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A Day in the Life of an Expert Witness running their own Practice
- Aug 27, 2024
- Latest Journal
The highs and lows of life on your own as an expert witness
My name is Fiona Hotston Moore and I have waved corporate life goodbye. I am an accredited expert witness and forensic accountant and qualified as a chartered accountant at KPMG. I have been a partner in national and international accountancy practices for about thirty years. Over the last twenty years, I have undertaken many assignments as an expert witness. Initially, I continued working in accountancy practices as a statutory company auditor and business adviser and did the expert witness work alongside more traditional audit, tax and accountancy services. But in the last ten years I have focused entirely on building a specialism as an expert witness and forensic accountant, initially as a partner within larger accountancy and advisory firms.
However, this year I decided to “go it alone” and set up on my own to build an independent forensic accountancy firm. Although I have been a partner in accountancy practices for decades and have advised many clients on running their own businesses, I was still surprised by how long it took to set up my firm and complete all the practicalities. The tasks in the month before launch included:
• Using a marketing expert to design the brand, logos and social media artwork which now runs throughout the website, social media, reports, business correspondence and promotional material. Getting the branding right at the start was definitely worth it.
• Setting up a website with the help of a local website developer. I invested time in learning the intricacies of search engine optimisation (SEO) and drafting all the content.
• Engaging a local professional photographer for a full set of new profile photos.
• Setting up the limited company, which was easy. Getting the company a bank account, however, was tortuous. I gave up on the traditional business banks after three weeks of trying to get a simple business bank account and eventually went with Monzo who provided a painless and slick business online banking solution.
• Obtaining professional indemnity (PI) insurance and confirming other compliance requirements with my professional bodies. Getting the appropriate PI cover was easier than I had feared with the assistance of the broker recommended by my professional body.
• Setting up the basics of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database to collate and manage the details of instructing solicitors and potential introducers.
• Updating my LinkedIn profile, the various other digital platforms and expert witness registers where I promote my services as an expert. In my experience LinkedIn is the most effective tool as an expert witness to stay in touch with referrers and well worth a regular investment of time.
I am sharing this set-up experience and my day-in-the-life to help others who might be considering making the jump from corporate life to setting up their own firm.
A Day in the Life
9:00 Completed the morning commute by walking the few yards across the kitchen to the home office. Life has changed dramatically since the pandemic and working from home has become much more the norm. The instructing lawyers, clients and consultants I work with are often themselves working from home even if they are still employed by large firms. Before, I would have assumed that setting up my own firm would mean setting up a physical office with secretarial support, lots of technology infrastructure and so on. But times and attitudes have changed and small, independent practices can now thrive more easily.
I start each day by revisiting the all-important “to do” list that I made at the end of the previous day. I allocate time early in the day to respond to enquiries and to work on client projects. I then include a couple of tasks on my list which will develop my practice such as marketing, business development and continuing professional development.
9:30 Today, I have received a new letter of instruction and I need to complete the formalities. When I started my own firm, I put in place standardised processes including proforma engagement letters and set-up processes for client files. I have always been a firm believer in “two sets of eyes” so I ensure that my correspondence and reports are checked by my business partner.
10:00 Having set up the client file, issued the engagement letter and completed necessary AML and KYC, I review the papers sent to me to decide whether I need further information from the client. I am regularly engaged to provide business valuations in matrimonial cases and also for shareholder and commercial disputes. In these cases, I will do some preliminary financial analysis at the outset in order to prepare a list of the further financial information I’ll need and the questions that arise from the published financial statements.
11:30 I join a call with an instructing solicitor to discuss a potential new instruction. Typically, on instructions as Single Joint Expert, I receive the enquiries by email and ongoing correspondence is by email to ensure independence and transparency of communication with all parties. On commercial disputes I am normally engaged as a party expert and there will be an initial call to discuss whether the subject matter is within my expertise, the likely costs and the timetable.
12:00 I review queries received in accordance with the Part 25 Practice Directions from the instructing solicitors on a Single Joint Expert report and draft my responses.
13:00 I take my office companions (a Labrador and two Yorkshire Terriers) for a walk before lunch. Lunch is now a proper break: no stale, curled-up sandwich at my computer but something more nutritious at the kitchen table. Having more time to walk the dogs and join various exercise classes is a big upside from working from home in a more flexible way.
14:00 I continue the financial analysis on an instruction and start to plan the written expert report. I normally aim to complete all the financial analysis, research and number crunching before starting to write the body of the report.
16:15 I draft an article for my website and look for a stock image to use. I have spent time reviewing the stock image libraries to avoid using the clichéd images favoured by corporates and to try and maintain a visual look that is consistent with my brand.
17:00 For a valuation, I draft a response to an email enquiry after doing some online research into the company that is to be valued. I also set up a call with one of the external consultants who is working with me on a project. I have been pleased to receive offers of support from former colleagues and I now engage several independent colleagues to provide specialist support or to provide a second pair of eyes on complex cases.
18:00 I wrap up my day by recording my chargeable time and writing my “to do” list for tomorrow. I then use what would have been time behind the wheel on the daily commute to join a local group for a run.
Reflections – the transition from corporate life to running my own practice as an independent
At the start it was daunting and, as a cautious accountant, I could see all the downsides of going it alone but relegated the upsides to wishful thinking. In fact, the mountainous obstacles that I anticipated have actually turned out to be gentle hills and I am wondering why I didn’t do it years ago!
Author
Ms Fiona Hotston Moore
Forensic Accountant, Accredited Expert Witness, Chartered Accountant and Tax Adviser
Mobile: 07770 642491
Email: fiona@fhmforensic.co.uk
Website: www.fhmforensic.co.uk