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2021-12-31-accounts

Alison Godfrey Godfrey Wilson Limited Chartered Accountants & Statutory Auditors 5[th] Floor Mariner House 62 Prince Street Bristol, BS1 4QD

27 June 2022

Dear Alison

Letter of Representations on the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2021

This representation letter is provided in connection with your audit of the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2021.

We confirm that the following representations are made on the basis of enquiries of the trustees, management and staff with relevant knowledge and experience (and, where appropriate, of inspection of supporting documentation) sufficient to satisfy ourselves that we can properly make each of the following representations to you:

  1. We have fulfilled our responsibilities as trustees, as set out in the terms of your engagement letter dated 5 November 2019, under the Companies Act 2006 for preparing financial statements, in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

We confirm that in our opinion the financial statements give a true and fair view and in particular that where any additional information must be disclosed in order to give a true and fair view that information has in fact been disclosed. We confirm that the selection and application of the accounting policies used in the preparation of the financial statements are appropriate, and we approve these accounts for the year ended 31 December 2021.

  1. We confirm that all accounting records have been made available to you for the purpose of your audit, in accordance with your terms of engagement, and that all the transactions undertaken by the charity have been properly reflected and recorded in the accounting records. All other records and related information, including minutes of all management, trustees’ and members’ meetings, have been made available to you. We have given you unrestricted access to persons within the charity in order to obtain audit evidence and have provided any additional information that you have requested for the purposes of your audit.

  2. We acknowledge that it is a criminal offence to make a false statement in this regard, and where any director either makes a false statement; is aware that the statement is false; is reckless in preventing this statement; or fails to take reasonable steps to prevent the trustees’ report from being approved, we acknowledge that each director will be guilty of a criminal offence.

  3. We confirm the charity has satisfactory title to all assets and there are no liens or encumbrances on the assets, except for those disclosed in the financial statements.

  4. We confirm that significant assumptions used by us in making accounting estimates, including those measured at fair value, are reasonable. We confirm that we have no plans or intentions that may materially alter the carrying value and where relevant the fair value measurements or classification of assets and liabilities reflected in the financial statements.

  5. We confirm that the charity has no liabilities or contingent liabilities other than those disclosed in the financial statements.

  6. We confirm that all known actual or possible litigation and claims whose effects should be considered when preparing the financial statements have been disclosed to you and accounted for and disclosed in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework.

  7. We confirm that there have been no events since the balance sheet date which require disclosing or which would materially affect the amounts in the financial statements, other than those already disclosed or included in the financial statements.

  8. We confirm that we are aware that a related party of the charity is a person or organisation which either (directly or indirectly) controls, has joint control of, or significantly influences the charity or vice versa and as a result will include: trustees/directors, other key management, close family and other business interests of the previous. We confirm that the related party relationships and transactions set out in appendix 1 are a complete list of such relationships and transactions and that we are not aware of any further related parties or transactions.

  9. We confirm that the charity neither had, at any time during the year, any arrangement, transaction or agreement to provide credit facilities (including advances and credits granted by the charity) for trustees, nor provided guarantees of any kind on behalf of the trustees.

  10. We confirm that the charity has not contracted for any capital expenditure other than as disclosed in the financial statements.

  11. We confirm that the charity has complied with all aspects of contractual agreements that could have a material effect on the financial statements in the event of noncompliance.

  12. We confirm that we are not aware of any possible or actual instance of noncompliance with those laws and regulations which provide a legal framework within which the charity conducts its activities and which are central to the charity’s ability to conduct its activities, except as explained to you and as disclosed in the financial statements.

  13. We acknowledge our responsibility for the design, implementation and maintenance of internal controls to prevent and detect fraud. We confirm that we have disclosed to you the results of our risk assessment of the risk of fraud in the organisation. We have disclosed the following deficiencies in internal control of which we are aware.

  14. We confirm that there have been no actual or suspected instances of fraud involving trustees, management or employees who have a significant role in internal control or that could have a material effect on the financial statements. We also confirm that we are not aware of any allegations of fraud by trustees, former trustees, employees, former employees, regulators or others.

  15. We confirm that, in our opinion, the charity’s financial statements should be prepared on the going concern basis on the grounds that current and future sources of funding or support will be more than adequate for the charity’s needs. In reaching this conclusion, we have taken into account all relevant matters of which we are aware, and have considered a period of at least one year from the date on which the financial statements will be approved.

  16. We confirm that in our opinion the effects of uncorrected misstatements are immaterial, both individually and in aggregate, to the financial statements as a whole. A list of the uncorrected misstatements is set out in the management letter.

  17. We confirm that we are not aware of any matters of material significance that should be reported to regulators. We confirm that all correspondence with the Charity Commission has been made available to you.

  18. We confirm that all grants, donations and other income, including those subject to special terms or conditions or received for restricted purposes, have been notified to you. There have been no breaches of terms or conditions during the period regarding the application of such income.

  19. We acknowledge our legal responsibilities regarding disclosure of information to you as auditors and confirm that: (a) so far as each trustee is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which you as auditors are unaware; and (b) each trustee has taken all the steps they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that you are aware of that information.

  20. We acknowledge that it is a criminal offence to knowingly or recklessly make you as an auditor, a statement (oral or written) that conveys, or purports to convey, information or explanations that you require in your capacity as auditor, or are entitled to require, that is misleading, false or deceptive in a material particular.

Yours sincerely

Frances Fowle - Chair

For and on behalf of the trustees of Association for Art History

Appendix 1: Summary of Related Parties

Connected Organisation Name Nature of Connection
None None None

Company no. 08617307 Charity no. 1154066

Association for Art History Report and Audited Financial Statements 31 December 2021

Association for Art History

Reference and administrative details

Reference and administrative details Reference and administrative details
For theyear ended 31 December 2021
Company number 08617307
Charity number 1154066
Registered office and 70 Cowcross Street
operational address London
EC1M 6EJ
Trustees Trustees, who are also directors under company law, who served during
the year and up to the date of this report were as follows:
Dr J Andrews
E Black
Dr A Bovey
Dr C Campbell
F Fowle
N Fray (resigned 18 March 2022)
K Havelock
J Klein
S Lishman
P Sankoff (appointed 30 June 2021)
N Walton
Dr M White
Chief executive officer Gregory Perry
Bankers CAF Bank
25 Kings Hill Avenue
Kings Hill
West Malling
Kent
CT1 3BZ
Investment managers Cazenove (Schroders)
1 London Wall Place
London
EC2Y 5AU
Solicitors Russell-Cooke Solicitors
Charity and Social Business Test
2 Putney Hill
London
SW15 6AB
Auditors Godfrey Wilson Limited
Chartered accountants and statutory auditors
5th Floor Mariner House
62 Prince Street
Bristol
BS1 4QD

1

Association for Art History

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2021

The trustees who served during the period (as listed on page 1) are pleased to report on the Association for Art History’s (AAH) financial statements and activities for the year ended 31 December 2021.

