Under the settlement Jarvis is also required to pay £25,000 as a contribution to the FRC’s costs. Jarvis admitted to the tribunal that her conduct fell significantly short of the standards to be expected of an ICAEW member.

The tribunal found she had breached the fundamental principle of integrity in relation to her conduct during 2010 and 2011, when she presented management accounts to external third parties which gave an inaccurate presentation of the financial performance of the recruitment company.

Jarvis manipulated HCL’s figures, which showed over-accrual of revenue, allocation of staff costs to reorganisation costs and over-capitalisation of costs, according to the FRC.

The tribunal said the length of ban reflected Jarvis’s failure to bring the accounting irregularities  to the attention of the regulator, plus the fact the misconduct was repeated and occurred over an extended period of time and was committed with a view to profit. 

Paul George, FRC executive director of conduct, said: ‘“The significant period of exclusion recommended in this case reflects the gravity of the misconduct and sends out a clear message to accountants in business of the importance of acting honestly and with integrity.  The substantial sanction will also serve to protect the public and contribute to the maintenance of public confidence in the accountancy profession.’

Earlier this year the FRC closed its investigation into BDO as HCL’s auditors, saying it had concluded that ‘there is not a realistic prospect’ that a tribunal would make an adverse finding against the firm regarding the issues examined within the investigation.

At the time BDO said: ‘We are pleased that the FRC decided to discontinue its investigation. We co-operated fully throughout and we are happy with the outcome.’

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