The director of a UK payroll processing company has been disqualified for seven years after failing to ensure it kept proper records.
When John Thomas Hanbury was appointed a director of Crownsbury Limited in January 2016, the company had never operated a payroll-processing bureau before. The company entered into administration that July, and the Insolvency Service’s subsequent investigation found that between the two dates, Hanbury had failed to ensure the company kept adequate accounting records.
As a result, it was impossible to verify what the company’s income and expenditure was after 3 May 2016, the date its bank account was closed. Nor could investigators establish the reason why receipts existed totalling £7,849 (US$10,235). The money was received between 24 March 2016 and 8 April 2016 by Crownsbury’s bank account from a connected company, of which John Hanbury is a director.
It was also unclear why a receipt for £520,000 (US$67,8041) was paid into Crownsbury’s bank account on 15 April 2016, among other money for which no proper explanation or verification could be found.
As a result, on 7 August 2018, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from John Hanbury. Hanbury chose not to dispute the fact that he failed to ensure the company kept, or following administration provided, adequate accounting records to the administrators.
Anthea Simpson, chief investigator for the The Insolvency Service, said: "Directors have a duty to ensure their companies maintain proper accounting records, and, following insolvency, deliver them to the office-holder in the interests of fairness and transparency. Without a full account of transactions, it is impossible to determine whether a director has discharged his duties properly, or is using a lack of documentation as a cloak for impropriety."
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
OTHER ARTICLES THAT MAY INTEREST YOU
A compliance guide to EU payroll
Navigating important acronyms in Saudi Arabia and the UAE
A compliance guide to US payroll
The director of a UK payroll processing company has been disqualified for seven years after failing to ensure it kept proper records.
When John Thomas Hanbury was appointed a director of Crownsbury Limited in January 2016, the company had never operated a payroll-processing bureau before. The company entered into administration that July, and the Insolvency Service’s subsequent investigation found that between the two dates, Hanbury had failed to ensure the company kept adequate accounting records.
As a result, it was impossible to verify what the company’s income and expenditure was after 3 May 2016, the date its bank account was closed. Nor could investigators establish the reason why receipts existed totalling £7,849 (US$10,235). The money was received between 24 March 2016 and 8 April 2016 by Crownsbury’s bank account from a connected company, of which John Hanbury is a director.
It was also unclear why a receipt for £520,000 (US$67,8041) was paid into Crownsbury’s bank account on 15 April 2016, among other money for which no proper explanation or verification could be found.
As a result, on 7 August 2018, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from John Hanbury. Hanbury chose not to dispute the fact that he failed to ensure the company kept, or following administration provided, adequate accounting records to the administrators.
Anthea Simpson, chief investigator for the The Insolvency Service, said: "Directors have a duty to ensure their companies maintain proper accounting records, and, following insolvency, deliver them to the office-holder in the interests of fairness and transparency. Without a full account of transactions, it is impossible to determine whether a director has discharged his duties properly, or is using a lack of documentation as a cloak for impropriety."
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
OTHER ARTICLES THAT MAY INTEREST YOU
A compliance guide to EU payroll
Navigating important acronyms in Saudi Arabia and the UAE
A compliance guide to US payroll