Reference and administrative information set out on page 1 forms part of this report. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the Memorandum and Articles of Association and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities (effective from January 2019).

Principal activities

The Association for Art History leads the collective effort in the UK to advance the study and practice of art history. Our principal activities are organised around scholarship and research, as embodied in our Journal, Art History, our Annual Conference and other research-led events; teaching and learning, which focuses on introducing and enhancing art history instruction at all education levels; raising the profile of our subject to broader publics principally through our Art History Festival; and advocacy concerning the issues which affect the subject and those engaged with it.

Structure, governance and management

The Association for Art History was founded in 1974 (as the Association of Art Historians) and registered with the Charity Commission in 1981. We are a company, limited by guarantee, registered with Companies House with company number 08617307, and with the Charity Commission with charity number 1154066.

Governance

At the end of 2021, the Association had 12 trustees including a Chair and Honorary Treasurer. Our Articles of Association provide for two standing committees: Finance and Risk Management and Nominations. The former provides financial oversight on the operations of the Association. The committee also holds and reviews the Association’s risk register, closely monitoring its exposure, assessing the appetite for risk and considering actions which ameliorate various risks. The Nominations Committee reviews trustee skill sets, compares them to those needed to realise the Association’s strategic goals and makes recommendations for additions to the board.

Trustee recruitment, induction and training

Current processes of trustee appointments have resulted in a board that has both satisfactorily represented the Association’s constituency and provided useful expertise. One trustee left the board in 2021 and one was added, with a background in the art market, representing one of our professional audiences. All new trustees are provided with a thorough induction.

Management

The Association employed seven staff members who work in various areas including programming, communications, publications and education. The Association’s Chief Executive is responsible for ensuring that resources, governance and management are in place to enable the charity to achieve its objectives. This includes the day-to-day management of the organisation, its volunteers, employed staff and freelance contractors.

The Association benefits from advice and counsel given freely by its trustees, members and a number of other stakeholders. Important aspects of planning and executing events and other activities are carried out by members on a voluntary basis.

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Association for Art History

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2021

Strategy

Our mission is to lead the collective effort in the UK to advance the study and practice of art history; to connect those engaged with art history, aid scholarly research and develop professional practice; and to advocate on behalf of the subject, stressing its importance in a well-rounded education and influencing relevant policy. Our three-year strategy sets out goals, objectives and activities to help us realise our mission. The plan is organised around four main components: contributing to and promoting the subject of art history; increasing the Association’s relevance and service to those engaged with art history; ensuring our continued financial resilience and sustainability; and putting optimal governance and management structures in place to enable us to best achieve our goals. 2021 was the third year of the Association’s three-year strategy (2019-2021).

Achievements and performance

The staff and board monitor activities and objectives against annual goals. Among those are key performance indicators such as uptake and reception of our major initiatives: the annual conference and our scholarly journal, Art History, as well as membership levels and participation in smaller events and programmes. All have remained consistent with projections. Overall financial health and reserves are detailed below, with reserves remaining at comfortable levels vis-à-vis annual turnover.

Advocacy

We have created an agenda for our advocacy efforts which furthers goals in our strategic plan. This includes: issues of diversity and inclusion particularly among students taking art history at university; the casualisation of teaching staff in the higher education sector; sustainable and achievable economic models for Open Access publishing and increasing access to and affordability of image licensing rights for scholarly publications.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We procured the services of an Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) expert to take the staff through training in this area. In addition to training, the identified outputs of our work included: updating our internal policy on equal employment opportunities; making a commitment to EDI principles at the organisation and for our field; and creating an EDI action plan which included objectives for 2021 and others that would be expanded on and incorporated into our following strategy of 2022-2024.

With funds raised from a crowdfunding campaign with our Higher Education Committee, we hired a temporary research assistant (a recent PhD in art history) to gather bibliographic and other references for a resource portal with materials on anti-racist, postcolonial and decolonising art histories, as well as practical guides for catalysing institutional change. The resource portal debuted in April and was featured at a conference session on attracting a diverse undergraduate cohort to our subject. Towards the end of the year, we hired a second research assistant supported by core funding to add references to the portal in the areas of African art and its diasporas and art from other Global South regions.

We created an EDI section on our website which includes our statement, action plan and the resource portal. In this section, we will include annual updates on our progress against our EDI objectives.

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Association for Art History

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2021

Publication

The Association’s flagship publication is Art History, an international, refereed journal that promotes world-class art-historical scholarship from across the globe. It publishes essays and critical reviews that foreground methodological self-reflexivity and highlights specific areas of concern and interest to the field through its special issue programme. It represents the diversity of the discipline at large and welcomes submissions from both established and emerging scholars. Art History stands at the forefront of disciplinary challenges and is a model of excellence for original and innovative research. The journal’s three editors and managing editor are supported by an Editorial Board of academics from around the UK and an International Advisory Board.

In 2021 the journal published one special issue, ‘Reframing British Art: Black Artists and Modernism’, edited by Sonia Boyce (University of the Arts London) and Dorothy Price (Courtauld Institute of Art). This collection of essays looks closely at the multi-faceted genealogies of Black British modernism since the arrival of the ‘Windrush generation’. The remaining four issues of Art History contained a variety of essays and book reviews, twenty four of each, spanning a diversity of topics. In addition, the journal published a virtual issue, ‘Feminist Approaches in Art History: Considering the Periodical Archive’, edited by Victoria Horne (Northumbria University), spanning forty years of the journal’s archive and gathering together a selection of the feminist interventions that have been previously published in Art History.

Events and Initiatives

The Association for Art History delivers an annual programme of events which is designed to engage with the broad range of our audiences. Our events are conceived and organised collaboratively, working closely with partners and volunteers across the education and culture sectors. We presented most of our programmes online in 2021, giving the Association the opportunity to reach broader and more international audiences while reducing our impact on the environment.

For the higher education sector

The 2021 Annual Conference & Bookfair was the Association’s first virtual conference, and the largest in terms of programme and sessions as it combined two conferences into one: the cancelled 2020 conference and the 2021 event. But for a handful of pre-recorded offerings, the 59 multi-paper sessions were presented live and received very positive feedback from delegates. Over 630 delegates attended sessions and we awarded 52 conference bursaries to doctoral and early career delegates; the number was larger than usual as it included bursaries awarded to the 2020 conference. Keynote presentations featured: an in-conversation with BLK Art Group artists Claudette Johnson, Marlene Smith and Keith Piper; Eliza Garrison (Middlebury College, Vermont USA) on ‘Body and Space in the Uta Codex’; David Getsy (School of the Art Institute of Chicago) on ‘How to Teach Manet's Olympia After Transgender Studies’; and Jill Burke (Edinburgh University) on 'Experiments in Renaissance Art History at the End of the World'.

