Investigation and discipline

If the assessor decides that the Institute should investigate your complaint, we will ask a case manager to look into the matter in more detail. The case manager may need to clarify certain issues with you or ask for further evidence. There may be aspects of a complaint which we are not able to deal with, for example if the complaint is about a fee dispute.

The case manager then writes to the member or firm, setting out full details of the complaint and inviting their comments. Under our bye-laws, members are required to answer questions and provide any information the Institute asks for. For this process to work well, it is helpful if we can photocopy all relevant correspondence and make it available to both parties.

The investigation concentrates on whether the Institute should discipline the accountant (or firm) concerned. At the end of the investigation, the case manager decides whether there appears to be a case to answer and whether the complaint should be reported to the Investigation Committee. This committee decides whether the matter should be referred to the Disciplinary Committee which, in turn, decides whether to impose a penalty.

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