There was unanimous support for an audit standard for accountants providing services to contractors, from members who attended the Association of Technical Staffing Companies' (ATSCo) September meeting.

There was agreement that such a standard would help recruiters choose service providers that were compliant with the MSC legislation, thereby reducing the risk of contractors' tax and NI debts being transferred to agencies from 6 January 2008, when the debt provisions of the legislation becomes effective.

The support for the audit standard was forthcoming despite the failure of the HMRC representative at the meeting to give an absolute assurance that there was no possibility of debt transfer to agencies, where a worker worked through a service provider who met the audit standard. Graeme Conlon, a technical adviser at HMRC, told the meeting: "It won't stop HMRC compliance activity, however it will lessen the provider's position on our risk list."

Stephen Rookes, commercial director at NES Group, said that the greatest benefit would be for workers, making it easier for them to choose a reputable service provider.

Ann Swain, chief executive of ATSCo, told the meeting that her conversations with parties involved indicated that each audit would take 5-10 days. This would be paid for by the accountants, and not agencies, she said.