Our Ref: 6745/PD/MMCM Date: 18/11/24
## **Private & Confidential**
Board of Trustees Engage with Age East Belfast Network Centre 55 Templemore Avenue Belfast Co. Antrim BT5 4FPX
Dear Sirs/Madams,
## **REPORT TO THOSE CHARGED WITH GOVERNANCE**
The audit of the financial statements of Engage with Age for the year ended 31[st] March 2024 is complete. In line with Auditing Standards, we are writing to advise you of audit conclusions, significant matters arising during the course of the audit and other matters which are significant to the financial reporting process.
As auditors, we are responsible for forming and expressing an opinion on the financial statements that have been prepared with the oversight of those charged with governance. As such, our tests are designed to assist us in forming our opinion and should not be relied upon to disclose all errors, irregularities or control deficiencies that exist. The audit does not relieve management or those charged with governance of their responsibilities.
## **Audit opinion**
The results of our audit work indicate that the financial statements presented are free of material misstatements and are represented fairly in accordance with the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Thus we have issued an unqualified audit report on the financial statements.
## **Going concern**
During the course of the audit, we did not identify or become aware of any events or conditions that may cast a significant doubt on the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern. As a result, we concur with your assessment that the use of the going concern assumption is appropriate in the preparation and presentation of the financial statements.
## **Fraud**
Auditing standards require us to report any identified frauds, indications of fraud or any other relevant matters related to fraud. We have nothing to report in this regard.
## **Laws and regulations**
No matters involving non-compliance with laws and regulations came to our attention during the course of the audit apart from those raised within the body of this report.
_This report has been prepared for the sole use of those charged with governance of Engage with Age and must not be shown to third parties without our prior consent. No responsibility is assumed by Finegan Gibson Ltd towards any third party acting or refraining from action as a result of this report._
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## **Misstatements**
During the course of the audit, no material misstatements were identified.
## **Related parties**
No significant matters arose during the audit in connection with related parties.
## **Subsequent events**
We performed procedures designed to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence that all events occurring between the date of the financial statements and the date of the audit report that require adjustment, or disclosure in, the financial statements have been identified. Audit procedures identified no subsequent events.
## **Internal control**
During the course of the audit we identified a number of recommendations in relation to improving the internal control framework of the organisation. In summary, no priority 1, two priority 2 and one priority 3 observations were noted. These are set out in detail at Appendix 2.
We have graded our management report observations as follows:
|We have graded|our management report observations as follows:|
|---|---|
|||
|Priority 1|An issue which requires urgent management decision and action without
which there is a substantial risk to the achievement of key business/system
objectives, or to the reputation of the organisation.|
|Priority 2|An issue which requires prompt attention, as failure to do so could lead to a
more serious risk exposure.|
|Priority 3|Improvements that will enhance the existing control framework and/or
represent best practice.|
|||
## **Acknowledgement**
We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the courtesy and assistance extended to us by Engage with Age personnel during the course of our audit. Yours faithfully,
## Finegan Gibson Ltd
_Chartered Accountants & Registered Auditors_
_This report has been prepared for the sole use of those charged with governance of Engage with Age and must not be shown to third parties without our prior consent. No responsibility is assumed by Finegan Gibson Ltd towards any third party acting or refraining from action as a result of this report._
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## _**APPENDIX 1: Schedule of Adjustments**_
## **Adjusted audit differences:**
|
**No.**|
**Account**|
**Nature/**
**Reason**|**Adjusting journals**|**Adjusting journals**|**Adjusted**
**SOFA**
**effect**|**Adjusted B/S**
**effect**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||**Dr**|**Cr**|**£**|**£**|
|**1**|Deferred Income|Correction of
Deferred
income and
lotteryincome|£50,250|||-£50,250|
||Income - Lottery|Correction of
Deferred
income and
lotteryincome||£50,250|£50,250||
|||||_Being the correction of lottery income received in theyear_|||
|**2**|Accruals|Increasing the
audit fee
accrual||£325||£325|
||Audit fee|Increasing the
