Finance Manager "accidentally" paid £80,000 into her own bank account!!

[Babooshka1234]

I need to rant and ask your thoughts about a member of staff who is in a managerial position responsible in HR & Finance yet is terrible at her job and the Director doesn't do anything about it. Have I become a bit too obsessed with this women and my lack of confidence in her ability and should also ignore it or can anything be done about it? I will list a few of the things she does... yesterday paid £80,000 into her own personal bank account in error because the banking app she uses is linked to both the business account and her personal account! Last year she almost lost the business £150,000 due to a scam again using this banking app, fortunately it was stopped just in time. She pays the wages for everyone and regularly changes them if she doesn't agree with the time sheets. And despite being told numerous times not to come to work early, she still comes in over an hour early to claim overtime at time & a half and daily plays the clocking in machine to her advantage yet stamps down on anyone else if they are a minute over or under their clocking in. There are so many other things she does to annoy people and I think most people in the office have no confidence in her yet she is allowed to continue. I think what annoys me is that she is in this position of responsibility and gets away with things like this.

Call the police.

Is there no second signatory?

I'd let it depend on your and her relationship with the owner/higher level, and to what degree it actually affects you. Things rarely end well for individual whistleblowers, so at the very least team up with colleagues. Are you in a union?

The clocking on early to get paid higher overtime rates could well also be gross misconduct and amount to criminal fraud. Is she leaving early to compensate for the early start thus working normal number of contracted hours but getting one of them at a higher rate than she should? If so definitely fraudulent. If she is actually working longer hours a bit more complicated but surely overtime hours need to be approved?

She must have some serious dirt on the boss, or is she fucking him?

I cannot believe the FC could still have a job after stealing £80k. But there's nothing you can do about it really. The company will probably go under if she's allowed to continue.

I'd be trying to leave ASAP.

If she is a qualified accountant is there a professional body you could raise concerns with - she is bringing the profession into disrepute.

I’m an accountant - accidentally paying £80,000 into your own bank account, I’ve heard it all now!

I agree with everyone saying that you should get another job and then send an account of her actions to the managing director.

Is this person accredited with an accountancy qualification? Because I would look into reporting them to them. This is shocking. Absolutely shocking. I’m an accountant and I’m more than ultra careful with any payments made.

I would send an anon letter to the CEO spelling out the risks and then leave asap.

at this stage? if she is fiddling time sheets? to the people whose timesheets she is fiddling.

Maybe asking because you thought you saw them more, etc?

Who audits the company’s accounts? You could (anonymously) contact them with evidence.

This is all clearly gross misconduct and would be grounds for instant dismissal in almost anyone's books.

Yeah, this. I find it hard to believe she'd be chartered, making those type of fuck ups?!

It often happens with inexperienced directors that they lack the confidence to make these decisions. This sounds bad though.

Surely this is an audit issue, do external auditors not pick up on it?

Most accountancy professional bodies have an online database of their members you can check. However you can be an accountant without being a member of a professional body. If she does turn out to be a member of one you can anonymously report her to them.

no don't do that!! This sort of activity is literally the kind of thing that can sink a business and cause it to go under. If you are very confident you could find a new job if this business goes under, and survive not being paid for two months because she's absconded with the money, then yes, ignore it.

This is theft. You don't accidentally link your personal account to a business one.

Go all the way to the top with your concerns. Then if they're not taken seriously, look for a new job as you're clearly working in a shlt and seriously unprofessional outfit

auditors are not there to manage poor performance, or even misconduct, merely to report it when it comes around

Who spotted the accidental transfer to her own account?

I would be concerned this thread may be found and jeopardise any actions against her.

I would move to 30 day board.

A transfer into a personal account like that is a huge red flag. I would expect that to absolutely be a disciplinary matter if not gross misconduct.

Who flagged it up?

Agreed. But if they were in possession of info to indicate that all was not well and the accounts may be inaccurate, they have a duty to be professionally sceptical and ask questions.

when they do their audit.... this is an issue that needs to be dealt with now and by the organisation (it will always need to be dealt with by the organisation)

This is a very important question.

This is not the sort of thing that should be allowed to slide. Frankly, I would be asking for an off the record meeting with the MD and HR, and pointing out their responsibility to act in the best interests of the business. If there isn’t a policy ruling out using the same banking app for business and personal there should be. Someone who isn’t the finance manager should be responsible for timesheets. And if she’s been told not to come in early to claim overtime, she shouldn’t be paying herself for it. Who checks her timesheets?

Hmm...I don't believe that multiple people's time sheets - and therefor their salaries - are regularly, arbitrarily being changed by a member of staff. People would be taking less money home, it would have tax/NI/pension implications, all sorts.

If I was paid less because someone had suddenly decided I'd worked less hours, with no proof, there would be hell to pay and that money would be in my account by the end of the day. If it happened multiple times, to multiple people...well, it just wouldn't, because that would be ridiculous.

I expect there's slightly more to this.

I would schedule a meeting use chatgpt or Claude to distill your thoughts.

The altered timesheets (as well as the obvious impact on tema morale) i imagine have a risk / exposure factor in a legal sense and the MD would ultimately be accountable for that especially if he knows and ignores it