Latest Audit and Assurance

What could the changes to Audit exemption limits mean for you?   The government has recently announced changes to company law that will see company size thresholds increased by 50%. This is hoped to reduce complexity and additional burden for companies. These changes are intended to be in place for year ends commencing on or…

ISA’s are the International Standards on Auditing. There are regular changes, revisions and new ISA’s implemented across the audit world. A recent revision to ISA 315 is well talked about, due to the significant changes it brings to audits.   ISA 315 covers ‘Identifying and Assessing the Risks of Material Misstatement’ and the revised ISA…

From Monday 3 October 2022, the UK government has changed the ‘small’ company threshold, which is expected to remove 40,000 businesses from certain reporting regulations. Since January 2016, a company qualifies as ‘small’ in the year that it does not exceed two or more of the following: Annual turnover:                                   £10.2m Gross Assets:       …

Arising from the current COP26 global warming conference, Sage, The ACCA and the ICC have called on urgent action to be taken to standardise and simplify carbon reporting to help SMEs join the race to Net Zero. Their new report titled ‘Think Small First’ calls on policymakers to remove the existing administrative burdens that come…

A joint guidance has been published by ICAS, ICAEW and PRAG on pension scheme financial reports and audit, with a large focus on Covid-19 matters.   The impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the control environment of pension schemes is explored, to help auditors navigate the additional challenges they are likely to experience and help them…

Companies that require their accounts to be audited, and hold significant levels of stock at their year-end, expect a visit from their auditors annually to perform test counts of their stock.   However, during the current lockdown, auditors are considering other ways to gain the assurance they need over the stock levels held. Some suggestions…

Whether unincorporated, a charitable company or a CIO (charitable incorporated organisation), charities are required to have certain levels of assurance over their financial statements depending on their size. The limits are much smaller than companies, meaning that many charities require some sort of external scrutiny. The requirements by size are as follows: Income up to…

As the world becomes more digital, it leaves us wondering where further efficiencies could be achieved through switching to more high-tech methods. One possible area for auditors is stocktaking. For an audited entity with significant levels of stock at the year end, it is likely the auditor will want to perform test counts of the…

It is common for entities who undertake research and development to receive grant funding for projects that they undertake. Grants will often be paid on the basis of expenditure incurred or a proportion thereon and may be awarded with certain conditions attached.   One such condition for grants above a certain level will be the…

No audit sets out to conclude with total confidence that a set of financial statements are 100% free from any misstatement. To do so would belie the technological reality and scale of modern business; auditors would likely become a permanent fixture at client premises to review every single business transaction and audit would become an…