Independent Examination

There are statutory thresholds which determine the type of external scrutiny which is needed for a charity’s accounts.

Where a charity’s annual income is over £25,000, the trustees must also arrange for an independent person or accountancy firm holding a practising certificate to carry out either an audit or an independent examination of their charity’s accounts. The purpose of this is to give the charity’s trustees, supporters, beneficiaries and the wider public, some independent assurance that the charity’s money has been properly accounted for and accounting records kept.

Independent examination is a ‘light touch’ scrutiny involving the examiner checking for specific matters only.

The trustees will usually be able to choose an independent examination instead of an audit if your charity’s gross income is:

more than £25,000, but not more than £1 million, provided that
if its gross income is more than £250,000, its gross assets (fixed assets plus current assets) are £3.26 million or less

At Venusia Ltd, we provide an independent examination of the Charity’s accounts. In particular:

We Liaise with the Charity accountant to get the information required for the examination

All the accounts in the balance sheets are reviewed.

The revenue is checked against the relevant grants applications and paperwork

We look at some expenses based on invoices and receipts

The materiality of the transactions are appreciated

The Independent Examination is sanctioned with a report submitted to the Trustees to be included in the Trustees Annual Report