Reflections on a CARB monitoring visit Tom Carolan


Rather like the Titanic and the iceberg, CARB and I were going to bump into each other sooner or later. As a sole practitioner, I had had a monitoring visit under the auspices of the old JMU way back in 1999 when I was working in London, but had somehow remained at large as a practicing accountant/auditor despite that. Actually, thinking back on it, the JMU visit was a thoroughly civilised affair – a very nice inspector arrived and browsed a few audit files, consumed copious quantities of coffee and biscuits, glanced at my CPD (or whatever we called it back then) records and PII certificate before pronouncing himself satisfied. The visit lasted little more than a few hours (including a very agreeable lunch) and was concluded with smiles and handshakes all round. I’ve heard that things have moved on a little since then!


I should say at the outset that I am a firm supporter of the mechanism whereby standards in practice can be monitored and maintained. As a professional body, we really do need to promote ourselves as the leading providers of financial expertise, whether in the area of compliance, performance measurement, I.T., planning, trans-national operations, or in any one of the dozens of other areas where our members operate. In his presentation to conference this year, outgoing president, John Hannaway,


included an excellent promotional video extolling the abilities and achievements of our members. (I had no idea we were so wonderful!) Promoting ourselves and our Institute is one thing – backing up the PR with a high standard of performance delivery is quite another. We can always talk the talk. We need to walk the walk. The quality and value of our brand must be underpinned by ensuring that the standards which we set ourselves are adhered to. This is where CARB comes in.


Good! I should have been delighted, then, when informed that I had been selected for a monitoring visit. Not quite, actually. Like most members in practice, my instinctive reaction was one of initial panic laced with hostility. These guys want to come down and poke around my office for a few days, causing massive disruption, not to mention all the non- chargeable time I will have to waste preparing for them and I pay them a fortune in subscriptions every year for the privilege (a bit like being strapped into an electric chair and then being asked for a few coins for the meter).


How about a more measured reaction? Though it didn’t feel like it at the time, the visit will ultimately be of enormous benefit to me in my work. As a sole practitioner, one of the great difficulties lies in keeping up with the technical and


Survival Guide to CPD 13


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