Birmingham City Council has spent £334,000 in audit fees following delays to its annual accounts.

According to a review of the accounts for 2012-13 the city council has paid its auditor Grant Thornton £150,000 for its work.

But a further £184,000 was spent on assistance from Price Waterhouse Coopers in a bid to meet the legal deadline.

It comes a year after the city council was issued with a warning by District Auditor Mark Stocks for being late with the 2011-12 accounts.

But the council insists it is two years into a three year improvement plan for the accounts and is getting it right after paying £1.1 million in accounting fees in 2011/12 and £600,000 last year.

Last year the council’s accounts were plagued with problems of accuracy, in particular the valuation of council owned assets was called into question.

Eventually they were filed six months late, prompting a warning that delays this year would not be tolerated.

A Birmingham City Council spokesperson said: “The council has a robust three-year plan to improve its accounts compiling process, and 2012/13 was the second year of this programme.

“This work has contributed to a reduction in audit fees from £1.1 million in 2011/12 to £600,000 last year.

“The action plan to improve our accounts is on track as anticipated and we will continue to focus on the work that needs to be done to address previous issues.”

Last year the council paid an extra £300,000 as a result of failings to deliver accounts on time. Accountancy firm PwC, which cost a further £140,000, and paid £60,000 to upgrade its computer system for recording the council’s land and buildings.

Its state of the art Voyager computer system, installed by Service Birmingham in 2007, was criticised by the auditor for its reliability.