Football Club

Football Club

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It is a small club and is audit exempt. I have looked at a copy of the last statutatory (full and abbreviated) accounts and it is a 'bog' standard set of accounts etc. It is early days and the basic principal ' don't take on work you can not do ' is on my mind. However whilst inclined to turn work away, I feel we should be able to deal with the accounting issues etc. Income is from various sources, (match day ticket sales, season ticket sales, sponsorship, transfer fees, bar sales, events etc). Expenses again straightforward.

In this instant one majority shareholder, and the balance held by supporters club and others. We have no experience of doing accounts for companies with many shareholders, as all our clients are wholly owned by a few family members.

As with any work we would obviously have to learn about specific rules etc.

My initial thoughts were that we have not the experience for this type of work, however it may be Ok and just the same as taking on any other client. The fact it is not an audit is a big plus for us as the scope for our work is limited.

Two questions
1.How would others approach this?
2.Any accountants out there who do football club accounts who can give comments and advice or thinks I should beware of?

As I said it is early days and I am just doing preliminary work. You never know If we take on this, Chelsea could be next!
Martin

Replies (9)

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David Winch
By David Winch
17th Mar 2006 16:02

Coca Cola League

If I have my football terminology correct a Coca Cola League club is playing in what in my youth was called Division Two - the one immediately below the premiership.

This division includes clubs of the stature or notoriety of Leeds United, Queens Park Rangers and Derby County.

I would certainly regard this appointment, if it comes to pass, as both high profile and high risk (both in terms of potential risk to the firm's reputation and potential risk that things may be going on at the club which may be concealed from you and others).

Before agreeing to take this on have a word with your professional indemnity insurers to check that you have adequate cover and that they will not insist on a steep hike in your premium in respect of this client.

David

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David Winch
By David Winch
17th Mar 2006 12:59

Football clubs

Martin

You need to be aware of the law relating to trading whilst insolvent and you need to be on your toes regarding money laundering in relation to football clubs.

The money laundering difficulties principally revolve around the recording of all cash income and expenditure (including all payments to players and agents) and the introduction of monies into the business / club which are suspected to have been derived from crime.

You should also check out the requirements of football's governing bodies in relation to production of accounts, etc.

Who knows, if you keep fit you might get invited to join the team!

Good luck!

David
[email protected]

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David Winch
By David Winch
19th Mar 2006 16:32

League tables of dodginess?

Perhaps there should be a league table for types of business often associated with dodgy dealings of various sorts.

I would suggest nightclubs (in relation to drug dealing), sun bed hire shops (money laundering), car dealers (credit fraud), massage parlours (immoral earnings) and pubs (PAYE fraud) should all be in the dodgy premiership - along with football clubs, of course!

We could also have a league table of makes of car driven by dodgy individuals - from my experience prestige German makes seem to be favoured!

A particular problem with football clubs is that often the fans have shares in the club and that, added to the popularity of football itself, makes the issues more high profile.

David

P.S. Adam, I doubt whether the Football Association would be willing to accept accounts which were not 'signed off' by an independent accountant.

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By listerramjet
17th Mar 2006 14:52

perhaps worth bearing in mind
the football club might be a small company and audit exempt, but it is high profile, if at least in its local community. I have worked for organisations that would classify such an appointment as high risk - 2nd partner review etc.

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By IanRiley
17th Mar 2006 20:07

David
You need to brush up up on your football terminology. Depending on how old you are a Coca Cola league club could be Division 2, 3 or 4. From Martins question, probably old division 4.
As a supporter of a Coca Cola League 2 (old division 4) club, I would say that your biggest concern is whether you will get paid or not ! I think I would ask for money up front before taking this on.

Good Luck !

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By adam.arca
19th Mar 2006 12:52

Echo previous comments
As a fellow old Div 4 fanatic (my team is Wrexham), I would echo all previous comments.

Wrexham have had legal, probity and fiduciary duty issues over the past couple of years which any true football fan should know about.

The whole issue has been incredibly high profile in the community and I'm sure the accounts have been pored over several times by several people looking for any angle they can. This could happen at any club at any time because football is not a stable environment and attracts an awful lot of sharks, self-publicists etc, not to mention the gormless types who don't seem to have a clue.

Not doing an audit won't stop fans thinking you are omniscient and "should have" detected something, but I certainly wouldn't want my name to be associated with anything less than an audit.

If the job is "simply" a/cs prep, I would seriously think about not preparing an external report at all (but not sure if Institute regs allow this or not, to be honest).

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By IanRiley
20th Mar 2006 11:38

Adam..
Oh dear, a Wrexham supporter..... My team is Chester! (don't expect the rest of the accounting web membership to understand the significance0. Looking forward to Sunday (although unfortunately won't be there).
Glad (genuinely !) to see you seem to be coming out of your 'Hamilton' experience.
You couldn't gift us 3 points this week could you ? Our need is greater than yours !

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By adam.arca
20th Mar 2006 11:01

David, yes, I hadn't thought of that
But reporting to an external regulator (presumably the League do monitor this sort of thing?) does of course ratchet up the risk of this job by yet another factor.

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By adam.arca
21st Mar 2006 14:01

Ian.... football talk
I'm also looking forward to Sunday, although I'm not too happy about having to be there at 11am (if you factor in the early kick off and the fact that clocks are going forward) and on Mother's Day as well.

The good news from your point of view is that Wrexham always seem to lose to Chester when I go (I remember in 1993....). The bad news is that I can't make the re-match and they always seem to win when I don't!

I can't believe your freefall down the table and I for one certainly hope you stay up. Unfortunately, we need the points to make up for earlier lapses and get back into the play-offs, so I'd rather it wasn't us doing you the favours. You never know, Rotherham may do the business for you!

Best wishes for the rest of the season.

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