The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) says it has opened an investigation into PwC’s audit work relating to WH Smith’s financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2024. Multiple outlets report that the probe follows WH Smith’s disclosure of accounting errors in its US business. WH Smith previously acknowledged that it overstated profits in its North American operations by as much as £50 million due to an accounting mistake. The FRC’s investigation focuses on PwC’s audit and the firm’s work connected to the retailer’s reporting, according to the reports. The articles describe this as a regulatory scrutiny of a Big Four firm’s conduct in the context of the identified misstatement. No outcome of the investigation is reported in the provided sources, and the coverage does not indicate findings or sanctions at this stage. The FRC is proceeding with the probe after the company’s own admission of the scale of the earlier overstatement.
PwC faces Financial Reporting Council probe over WH Smith audit
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) says it has opened an investigation into PwC’s audit work relating to WH Smith’s financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2024. Multiple outlets report t...
- The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) opens a probe into PwC’s audit work connected to WH Smith.
- The investigation relates to WH Smith’s financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2024.
- WH Smith disclosed accounting errors in its North American (US) business.
- The company says profits in that business were overstated by as much as £50 million due to an accounting blunder.
- The reports do not state any investigation findings or penalties so far.
WH Smith admitted last year it overstated profits for its North American business by as much as £50 million because of an accounting blunder.
2 months agoThe Financial Reporting Council (FRC) confirmed that it has opened a probe into the Big Four beancounter's audit of the retailer's audit of its financial statements for the year to 31 August 2024.
2 months agoFRC to launch investigation into Big Four firm’s work after retailer revealed accounting errors in US business
2 months ago
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