Our Art History Careers Days are aimed at undergraduate and masters students who would like to learn more about career opportunities in the arts, culture or heritage sectors. The event in 2021 took place over two days and featured 14 speakers from diverse backgrounds who spoke about working in business, charities, academia, and museums & galleries. Two keynotes were recorded and were made available on our website. We had very positive audience feedback on the content and diversity of speakers in post-event surveys; 360 attended the event.

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Association for Art History

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2021

Our Professional Development Days offer professional advice, insights and career development opportunities for those at a doctoral, post-doctoral and early career stage. We presented this event online over two days. The event featured 18 speakers who offered advice and insights on a number of areas for people engaged in art history including: teaching, publishing, fellowships and funding, podcasts, social media campaigns, museum work post-pandemic, precarity and mental health and wellbeing. 127 attended the event over two days.

The Association’s Summer Symposium is a two-day annual conference that highlights current doctoral and early career research from around the world. The 2021 event ‘Global Britain: Decolonising Art’s Histories’, featured ten research papers from within and outside the UK and included a keynote address by artist susan pui san lok (UAL Decolonising Arts Institute). The event received support from the Paul Mellon Centre and attracted 90 participants.

New Voices is our annual one-day conference for new postgraduate research about art, art history and visual culture. In 2021 this event was organised in partnership with the Henry Moore Institute and was offered as part of its Art & Poetry Festival. The two-day online event focussed on the themes of sculpture and literature and attracted an audience of 140.

These four preceding events were organised by the Association’s Doctoral and Early Career Research committee. We are very grateful for the members’ important contribution to our programme for students in Higher Education (HE) and those at early stages of their careers.

For those in pre-university education

With teachers and students at pre-university levels we continued to make efforts to introduce and increase the presence of our subject in the curricula. At the A level, the online course we created with Art History in Schools at the National Extension College has proved to be popular and has helped to address the geographical imbalance of the availability of the classroom-based course, with all but a few of the 100 schools offering it being located in the south. The online course has enabled students from around the UK to take the A level who otherwise may not have had the opportunity to do so. So far, over 100 students have enrolled in the course, compared to some 500 who sat for the most recent exam via in-school programmes.

Our annual Ways of Seeing event for A level teachers and students comprised a blended programme, drawing on the successes of last year’s fully digital offer. The event took place online over several weeknights and on Saturday, 20 November at the National Gallery for an in-person event framed around the A-level theme of Identities in Art and Architecture. The digital events included a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) session and presentations on Rubens and on Women, Energy and Domestic Architecture which together attracted 135 attendees. In total over 300 took part in the event.

We presented a new event in 2021 based on our book for A level students, Thinking About Art . We used the theme of identities, featured in the A level of that year, to create teaching resources and collaborated with the Arts Council Collection which was celebrating its 75[th] Anniversary year. We used works in that collection to highlight the theme and to include in the resources, making good use of a rich image resource as well as the profile and reach of the Collection.

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Association for Art History

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2021

In 2021, the fourth installment of our successful teacher residential with Leeds University was offered. That programme, comprising a free, three-day training course in the summer, helps art and design teachers at the secondary school level to incorporate art history into the curriculum. Participating teachers are mostly from state schools and represent a wide geographic distribution from around the UK. Those who have taken part in the programme since its inception in 2017 will have reached approximately 75,000 students by the end of the 2021-22 academic year.

At the primary school level, we entered into our second year of offering CPD sessions in art history which was well received with attendance by 100 teachers, each reaching approximately 30 students. These will continue to be a regular offering.

For professionals

In addition to serving those in the HE sector and in pre-university education, the Association for Art History also works to advance the professional practice of art history. To further this work, the Association began a curatorial initiative and established a Curatorial Committee, the objectives of which are to support curatorial practice in museums, galleries and related fields and practitioners involved in the study, interpretation and presentation of artworks. We do this by promoting and advocating for the value of curatorial work; addressing topics of current interest and relevance to curators and providing opportunities for collaboration, professional development and the sharing of expertise.

In 2021 the Association presented two events for curators. “Curating Fast and Slow: Changing Times, Changing Tempos?” was co-organised by committee members Richard Parry, Director Glasgow International (now Creative Director, St. James Piccadilly), and Jenny Powell, Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Royal Academy. Speakers included curator and educator Megan Arney Johnston; James Lingwood, Co-Director of Art Angel; Britta Peters, art critic and curator; and curator and writer Fatoş Üstek. 141 attended the event.

The second event: “Curating Art or Curating Artists: The Thorny Question of an Artist’s Biography” was co-organised by committee members Priysh Mistry, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Projects at the National Gallery and Eleanor Nairne, Curator at the Barbican, and featured art historians, Aya Soika ( Bard College Berlin) and Bernhard Fulda ( Cambridge), Turner Prize winning artist Oscar Murillo and Louisa Buck, writer for the Art Newspaper. 107 attended this online event.

Related to the curatorial initiative was a forum that the Association organised in collaboration with the Colnaghi Foundation to consider the possible waning interest in and awareness of pre-20[th] century art and art history from among museum visitors and students. The meeting comprised 25 gallery directors, directors of collections/research, curators, academics and art history students from around the UK. Topics discussed included modes of interpretation and the use of digital to engage audiences; the treatment of historical art in the context of decolonising art history and contemporary questions of identity; and how to interest students entering university in pre-20[th] century art.

For the public

We work to raise the profile of our subject among the public and encourage those who have an interest in art and visual culture to explore those subjects further through art history.

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Association for Art History

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2021

Our Annual Public Lecture (APL) in 2021 took the form of a panel discussion. The event, entitled Women Collectors and Collecting Today, was planned as a follow on from the 2020 APL which featured the achievements of several women collectors, curators and exhibition organisers in nineteenth-century Europe. With the 2021 event, we took the subject into the 21[st] century and had a broader look at collecting art from several continents—specifically in the areas of British Modern and Contemporary Art, African American Art, Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art and contemporary African Art. The panel was chaired by Deborah Smith, Director of the Arts Council Collection UK and included panellists Schwanda Rountree, a collector based in Washington, D.C.; Manjari Sihare Sutin, Vice President, Specialist and Head of Sale in the Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art department at Sotheby’s New York; and Rakeb Sile, Co-Founder of Addis Fine Art, London and Addis Ababa. The programme, delivered online, drew 119 attendees.

