WHY VERIFYING PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS HAS NEVER BEEN MORE IMPORTANT

The accuracy of CVs and LinkedIn profiles has been in the national news a few times of late. Ministers and MPs may be getting most of the attention, but the issue is just as potentially significant for the population of finance professionals across Yorkshire and the East Midlands.

The Times reported one of the most high-profile cases of misrepresentation of a CFO that we have seen – all around the status of their accountancy qualification.

• Arvind Balan was appointed as CFO of John Wood Group in November 2023.
• He was described as “a chartered accountant” in the company’s official announcement. The inaccuracy being that he is “a certified practising accountant” and not chartered.
• This led to Mr Balan resigning in February 2025.

Initially, there were suggestions that the executive search firm Odgers Berndtson, responsible for Balan's placement, may have been unaware of his actual qualifications. However, a subsequent correction by The Times clarified that Odgers Berndtson had conducted appropriate checks and accurately identified Balan's qualifications.

Aside from the debate as to whether a CPA CFO can meet the same standards as an ACA, this highlights how important it is to check the qualification of every qualified accountant on appointment – from Finance Managers to CFOs.

In all of my 25 years of recruiting for qualified accountants, it has never been easier to verify the qualification status of ACA, ACCA and CIMA candidates. It is a two-minute job that should be done for every appointment – without any exceptions!

New AI is evolving that will assess gaps on the career history of CVs. (Was the six month “career break” actually a break or time spent at his majesty’s pleasure). Our team have the benefit of having operated in our market over three decades – we have the benefit of knowing what are candidates have been doing over this time period in many cases.