This schedule should be read in conjunction with the engagement letter and the standard terms and conditions.
You have undertaken to make available to us, as and when required, all the accounting records and related financial information necessary for the compilation of the accounts. You will make full disclosure to us of all relevant information. The accounts need to be approved by you before we are able to issue our report.
You are responsible for ensuring that, to the best of your knowledge and belief, financial information, whether used by the charity or for the accounts, is reliable. You are also responsible for ensuring that the activities of the charity are conducted honestly and that its assets are safeguarded, and for establishing arrangements designed to deter fraudulent or other dishonest conduct and to detect any that occur.
You are responsible for ensuring that the charity complies with the laws and regulations applicable to its activities, and for establishing arrangements designed to prevent any non-compliance with laws and regulations and to detect any that occur.
We will compile your annual accounts based on the accounting records [maintained by you] and the information and explanations supplied by you. We shall prepare draft annual accounts for your approval.
We will advise you as to the adequacy of your records for preparation of the annual accounts and make recommendations for improvements which we consider necessary. We shall not be responsible if, as a result of you not taking our advice, you incur losses or penalties.
We will use reasonable skill and care in the preparation of your accounts but will not be responsible for errors arising from incorrect information supplied by you.
We will report, with any variations that we consider may be necessary, that in accordance with your instructions and in order to assist you to fulfil your responsibilities, we have compiled, without carrying out an audit, the accounts from your accounting records and from the information and explanations supplied to us.
We have a professional duty to compile accounts for charities which conform with generally accepted accounting principles and in particular the prevailing Charities SORP. Where we identify that the accounts do not conform to accepted accounting principles, or if the accounting policies adopted are not immediately apparent, this will be made clear in our report, if it is not clear in the accounts.
We will complete and submit your unincorporated charity’s annual accounts to the Charity Commission of England and Wales [or Scotland] subject to their requirements. In some circumstances the Charity Commission does not require the annual accounts to be submitted to it but the annual accounts should be made available to the public on request and may be required for tax purposes.
We are required to carry out an examination in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently we do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.
As trustee/director of the charitable company, under the Companies Acts you are responsible for:
You will keep records of all income and expenditure including transaction in specie (such as donations of assets) together with any other documents relating to the charitable company’s transactions and activities. It will also be necessary for you to provide a record of stock at the charity’s year end.
In relation to the accounts, we will prepare the charitable company’s accounts on the basis of the information that is provided to us. We will also draft the accounts in accordance with the provisions of the Charities Act, Companies Acts, related Accounting Standards and the prevailing Charities SORP for approval by the Board of Trustees/Directors.
Should our work lead us to conclude that the charitable company is not entitled to exemption from an audit of the accounts, or should we be unable to reach a conclusion on this matter, then we will advise you of this.
The Trustees/Directors are responsible for the detection of irregularities and fraud. We would emphasise that we cannot undertake to discover any shortcomings in your systems or any irregularities on the part of your employees or others, although we will advise you of any such circumstances that we encounter in preparing your accounts, unless prohibited from doing so by the Anti Money Laundering Legislation.
We will report, with any variations that we consider may be necessary, that in accordance with your instructions and in order to assist you to fulfil your responsibilities, we have compiled, without carrying out an audit, the accounts from your accounting records and from the information and explanations supplied to us.
We have a professional duty to compile accounts which conform with generally accepted accounting principles. Furthermore, the accounts of a limited company are required to comply with the Charities Acts, Companies Acts and applicable accounting standards. Where we identify that the accounts do not conform to accepted accounting principles, or if the accounting policies adopted are not immediately apparent, this will be made clear in our report, if it is not clear in the accounts.
We are required to perform such procedures as are necessary to provide a reasonable basis on which to form an opinion on whether, having regard to, and on the basis of the information in the accounting records, the company is entitled to exemption from audit. We will accept the information contained in those records and will not attempt to verify further, or substantiate, the basis on which entitlement to the exemption is claimed by the trustees/directors.
We are required to carry out procedures as are necessary to provide reasonable assurance on which to express an opinion on whether the accounts are in agreement with the accounting records, and to state whether the accounts have been drawn up in a manner consistent with the specified accounting requirements.
All registered charities, incorporated and unincorporated, are treated in the same way by the HM Revenue & Customs and are subject to corporation tax with the exception of Trust Deed charities which are subject to income tax.
We will prepare, in respect of each accounting period of the charity, a computation for corporation/income* tax and capital gains tax purposes adjusted in accordance with the provisions of the Taxes Acts. We will also prepare the corporation/income* tax return (form CT600 and CT600E / SA900 and SA907*) required by the HM Revenue & Customs. The corporation/income* tax return, together with the supporting corporation/income* tax computations, will be sent to you for approval and signature prior to submission to the Inspector of Taxes.
It should be recognised that in law a taxpayer cannot contract out of his fiscal responsibilities and that computations and return forms are prepared by us as agent for the company. You are legally responsible for making correct returns and for the payment of tax on time. If we ask you for information to complete the tax return and it is not provided within the time-scale requested, so that the preparation and submission of the return are delayed, we accept no responsibility for any penalty or interest that may arise.
We will advise you of the corporation tax payments to which the charity will be liable, together with the due date of payment. You must inform us immediately if the charity pays or receives any interest.
Where necessary we will deal with any queries raised by the Inspector of Taxes and negotiate with the Revenue on any question of taxation interest or penalties which may arise.
To enable us to carry out our work you agree:
You agree that we can approach such third parties as may be appropriate for information that we consider necessary to deal with your affairs and undertake to authorise such third parties to communicate directly with us.
We have agreed to act as your agent and to:
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