We had an excellent response to our inaugural Art History Festival, designed for the general public and delivered digitally over four weeknights and in person on a Friday evening and a Saturday at the National Gallery in September. The event highlighted the broad field of art history including architecture, design, film, photography and fashion from a number of historical periods and areas of the world. For the event, the Association brought together 20 national institutions in the visual arts such as: the British Museum, V & A Museum, Royal Academy of Arts, the National Trust, National Museums Northern Ireland, the Courtauld and National Galleries of Scotland. Individual speakers, 24 in total, included among others: cultural historian Janina Ramirez; artists Jade Monserrat, Mahtab Hussain and Joy Gregory; museum director and writer Charles Saumarez Smith; curator Christine Checinska; gallerist Philip Mould and former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. These speakers were often in conversation with art historians to help bring out the relevance of our subject to their work. 3,700 took part over the Festival representing our target audience, as most did not work in an art-related field and were not previously aware of the Association.

Grants, Honours and Awards

The Association continued to offer small grants to help advance scholarly research, develop professional practice and support teaching and learning at the pre-university level. In the year, we awarded 49 grants under £1,000 to researchers, curators and educators for a variety of projects which benefited scholarly discourse in our field, the public understanding of art and art history and art history instruction.

To further support and facilitate research and networking opportunities, particularly for doctoral and early career researchers, the Association offers bursaries to our Annual Conference. We awarded 52 conference bursaries to the event in 2021; the number was larger than usual as it included bursaries awarded to the 2020 conference.

We also recognise the work of young and aspiring scholars through our dissertation prizes awarded each year to undergraduates and post-graduates in our field. These awards are organised and conferred by members of the Association’s Doctoral and Early Research Committee. The award for the undergraduate prize went to Molly Lewis at the University of Manchester for her essay Sinful, Sexual, Sacred: Locating a Thirteenth Century Visuality through the Selective Erasures in Rylands MS French 5. The postgraduate prize was conferred on Lucy Gray at the University of Birmingham for her essay: Disrupting the Capitalist/Communist Dichotomy: The Influence of Soviet Museology at The Museum of Modern Art.

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Association for Art History

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2021

The Association acknowledges and celebrates the work of more senior scholars in our field through our Art History Fellows programme. The honour, in its second year in 2021, recognises contributions to our field from scholars, curators, artists or any others whose work has made a notable difference to the subject. Fellowships were conferred upon educator Caroline Osbourne, and scholars Kobena Mercer and Marcia Poynton.

In 2021, our first Art History Residency took place. The award, offered with the support of the Ampersand Foundation, comprises a four-month residency for a mid-career art historian to work in a house in the Derbyshire countryside with a stipend. James Hellings, Lecturer, University of Reading, whose research is on the 20[th] century German philosopher Theodor Adorno, conducted his residency from October 2021 to January 2022. This award continues and has been conferred on a scholar who will take up the second year of the residency in 2022.

Public benefit

In planning our activities, trustees and staff have kept in mind the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. The Association’s membership is open to all, as are all our activities such as the Annual Conference, workshops, seminars, public programmes and continuing professional development. We believe that art history gives us an insight into humanity and that through the Association’s advancing its study and practice, the public benefits from a deeper understanding of our lives and the lives of others.

Plans for the future

In our new strategy for 2022-2024, the organisation will continue to further the study and practice of art history through a focus on its important stakeholder communities as outlined in this report. We will do so with reaffirmed commitments to EDI and to environmental and organisational sustainability. EDI concerns and objectives will run through all of our work including in our programme, at our organisation and with those in our communities. We have also taken into account the impact of our activities on the environment and how a focus on digital working and event delivery can serve not only to reduce consumption of natural resources but also to help us reach national and international audiences at less expense to the Association and to the programme participants. With the challenges posed by the onset of Open Access publishing, we will continue to develop additional income streams to offset a reduction in publishing revenues.

Efforts to expand our service to the subject and its communities will include a focus on increasing the diversity in our boards, committees and stakeholder groups as well as for those who engage with the Association by, for instance, submitting articles to our journal. We want to increase the number of scholars engaged with the journal as authors and advisory board members from historically marginalised constituencies and geographies who have not been well represented previously. We will expand our work with professionals in our field with the further development of our curatorial initiative through curatorial prizes, mentoring and a series of events. We will develop a similar initiative for those studying our subject who may be interested in entering the art market (commercial galleries and auction houses), providing education and resources on career possibilities as well as a possible mentoring scheme.

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Association for Art History

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2021

Reaching students at the pre-university level will continue to be an area of importance for the Association. We will work to provide CPD to teachers at the secondary school level in related subjects such as History and English and we will work towards the publication (in 2023) of a second edition of our book, Thinking About Art , the standard text used in the A level in the UK. The book has proved popular beyond its initial intended audience and has been taken up by schools and universities in the US and other countries around the world. The edition will include important new content additions to ensure continued relevance to diverse audiences such as a ‘Voices’ strand within the book, effectively giving space to more female, black and ethnic minority, LGBTQ+, and disabled cultural commentators to be represented.

We will reach increased public audiences and raise the profile of our subject through a greatly expanded Art History Festival. With Covid restrictions lifted as compared to last year, events will take place at venues across the UK. We expect that approximately 50 organisations will be included as well as a number of individuals who will take part in in-person and digital programmes. We will work to understand our audiences better by conducting new research around membership and other aspects of our offer such as our Annual Conference and our events programme. With this information and a better understanding of the member journey, we will conduct campaigns to increase engagement with the Association through our membership programme and increase revenue from this income stream.

Diversifying our sources of income will be a key focus for the Association. We will continue to increase fundraising efforts to support our conference bursaries and grants programmes as well as for the initiatives described herein. As noted, our recent investment has added a small amount of income and we will continue to explore maximising the earning potential of our large-scale events: the Annual Conference and the Art History Festival.

The Impact of Covid-19 and the War in Ukraine on Future Plans

The contraction in the global economy due to the pandemic and the war will affect the income of the Association as will, more pointedly, the move to Open Access publishing. However, the transition to digital events—which we will continue to produce after event venues start to re-open—will mean that we are still able to engage audiences while saving on travel and venue costs. We will also have digital back-up plans for any events that we tentatively plan to be held in-person. This was the case with the 2022 Annual Conference with which we had a smooth transition from a planned in-person event to a digital one.

Financial review

The financial statements show a net surplus for the financial year of £62,764 against a budgeted deficit of £88,675 (2020 had a deficit of £2,494 against a budgeted deficit of £55,592). This large variance was due to revenue goals for publishing exceeding budget (which included a contingency to protect against downward variances) and unbudgeted investment income being realised during the year. On the expense side, we achieved savings in a number of areas, including in our programme, marketing, salaries and from the lack of budgeted non-recoverable VAT. The Association’s financial strategy is to pursue a controlled drawdown of reserves to further our mission and to contribute to our long-term sustainability.

General reserves carried forward at 31 December 2021 totalled £809,573. This amount covers running costs of more than a year-and-three-quarters at current rates of expenditure. The trustees have seen fit to maintain a relatively cautious level of reserves. This strategy has put the Association in a good position to weather downward fluctuation in publishing revenues and support the planned drawdown of reserves in 2022.

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Association for Art History

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2021

Risk management

The charity’s Finance and Risk Management Committee, chaired by the Honorary Treasurer, actively manages a risk register and regularly reports back to the main trustee board. This subcommittee also provides for added scrutiny of management accounts and continuously reviews financial procedures.

The greatest risk to the financial resiliency of the Association is our reliance on revenue from sales of our journal as our main source of income. We have sought to ameliorate this risk by creating and implementing a fundraising strategy, increasing membership based on new audience research and raising earned income through a number of structural and programmatic changes to our Annual Conference. In addition, we invested funds from our reserves to raise the income stream from our investments which were held in mostly cash instruments. In 2021 we received investment income and gains which directly benefitted our bottom line.

Changes to UK academic publishing will negatively impact the charity’s main source of income, but to date it seems any negative impact will remain manageable in the medium term. However, trustees are aware that the government’s move to Open Access publishing and the contraction of the global economy due to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine will affect the Association’s income in the future, and we are actively engaged in meeting that challenge by assessing the viability of additional sources of income and carefully managing our reserves.

Statement of responsibilities of the trustees

The trustees (who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the trustees' report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the income and expenditure of the charity for that period. In preparing those financial statements the trustees are required to:

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and which enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. The trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

10

Association for Art History

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 31 December 2021

In so far as the trustees are aware:

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Members of the charity guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The trustees are members of the charity but this entitles them only to voting rights. The trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity.

Auditors

Godfrey Wilson Limited were re-appointed as auditors to the charitable company during the year and have expressed their willingness to continue in that capacity.

Approved by the trustees on 27 June 2022 and signed on their behalf by

Frances Fowle - Chair

11

Independent auditors' report

To the members of

Association for Art History

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Association for Art History (the 'charity') for the year ended 31 December 2021 which comprise the statement of financial activities, balance sheet, statement of cash flows and the related notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

12

Independent auditors' report

To the members of

Association for Art History

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinion on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of the trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out in the trustees’ report, the trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as they determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

13

Independent auditors' report

To the members of

Association for Art History

Our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The procedures we carried out and the extent to which they are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, are detailed below:

(1) We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that the charity operates in, and assessed the risk of non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Throughout the audit, we remained alert to possible indications of non-compliance.

(2) We reviewed the charity’s policies and procedures in relation to:

(3) We inspected the minutes of trustee meetings.

(4) We enquired about any non-routine communication with regulators and reviewed any reports made to them.

(5) We reviewed the financial statement disclosures and assessed their compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

(6) We performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected transactions or balances that may indicate a risk of material fraud or error.

(7) We assessed the risk of fraud through management override of controls and carried out procedures to address this risk. Our procedures included:

▪Testing the appropriateness of journal entries;

▪Assessing judgements and accounting estimates for potential bias;

▪Reviewing related party transactions; and

▪Testing transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business.

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. Irregularities that arise due to fraud can be even harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.

14

Independent auditors' report

To the members of

Association for Art History

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charityʼs members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charityʼs members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditorʼs report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charityʼs members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Alison Godfrey

Date: 29 June 2022

Alison Godfrey FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor)

For and on behalf of:

GODFREY WILSON LIMITED

Chartered accountants and statutory auditors 5th Floor Mariner House 62 Prince Street Bristol BS1 4QD

15

Association for Art History

Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account)

For the year ended 31 December 2021

Note
Income from:
Donations
Charitable activities
3
Investments
Total income
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
Charitable activities
Total expenditure
4
Net gains / (losses) on investments
10
Net income / (expenditure)
Transfers between funds
Net movement in funds
5
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward		 Restricted Unrestricted
£
£
-
2,017
2,000
488,515
-
6,725
2,000
497,257
-
21,252
3,991
429,449
3,991
450,701
-
18,199
(1,991)
64,755
-
-
(1,991)
64,755
4,041
744,768
2,050
809,523		 2021
Total
£
2,017
490,515
6,725
499,257
21,252
433,440
454,692
18,199
62,764
-
62,764
748,809
811,573		 2020
Total
£
1,650
484,136
1,409
487,195
17,671
472,018
489,689
-
(2,494)
-
(2,494)
751,303
748,809

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in note 16 to the accounts.

16

Association for Art History

Balance sheet

As at 31 December 2021

Note
Fixed assets
Tangible assets
9
Investments
10
Current assets
Debtors
11
Current asset investments
Cash at bank and in hand
Liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within 1 year
12
Net current assets
Total assets less current liabilities
13
Net assets
15
Funds
16
Restricted funds
Unrestricted funds
General funds
Total charity funds
Creditors: amounts falling due after more
than 1 year		 £
146,879
116,590
353,384
616,853
(73,048)		 2021
£
1,425
268,199
269,624
543,805
813,429
(1,856)
811,573
2,050
809,523
811,573		 2020
£
1,619
-
1,619
206,510
116,474
489,187
812,171
(64,981)
747,190
748,809
-
748,809
4,041
744,768
748,809

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies' regime.

Approved by the trustees on 27 June 2022 and signed on their behalf by

Frances Fowle - Chair

17

Association for Art History

Statement of cash flows

For the year ended 31 December 2021

Cash used in operating activities:
Net movement in funds
Adjustments for:
Depreciation
Gains on investments
Dividends and interest from investments
Decrease / (increase) in debtors
Increase / (decrease) in creditors
Net cash provided by / (used in) operating activities
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchase of tangible fixed assets
Dividends and interest from investments
Purchase of investments
Net cash provided by / (used in) investing activities
Increase / (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents in the year
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year
Cash and cash equivalents are represented as:
Current asset investments
Cash at bank and in hand		 2021
£
62,764
1,220
(18,199)
(6,725)
59,631
9,923
108,614
(1,026)
6,725
(250,000)
(244,301)
(135,687)
605,661
469,974
116,590
353,384
469,974		 2020
£
(2,494)
1,205
-
(1,409)
29,535
(22,822)
4,015
(370)
1,409
-
1,039
5,054
600,607
605,661
116,474
489,187
605,661

The charity has not provided an analysis of changes in net debt as it does not have any long term financing arrangements.

18

Association for Art History

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

1. Accounting policies

a) Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities in preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

Association for Art History meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note.

b) Going concern basis of accounting

The accounts have been prepared on the assumption that the charity is able to continue as a going concern, which the trustees consider appropriate having regard to the current level of unrestricted reserves. There are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern.

c) Income

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the item of income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Income from the government and other grants, whether 'capital' grants or 'revenue' grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.

