TO BE TYPED ON YOUR HEADED NOTEPAPER
BDO LLP Level 12 Thames Tower Station Road Reading Berkshire RG1 1LX
Dear Sirs
Financial Statements of Rupert House School for the period ended 31 July 2021
We confirm that the following representations given to you in connection with your audit of the charity’s financial statements (the “financial statements”) for the period ended 31 July 2021 are made to the best of our knowledge and belief, and after having made appropriate enquiries of other trustees and officials of the charity.
We have fulfilled our responsibilities as trustees for the preparation and presentation of the financial statements as set out in the terms of the audit engagement letter, and in particular that the financial statements give a true and fair view of the financial position of charity as at 31 July 2021 and of the results of the charity’s operations and cash flows for the period then ended in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework and for making accurate representations to you.
We have provided you with unrestricted access to persons within the entity from whom you determined it necessary to obtain audit evidence. In addition, all the accounting records of the charity have been made available to you for the purpose of your audit and 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 and trustee meetings have been made available to you.
Going concern
The Governors have reviewed some plausible and significant downsize scenarios, and are satisfied that, by taking alternative measures such as by further reducing costs and by activation of the £100k back-up loan outlined in further detail below, there would be sufficient liquidity available for the School to continue as a going concern.
The Governors have reviewed the latest management accounts 30/04/20 including the latest forecast for 2019/20, and the revised 2020/21 Budget, together with the corresponding projected cash flows and funding facilities available to the School. These are based on the latest forecast of pupil numbers, which reflects the change to becoming fully coeducational, and the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, which resulted in the temporary closure of the School for the first half of the Summer term. Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and
Year 6 were welcomed back into school on 01/06/20, with Years 2-5 also returning to school on 23/06/20.
As a result of COVID-19 there exists a level of uncertainty of the number of non-natural leavers this academic year, which would reduce future fee income. However, for the current year the deadline for parents to give notice has passed. Whilst the School was temporarily closed, measures were put in place to reduce costs and pass the savings on to parents by discounting this Summer term’s fees. This was assessed on a year-group basis and ranged between 21%-60%. Payment plans have also been arranged to minimise the resultant credit risk. This financial assistance has been offered to some parents who, as a result of COVID-19, have found difficulty in fully paying fees. This has been reflected in the latest forecasts and cash flows. We also refer to Note 23 Post Balance Sheet Events.
Despite this uncertainty, and as a result of this review, at the time of approving the Financial Statements, having secured a £50k loan via the government’s ‘Bounce Back’ scheme and a further £100k back-up loan facility, we have concluded that there is a reasonable expectation that the School has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future.
We therefore conclude that, while uncertainty exists, it does not pose a material uncertainty which will affect the charity’s ability to continue to meet its obligations and charitable objectives. We therefore believe it is appropriate to use the going concern basis in the preparation of the 2019 Financial Statements.
Laws and regulations
In relation to those laws and regulations which provide the legal framework within which our business is conducted and which are central to our ability to conduct our business, we have disclosed to you all instances of possible non-compliance of which we are aware and all actual or contingent consequences arising from such instances of non-compliance.
Post balance sheet events
There have been no events since the balance sheet date which either require changes to be made to the figures included in the financial statements or to be disclosed by way of a note. Should any material events of this type occur, we will advise you accordingly.
Fraud and error
We are responsible for adopting sound accounting policies, designing, implementing and maintaining internal control, to, among other things, help assure the preparation of the financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles and preventing and detecting fraud and error.
We have considered the risk that the financial statements may be materially misstated due to fraud and have identified no significant risks.
To the best of our knowledge we are not aware of any fraud or suspected fraud involving management or employees. Additionally, we are not aware of any fraud or suspected fraud involving any other party that could materially affect the financial statements.
To the best of our knowledge we are not aware of any allegations of fraud or suspected fraud affecting the financial statements that have been communicated by employees, former employees, analysts, regulators or any other party.
Misstatements
We attach a schedule showing uncorrected misstatements that you identified (Appendix 1), which we acknowledge that you request we correct. Where appropriate we have explained our reasons for not correcting such misstatements below.
In our opinion, the effects of not correcting such identified misstatements are, both individually and in the aggregate, immaterial to the financial statements as a whole.
Related party transactions
We have disclosed to you the identity of all related parties and all the related party relationships and transactions of which we are aware. We have appropriately accounted for and disclosed such relationships and transactions in accordance with the requirements of the applicable accounting framework.
Other than as disclosed in note 20 to the financial statements, there were no loans, transactions or arrangements between the charity and the charity’s trustees or their connected persons at any time in the period which were required to be disclosed.
In the opinion of the trustees the charity has no controlling party.
Carrying value and classification of assets and liabilities
We have no plans or intentions that may materially affect the carrying value or classification of assets or liabilities reflected in the financial statements.
Litigation and claims
We have disclosed to you all known actual or possible litigation and claims whose effects should be considered when preparing the financial statements and these have been accounted for and disclosed in accordance with the requirements of accounting standards.
Serious incident reports
We confirm that no serious incident reports have been made to the Charity Commission during the period or since the end of the period.
Charity income
All grants, donations and other income, the receipt of which is subject to specific terms or conditions, have been notified to you. There have been no breaches of terms or conditions during the period in the application of such income.
Confirmation
We confirm that the above representations are made on the basis of enquiries of 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 above representations to you.
We confirm that the financial statements are free of material misstatements, including omissions.
We acknowledge our legal responsibilities regarding disclosure of information to you as auditors and confirm that so far as we are aware, there is no relevant audit information needed by you in connection with preparing your audit report of which you are unaware. Each trustee has taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as a trustee in order to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that you are aware of that information.
Yours faithfully
(Signed on behalf of the board of trustees)
Date: …………………….
Appendix 1
The following table sets out the misstatements that were identified as a result of this period’s audit that have not been adjusted in the financial statements on grounds of materiality: