Qualified Accountants Moving To Work For Clients

Nidot

Hi All,

I was wondering if anybody would be able to shed some light on a question I have, or if they've experience of it themselves, in relation to working for clients.

Backround - Qualified recently with one of the Big 4 and I am still working for them. During the period working for said Big 4 company I've been assigned to work on a large multi-national company who are registered in America and therefor have to be SEC compliant.

Now a role has come up with this company which I quite fancy. I haven't applied as of yet and I am holding off because I don't want to step on any toes should it not be allowed/appropriate.

My question is - Can I apply for a job with an SEC registered client who I have worked on in the past? And if I was to apply when would I become obliged to tell my employers (Big 4 company) I have applied?

Note - I haven't been working directly on this company as a client for 4 months and I was not aware the role was to become available when I was working on the client.

draiochtanois

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Nidot

SEC are the Securities and Exchange Commission in the US. All US listed companies have to abide by their rulings and requirements.

One of the rulings relates to the hiring of staff who were employed by the auditor of the company - I'm looking for clarification from boards members, who may be aware, as to what the limitations in place are.

draiochtanois

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SBWife

Section 206 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act establishes a one-year cooling off period before a member of the audit engagement team may accept employment in certain, designated positions with an issuer. The rules, therefore, will provide that an accounting firm is not independent if a member of management involved in overseeing financial reporting matters was the lead partner, the concurring partner, or any other member of the audit engagement team who provided more than ten hours of audit, review or attest services for the issuer within the one year period preceding the commencement of the audit of the current year's financial statements.

Given that you are quite junior it's unlikely that the position you are applying for would be considered a designated position under the legislation therefore the provision would not be expected to apply.

Nidot

draiochtanois wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

If you check out page 6:

http://www.cpaireland.ie/UserFiles/File/Technical%20Resources/Ethics/APB%20Prohibition%20and%20Safeguards/ES2Prohibitions.pdf

It references employees of the audit firm who were part of the engagement team joining the client. It's clarity is what I'm looking for.

In fairness my question is fairly specific so coming back with a smart a55 comment telling me to go to the SEC website and read the rules is definitely not appreciated.

I'm aware of the rules and I'm looking for advice from other people who are also aware of the rules and their application, which I'm sure you're not familiar with.

Nidot

SBWife wrote: »

Section 206 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act establishes a one-year cooling off period before a member of the audit engagement team may accept employment in certain, designated positions with an issuer. The rules, therefore, will provide that an accounting firm is not independent if a member of management involved in overseeing financial reporting matters was the lead partner, the concurring partner, or any other member of the audit engagement team who provided more than ten hours of audit, review or attest services for the issuer within the one year period preceding the commencement of the audit of the current year's financial statements.

Given that you are quite junior it's unlikely that the position you are applying for would be considered a designated position under the legislation therefore the provision would not be expected to apply.

Hi,

Thanks for coming back, I sent you a quick mail with certain specifics.

Thanks Again.

J.Ryan

Nidot wrote: »

If you check out page 6:

http://www.cpaireland.ie/UserFiles/File/Technical%20Resources/Ethics/APB%20Prohibition%20and%20Safeguards/ES2Prohibitions.pdf

It references employees of the audit firm who were part of the engagement team joining the client. It's clarity is what I'm looking for.

In fairness my question is fairly specific so coming back with a smart a55 comment telling me to go to the SEC website and read the rules is definitely not appreciated.

I'm aware of the rules and I'm looking for advice from other people who are also aware of the rules and their application, which I'm sure you're not familiar with.

I'd contact your professional body, they might be able to give you the answer or at least tell you where to look.

SBWife

For clarity under SOX 206 a designated role is a financial reporting oversight role for example:

A member of the board of directors or similar management or governing body
Chief executive officer
President
Chief financial officer
Chief operating officer
General counsel
Chief accounting officer
Controller
Director of internal audit
Director of financial reporting
Treasurer or
Any equivalent position

oxysept

My understanding is that it depends on your roll within the audit team and the roll you applying for, if your roll is junior enough it may not matter - however I am aware that many US based companies as the one I work for have put a internal policy blanket ban on employing anyone who was member of the Audit team in our case it runs for the preceding 24 months - it simpler and removes any ambiguity. If a member of the Audit team approached me to enquire about an open position or the policy I would inform them of the policy & never mention it to the Audit firm.