Membership subscription income received from new members is spread over the period of the membership following receipt. Income received in advance of an event or conference is deferred until criteria for income recognition are met.

d) Interest receivable

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity: this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.

e) Funds accounting

Unrestricted funds are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of the charity. Designated funds are unrestricted funds of the charity which the trustees have decided at their discretion to set aside to use for a specific purpose. Restricted funds are donations which the donor has specified are to be solely used for particular areas of the charity's work or for specific projects being undertaken by the charity.

19

Association for Art History

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

1. Accounting policies (continued)

f) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

g) Allocation of support and governance costs

Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the charity, including the costs of complying with constitutional and statutory requirements and any costs associated with the strategic management of the charity’s activities. These costs have been 100% allocated to charitable activities as there are very few fundraising activities currently.

h) Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rates in use are as follows:

Office equipment and software

4 years straight line basis

Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £250.

i) Investments

Investments held at the year end are valued at the current market value at that date. Investment income from dividends is included in income while realised and unrealised losses and gains on investments are shown separately on the statement of financial activities (SOFA). Realised gains and losses are calculated on investment disposals during the year as the difference between the opening market value and the proceeds received on sale. Unrealised gains and losses are calculated on investment holdings at the year end as the difference between the closing market value and the opening market value or purchase value during the year.

j) Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

k) Current asset investments

Current asset investments consist of cash held on short term deposit.

l) Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

20

Association for Art History

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

1. Accounting policies (continued)

m) Creditors

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

n) Financial instruments

The charitable company only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently recognised at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

o) Pension costs

The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension scheme for its employees. There are no further liabilities other than that already recognised in the SOFA.

p) Foreign currency transactions

Transactions in foreign currencies are translated at rates prevailing at the date of the transaction. Balances denominated in foreign currencies are translated at the rate of exchange prevailing at the year end.

q) Accounting estimates and key judgements

In the application of the charity's accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and underlying assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affects both current and future periods.

The key sources of estimation uncertainty that have a significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements are depreciation as described in note 1 (h).

21

Association for Art History

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

2. Prior period comparatives: statement of financial activities

Income from:
Donations
Charitable activities
Investments
Total income
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
Charitable activities
Total expenditure
Net expenditure
Transfer between funds
Net movement in funds
3.
Income from charitable activities
Publication income
Programmes
Annual conference income:
Delegates income
Book fair
Membership subscriptions
Total charitable activities
Prior period comparative
Publication income
Programmes
Membership subscriptions
Total charitable activities		 Restricted
£
-
15,000
-
15,000
-
15,018
15,018
(18)
-
(18)
Restricted
£
-
2,000
-
-
-
2,000
Restricted
£
-
15,000
-
15,000		 £
1,650
469,136
1,409
472,195
17,671
457,000
474,671
(2,476)
-
(2,476)
£
397,697
12,291
46,558
1,950
30,019
488,515
£
441,494
4,636
23,006
469,136
Unrestricted
Unrestricted
Unrestricted		 2020
Total
£
1,650
484,136
1,409
487,195
17,671
472,018
489,689
(2,494)
-
(2,494)
2021
Total
£
397,697
14,291
-
46,558
1,950
30,019
490,515
2020
Total
£
441,494
19,636
23,006
484,136

22

Association for Art History

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

4. Total expenditure

Total expenditure
Staff costs (note 6)
Artists' Papers Register
Conference costs
Education costs
Grant making (note 7)
Other event costs
Publications
Publicity and marketing
Travelling costs
Accountancy and bookkeeping
Bank charges
Consultancy
CRM costs
Depreciation
Insurance
Legal and professional fees
Office costs
Rent
Staff training
Sub-total
Total expenditure
IT support and development
costs
Allocation of support and
governance costs		 £
18,881
-
-
-
-
-
-
2,371
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
21,252
-
21,252
Raising
funds		 £
176,168
-
44,206
2,530
24,995
21,147
22,462
-
148
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
291,656
141,784
433,440
Charitable
activities		 £
71,716
1,092
-
-
-
-
-
-
37
5,793
3,652
6,069
6,493
1,220
1,018
16,134
6,558
5,161
15,900
941
141,784
(141,784)
-
Support and
governance
costs		 2021 Total
£
266,765
1,092
44,206
2,530
24,995
21,147
22,462
2,371
185
5,793
3,652
6,069
6,493
1,220
1,018
16,134
6,558
5,161
15,900
941
454,692
-
454,692

Total governance costs were £29,898 (2020: £18,776)

23

Association for Art History

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

4. Total expenditure (continued) Prior period comparative

Staff costs (note 6)
Advocacy
Artists' Papers Register
Conference costs
Education costs
Grant making (note 7)
Other event costs
Publications
Publicity and marketing
Travelling costs
Accountancy and bookkeeping
Bank charges
Consultancy
CRM costs
Depreciation
Insurance
Legal and professional fees
Office costs
Rent
Staff training
Subscriptions
Sub-total
Total expenditure
IT support and development
costs
Allocation of support and
governance costs		 £
14,566
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
3,105
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
17,671
-
17,671
Raising
funds		 £
183,726
14
-
32,941
21,400
24,458
1,152
26,797
-
2,237
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
292,725
179,293
472,018
Charitable
activities		 £
67,871
-
3,038
-
-
-
-
-
-
559
5,535
1,996
17,256
9,323
1,205
1,108
25,937
7,952
3,637
29,446
2,902
1,528
179,293
(179,293)
-
Support and
governance
costs		 2020 Total
£
266,163
14
3,038
32,941
21,400
24,458
1,152
26,797
3,105
2,796
5,535
1,996
17,256
9,323
1,205
1,108
25,937
7,952
3,637
29,446
2,902
1,528
489,689
-
489,689

24

Association for Art History

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

5. Net movement in funds

This is stated after charging:

Depreciation
Operating lease payments
Trustees' remuneration
Trustees' reimbursed expenses
Auditors' remuneration:
Statutory audit (including VAT)
Other services		 2021
£
1,220
Nil
Nil
Nil
6,480
-		 2020
£
1,205
Nil
Nil
247
6,120
3,570

In 2020, 2 trustees were reimbursed £247 for meetings and travel expenses in relation to their duties as trustees.

6. Staff costs and numbers

Staff costs were as follows:

Salaries and wages
Social security costs
Pension costs		 2021
£
230,665
24,008
12,092
266,765		 2020
£
229,499
24,211
12,453
266,163

One employee received total employee benefits, including employer's national insurance contributions, between £70,000 and £80,000 (2020: one employee received between £60,000 and £70,000).

The key management personnel of the charitable company comprise the Trustees and Chief Executive Officer. The total employee benefits of the key management personnel were £81,827 (2020: £80,127).

