Everton auditor considers walking away, raising questions over club’s financing

Everton football club’s auditor is considering walking away from its role signing off the club’s accounts, raising questions over its financing and ownership, according to sources.

The Guardian understands that the accounting firm BDO has told Everton it will not be conducting the work, a decision which sources said was related to Farhad Moshiri’s ownership of the Premier League team. The firm had audited the club’s financial accounts for the previous two years, but the Merseyside club is now believed to be searching for a replacement.

Moshiri – who was said to be worth £1.7bn in the most recent Sunday Times rich list – has been widely reported as putting the club up for sale. Moshiri says he is not seeking a buyer.

Both Everton and Moshiri said BDO remained the club’s auditor. A spokesperson for Moshiri said: “Your assertions [about BDO] are based on nothing more than them refusing to discuss a client matter with a third-party journalist.

“In line with company best practice we do follow audit rotation. However BDO remain our auditors and have not resigned.”

BDO declined to confirm it would be auditing Everton’s latest accounts, which cover the year to the end of June 2022. However, two confidential sources with inside knowledge of events have told the Guardian that BDO has informally withdrawn from the audit and is not conducting work on the accounts, although Everton have not filed notification of this at Companies House.

By law, all UK companies are required to have their accounts audited, unless they are small enough to qualify for an exemption. With £193m of turnover and net assets of £49.7m, Everton are required to have an auditor sign off their accounts. It is unusual for an audit firm to leave a client scrambling