual certificate renewal at Shs400,000 while a practicing license costs Shs1.2m a year.
Closed firms include United Professional Bureau, Waks and Waks, Accounts Plus Uganda Ltd, ACCO Accountants and Auditors, Kasule & Company Certified Public Accountant, Bold and Associate and Pro-Biz Consultants.
Mr Ssegendo said the operation will continue to other parts of the country and warned all those in this practice to close before they get apprehended. He added that about 5,000 people are either unqualified or have no accounting licenses.
Vincent Ssekatte, the CID spokesperson, said they plan to arraign in court this week once investigations are complete.
“It is the mandate of the CPA to accredit the accountants and companies, hence even if one knows how to balance financial books, without the practicing license and member-ship certificate, they are rendered fake and we are going to deal with them,” he said.
Section 35(1) of the Accountants Act, 2013 states that a person shall not practice accountancy in Uganda without a certificate of practice.