Average head count
7.
Grant making
Grants paid to individuals
Independent grants		 2021
No.
6
2021
£
24,995		 2020
No.
6
2020
£
24,458

25

Association for Art History

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

8. Taxation The charity is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.

9. Tangible fixed assets

Cost
At 1 January 2021
Additions in year
At 31 December 2021
Depreciation
At 1 January 2021
Charge for the year
At 31 December 2021
Net book value
At 31 December 2021
At 31 December 2020
10. Investments
Market value at 1 January 2021
Additions
Disposals proceeds
Realised gains / (losses)
Unrealised gains / (losses)
Market value at 31 December 2021
Historical cost:
At 31 March 2021		 £
4,539
1,026
5,565
2,920
1,220
4,140
1,425
1,619
2021
2020
£
£
-
-
250,000
-
-
-
-
-
18,199
-
268,199
-
250,000
-
Office
equipment
and software		 £
4,539
1,026
5,565
2,920
1,220
4,140
1,425
1,619
2021
2020
£
£
-
-
250,000
-
-
-
-
-
18,199
-
268,199
-
250,000
-
Office
equipment
and software
5,565
2,920
1,220
4,140
1,425
1,619
2020
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

26

Association for Art History

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

11. Debtors
Prepayments
Accrued income
VAT refund
12. Creditors : amounts due within 1 year
Trade creditors
Accruals
Other taxation and social security
Deferred income (see note 14)
Other creditors
13. Creditors : amounts due in more than 1 year
Deferred income (see note 14)
14. Deferred income: amounts due within 1 year
At 1 January 2021
Deferred during the year
Released during the year
At 31 December 2021		 2021
£
16,985
125,745
4,149
146,879
2021
£
16,778
32,684
5,348
16,250
1,988
73,048
2021
£
1,856
2021
£
23,891
267,821
(273,606)
18,106		 2020
£
32,083
168,185
6,242
206,510
2020
£
12,659
19,118
7,709
23,891
1,604
64,981
2020
£
-
2020
£
33,929
320,413
(330,451)
23,891

Deferred income relates to membership subscription income and 2022 conference income.

27

Association for Art History

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

15. Analysis of net assets between funds

Analysis of net assets between funds
Tangible fixed assets
Investments
Current assets
Current liabilities
Long term liabilities
Net assets at 31 December 2021
Prior period comparative
Tangible fixed assets
Current assets
Current liabilities
Net assets at 31 December 2020		 £
-
-
2,050
-
-
2,050
£
-
4,041
-
4,041
Restricted
funds
Restricted
funds		 £
1,425
268,199
614,803
(73,048)
(1,856)
809,523
£
1,619
808,130
(64,981)
744,768
Unrestricted
funds
Unrestricted
funds		 Total
funds
£
1,425
268,199
616,853
(73,048)
(1,856)
811,573
Total
funds
£
1,619
812,171
(64,981)
748,809

28

Association for Art History

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

16. Movements in funds

Movements in funds
Restricted funds
Student support fund
Total restricted funds
General funds
Total funds
Ways of Seeing
Programme
Unrestricted funds
Total unrestricted
funds		 At 1
January
2021
£
3,102
939
4,041
744,768
744,768
748,809		 Income
£
£
-
(3,102)
2,000
(889)
2,000
(3,991)
497,257
(450,701)
497,257
(450,701)
499,257
(454,692)
Expenditure		 Gains/
(losses)
£
-
-
18,199
18,199
18,199		 £
-
-
-
-
-
-
Transfers
between
funds		 £
-
2,050
At 31
December
2021
2,050
809,523
809,523
811,573

Purposes of restricted funds

Student support fund This fund comprises donations made to enable the Association to offer bursaries to its Annual Conference.

Ways of Seeing A grant was provided to the Association by the Worshipful Company of Arts Programme Scholars for the purpose of providing free tickets to this event to students from state sector maintained schools.

29

Association for Art History

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

16. Movements in funds (continued) Prior period comparative

Restricted funds
Student support fund
Plan, Prepare, Provide
Total restricted funds
General funds
Total funds
Total unrestricted
funds
Ways of Seeing
Programme
Unrestricted funds		 At 1
January
2020
£
3,102
957
-
4,059
747,244
747,244
751,303		 Income
£
£
-
-
-
(18)
15,000
(15,000)
15,000
(15,018)
472,195
(474,671)
472,195
(474,671)
487,195
(489,689)
Expenditure		 Gains/
(losses)
£
-
-
-
-
-
-		 £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Transfers
between
funds		 £
3,102
939
-
At 31
December
2020
4,041
744,768
744,768
748,809

17. Financial instruments at fair value

Financial assets measured at fair value 2021
£
268,199		 2020
£
-

Financial assets measured at fair value comprise listed investments.

18. Operating lease commitments

The charity had operating leases at the year end with total future minimum lease payments as follows:

Amount falling due:
Within 1 year
Within 1 - 5 years		 2021
£
268
156
424		 2020
£
146
-
146

19. Related party transactions

There are no related party transactions to disclose in the current or previous reporting period.

30

consultants | chartered accountants | statutory auditors

Association for Art History Year Ended 31 December 2021

Management Letter

Contents

1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 1
2 Scope of the Audit................................................................................................................................... 1
3 Audit Method & Materiality ................................................................................................................... 2
4 Independence & Objectivity .................................................................................................................. 2
5 Audit Opinion ........................................................................................................................................... 3
6 Significant Aspects of the Entity’s Accounting Practices ................................................................. 3
7 Significant Matters Discussed and Significant Difficulties Encountered During the Audit....... 4
8 Recommendations for Improvements ................................................................................................ 5
9 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 5
10 Contact Us ................................................................................................................................................ 6
11 Appendix 1: Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 7
12 Appendix 2: Audit Adjustments & Unadjusted Errors .................................................................... 9

1 Introduction

This is our management letter to you following the audit of the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2021. The management letter is designed to communicate to the trustees the audit approach, the key audit risks, any significant audit issues, the audit adjustments and unadjusted errors (if any), and our recommendations for improvements to systems, controls, and governance processes. We would appreciate it if this report is circulated to the trustees and discussed at a trustees’ meeting.

The contents of this report and appendices are for the attention and information of the trustees only. You may only disclose the contents of this letter and appendices to third parties (such as funders) with our permission and we cannot be held liable for any reliance placed on the contents by third parties.

2 Scope of the Audit

The scope of the audit and our responsibilities are set out in our engagement letter dated 5 November 2019.

The objective of the audit work is to enable us to give an opinion as to whether the financial statements show a true and fair view of the results for the year and the state of affairs at the year end. As part of our work we also review whether the financial statements comply with relevant accounting standards. We design audit tests to provide assurance that the charity’s financial statements are free from material error and so that we have a reasonable expectation of detecting material misstatement in the financial statements or accounting records resulting from irregularities and fraud.

Although it is not explicitly stated, an unqualified audit report means that we did gather adequate audit evidence to support the assertions in the financial statements, that we are satisfied that the books and records are in agreement with the financial statements and that

we received all the information and explanations we considered necessary for the audit. We are also satisfied with the disclosures in the notes to the financial statements. We do not audit the trustees’ annual report, but we do check that this is consistent with the financial statements.

