Late last year KPMG UK decided to stop bidding for government contracts for a bit while they worked out some scandals, piss poor audit quality, and client collapses. Well, it wasn’t so much that they decided but rather that the government threatened them and told them to get their shit together or they’d be banned from bidding on government work altogether. These contracts were a good chunk of change for the firm, pulling in £244m (USD$295m) from March 2020 to March 2021.
Despite getting fined £14.4 million by the Financial Reporting Council in July for issues related to Carillion and Regenersis audits, it seems the Queen’s KPMG has worked out all those pesky quality problems and is ready to jump back into some government gigs. City A.M. reports:
KPMG has restarted competing for UK government contracts, after the Big Four accounting firm withdrew from public sector tenders last December, following a series of high-profile accounting scandals.
The Big Four accountancy firm re-commenced bidding for UK public sector contracts in early-June, after it pulled out of competing for lucrative UK government contracts at the end of last year.
KPMG UK chief executive Jon Holt, who took over for the ignominious Bill Michael in April 2021, said: “I have been clear since coming into my role as Chief Executive that it is my personal priority to deal with our legacy issues, take action and learn from them.
KPMG’s latest FRC inspection report was better than the last few (84% of audits inspected required no more than limited
improvements) but the FRC is still keeping an eye on things. “KPMG’s individual audit inspections have significantly improved, which is promising, but is not yet a trend. The FRC will continue to closely monitor KPMG banking audits,” reads a July 2022 FRC press release.
“I am grateful to the Cabinet Office for their rigorous assessment of the steps we’ve taken, and continue to take, across all aspects of our business, controls and conduct to build a stronger and more sustainable firm. We will continue to engage with the Cabinet Office closely and transparently on the implementation of our ongoing improvement plans, and we are pleased to return as a strategic supplier to support the work of Government,” said Holt.
