FRC fines EY and audit partner for Made.com 2021 audit failures

FRC fines EY and audit partner for Made.com 2021 audit failures

Ellichipuram Umesh

Wed, July 29, 2026 at 6:40 PM GMT+3 2 min read

The UK's Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has penalised EY and audit engagement partner Julie Carlyle over shortcomings in their audit of e-commerce company Made.com Group.

The enforcement action concerns the statutory audit of Made.com's financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2021.

According to the FRC, EY and Carlyle acknowledged breaches of international standards on auditing in two areas: going concern and deferred tax asset (DTA).

EY has been fined nearly £1.2m, while Carlyle was issued with a separate financial penalty of £49,000.

Both the company and the partner have also been given a published statement in the form of a "severe reprimand".

In addition, the respondents have been ordered to pay the costs incurred by the FRC's executive counsel during the investigation.

Made.com, an online home furniture and homeware retailer, joined the main market of the London Stock Exchange in June 2021.

After strong trading during the Covid-19 period, the group came under pressure in 2022 amid supply chain disruption and weaker consumer demand.

This deterioration was highlighted in trading updates released in May and July 2022, and in the interim results for 2022, which reported a loss before tax of £35.3m.

EY subsequently issued a disclaimer of opinion on the fiscal year 2022 interim financial statements, primarily because of material uncertainty surrounding the company's ability to continue as a going concern.

In September 2022, Made.com's board announced it had appointed financial advisers to consider a possible sale of the business.

The company entered administration on 8 November 2022.

FRC Investigations and Enforcement executive director and executive counsel Penrose Foss said: "In this case the auditors relied on management's forecasts without applying sufficient challenge or carrying out adequate testing to obtain sufficient evidence.

"Absent such challenge and evidence, there is a heightened risk that financial statements present an inaccurate picture of a company's financial position."

The FRC recently penalised Forvis Mazars and audit engagement partner David Allen over audit failings linked to Studio Retail Group.

"FRC fines EY and audit partner for Made.com 2021 audit failures" was originally created and published by International Accounting Bulletin, a GlobalData owned brand.