The audit procedures are designed to give us reasonable assurance that the financial statements, taken as a whole, are free of material misstatement. However, it is the responsibility of the trustees to ensure, as far as possible, that accurate and reliable accounting records are maintained and to operate appropriate controls.

3 Audit Method & Materiality

We used “substantive testing” – meaning that we verified particular transactions or balances by looking at a sample of invoices and receipts or by tracing from source documents to the final financial statements.

The audit work seeks evidence that the financial statements are materially correct. Small amounts do not affect a reader’s understanding of the financial position. For this audit, the level of materiality we used was £22,000 for the balance sheet and £7,000 for the SoFA. These figures were used only as a guide and were subject to judgemental change depending on the findings during the audit. Materiality is not applied to certain transactions which are always material even when the amount involved is small, such as transactions with trustees.

4 Independence & Objectivity

We operate checks to ensure that we continue to act independently. We have enquired whether our staff have a connection to the charity, its staff, or trustees. We are not aware of any connections which would impact on our independence and objectivity as auditors.

We also provide non-audit services to you in the form of accounts preparation. We are therefore required to put safeguards in place to ensure we remain objective and independent as auditors. Under the Ethical Standards: Provisions Available to Smaller Entities (“ES PASE”) we are required to identify persons deemed to be “informed management” within your organisation. Any judgements or decisions we make in the course of our work must be clearly explained to those persons. We have identified Joanna Mackeson as informed management and have already discussed all adjustments and matters of judgement with them.

5 Audit Opinion

The audit proceeded as planned and according to the agreed timetable. We can confirm that the audit opinion will be unqualified.

Our audit adjustments and unadjusted errors are shown in appendix 2. Trustees should ensure they are satisfied with these.

6 Significant Aspects of the Entity’s Accounting Practices

Association for Art History complies with all the accounting policies listed in the notes to their financial statements, the Companies Act 2006, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland FRS 102 and the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019). All accounting estimates made by the charity are reasonable. The financial statements contain all the disclosures expected.

7 Significant Matters Discussed

Oversight provided by the finance function

We found there is a lack of capacity in the finance function which increases the risk that certain tasks, such as reporting and carrying out quarterly/annual reconciliations to 3rd party income statements, are not carried out regularly. Such tasks create a stronger control environment and reduce the risk of missing key items of income due to fraud or error.

This appears to be caused by the Finance Manager’s time being taken up with carrying out manual tasks such as weekly three way reconciliations between Sage, bank statements and the CRM database or ticketing platform statement.

Despite the underlying records now being of better quality we would still recommend that the charity considers transitioning from Sage desktop to a newer, cloud-based, accounting system. These systems can improve efficiency (e.g. live bank feeds, staff expenses apps), freeing up the Finance Manager’s time in the long term. They can also provide far better reporting functionality and would provide instant, remote access to financial information for other key charity staff and trustees. We would be happy to provide some advice on how to structure the new system if the charity did want to pursue this.

We would also recommend considering if there is scope in the budget to resource more staff time to the finance function, whether in the form of a small extension of the Finance Manager’s time or allocating part of an existing role to support the more administrative tasks.

From discussion with management and trustees we understand that the potential risk of time constraints on the Finance Manager is acknowledged but that there are improvements already planned to move to more automated systems next year. We would also like to reassure trustees that we did not find any control deficiencies in the course of our work.

8 Significant Difficulties Encountered During the Audit

We are pleased to report there were no significant difficulties encountered during the audit.

9 Recommendations for Improvements

As part of our audit work we review the internal systems and controls and the governance processes in operation. In this letter, we report any weaknesses that we identified during the course of our work, and suggest recommendations. Please note this does not constitute a comprehensive review of your systems, it is simply a summary of our observations. Our observations, in addition to those set out in section 7, are included in appendix 1. We hope you find the feedback useful and the recommendations practical.

10 Acknowledgements

We would like to express our thanks to Jo Mackeson, Gregory Perry, Manohari Saravanamuttu and all the other staff for all their help with the audit.

11 Contact Us

The partner in charge of your audit is Alison Godfrey. If you have any questions or feedback about the audit, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Godfrey Wilson Limited

5[th] Floor, Mariner House

62 Prince Street Bristol BS1 4QD

Tel: 0117 971 3445

Email: alison@godfreywilson.co.uk

12 Appendix 1: Recommendations

Issue Implication Recommendation
Staff ID
The charity does not keep ID on file for all
staff.		 The charity is not compliant with UK Right
to Work legislation.		 Keep a record of scanned photo ID on file
for all staff members.
Staff contracts
The charity was unable to locate one of
the contracts for a current staff member.		 The charity does not have a record of all
staff currently employed. In the event of
disputes about salaries or responsibilities,
there is no permanent record of the signed
agreement
between
employer
and
employee.		 Maintain records of all staff contracts in a
good control environment, for example
backing up documents.
Employment allowance
We noted the charity is not claiming the
employment allowance for employer’s
NIC.		 The charity could be entitled to this
allowance, saving up to £4,000 per year.		 We understand this has already been
taken up with the charity's payroll
provider.
Issue Implication Recommendation
Tracking grant applications
The charity does not have a system for
tracking grant applications.		 Without a grant tracker, it is difficult for
the organisation to have a clear overview
of future and on-going grant applications
including tracking deadlines.
If the charity continues to grow, it may be
in a position to increase the number and
size of grants applied for, therefore grant
tracker will become more necessary.
There is also a risk of internal fraud caused
by funds being diverted due to lack of
oversight from initial application to funds
being received.		 The charity may wish to consider setting
up a tracker to keep a record of all grants
applied for, the stages of each app, and the
outcome of each application. This would
add transparency to the charity’s process
of making applications.
Accounting for grants
It is not always clear whether income
received should be treated as restricted or
unrestricted. This is particularly the case
where income is received on an informal
basis.		 If funders award grants or donations to the
charity for specific purposes, the funds
should be restricted and tracked in the
accounting records as such. If the charity
does not comply with the terms and
conditions of such funds, there is a risk of
potential clawback of funds.		 Agree the nature of the funding and
accounting treatment with the Finance
Manager before funding agreements are
signed. This could be built into a grant
tracker (see above recommendation) for
simplicity.
It may be helpful to provide funders with a
template letter confirming the terms of
the funding. This might include an option
to tick that the donation is for general use
ortonote ifthere is a specific purpose.

13 Appendix 2: Audit Adjustments & Unadjusted Errors

Audit Adjustments

Nominal Account Debit Credit
1104 – Accrued income 2,000
4501 – Grants 2,000
To accrue Ways of Seeing grant income for 2021.

Unadjusted Errors

There were no unadjusted errors in 2021.