audit fee
accrual|£325||£325||
||||||_Being the increase of the auditfee_||
|**3**|Programme Costs|Increasing
creditors|£1,138||£1,138||
_This report has been prepared for the sole use of those charged with governance of Engage with Age and must not be shown to third parties without our prior consent. No responsibility is assumed by Finegan Gibson Ltd towards any third party acting or refraining from action as a result of this report._
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_**APPENDIX 1: Schedule of adjustments**_
|**No.**|**Account**|**Nature/**
**Reason**|**Adjusting journals**|**Adjusting journals**|**Adjusted**
**SOFA**
**effect**|**Adjusted B/S**
**effect**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||**Dr**|**Cr**|**£**|**£**|
||Creditors|Increasing
creditors||£1,138||£1,138|
|_Being the recognition of creditors in the year_|||||||
|**4**|Petty Cash|Decreasing
pettycash||£919||-£919|
||Sundries|Decreasing
pettycash|£919||£919||
|_Being the correction of petty cash in theyear_.|||||||
_This report has been prepared for the sole use of those charged with governance of Engage with Age and must not be shown to third parties without our prior consent. No responsibility is assumed by Finegan Gibson Ltd towards any third party acting or refraining from action as a result of this report._
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_**APPENDIX 2: Management Letter**_
|**No**|**Issue**|**Risk**|**Grade**|**Recommendation**|**Management Response**|**Responsibility & Target**
**Date**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Wages**|||||||
|**1.**|It was noted that in one
instances payroll reports did
not correlate with amounts
paid to HMRC.|The charity may have
additional liabilities to
HMRC which are
unaccounted for.
There is potential loss of
charitable funds where
overpayments are made.
Late payments to HMRC
may incur fines and / or
penalty charges.|2|The payroll reports should be
reconciled to payments made to
HMRC on a monthly basis.
The charity should make use of
payroll journals to record its
expenditure and liabilities in the
ledger, and ensure that all
liabilities are paid on time.|April’s HMRC liabilities
were paid in April but
also paid in May,
together with May’s
payment. This was
reconciled in June and
July’s payments. In the
future this will be picked
up and reconciled in the
following month.|EWA/Clarke & Co our
outsourced finance
company.
November 2024|
|**General**|||||||
|**2. **|During testing it was noted
that a number of expenditure
transactions were posted to
income codes on Quickbooks.|Income and expenditure
could be understated
where transactions are
posted incorrectly.|3|Postings to Quickbooks should be
reviewed regularly to ensure
errors in posting are identified
and corrected on a timely basis.|A rule was set up for the
Zoom payments to be
automatically allocated
to BHSCT income account
instead of BHSCT
programme expense.
This rule has now been
deleted.|EWA/Clarke & Co our
outsourced finance
company.
November 2024|
_This report has been prepared for the sole use of those charged with governance of Engage with Age and must not be shown to third parties without our prior consent. No responsibility is assumed by Finegan Gibson Ltd towards any third party acting or refraining from action as a result of this report._
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_**APPENDIX 2: Management letter**_
|**No**|**Issue**|**Risk**|**Grade**|**Recommendation**|**Management Response**|**Responsibility & Target**
**Date**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**3. **|Free unrestricted reserves are
below the target level set out
in reserves policy.|Any drop in funding could
result in the charity not
being able to meet its
liabilities as they fall due,
or fund its charitable
activities (possible
uncertainty surrounding
going concern).
The charity may not be
complying with its reserves
policy.|2|The Board should monitor the
charity’s funds closely, and
actively source new unrestricted
funding streams in a bid to
increase the level of free reserves.
Any deficits in the reserves policy
should be addressed in the
trustees’ annual report.|EWA has anticipated and
monitored this situation
since Jan 2023 and the
issue is in the minutes of
4 formal board and
committee meetings.
The issue of reserves
formed part of a strategic
planning day in June
2024, and before receipt
of this management
letter EWA had already
drafted a new policy
reflecting that the
original reserves policy
was written in 2018 and
the operating context for
charities in NI/ UK has
changed significantly,
therefore, EWA will
continue to monitor the
charity’s funds.
EWA has already started
addressing the need for
new income streams and
will continue to do so.|Has already commenced in
Jan 2023, will continue to
be monitored. New
reserves policy due Nov
2024.
Has already commenced
June 2024, will continue to
be implemented.|
_This report has been prepared for the sole use of those charged with governance of Engage with Age and must not be shown to third parties without our prior consent. No responsibility is assumed by Finegan Gibson Ltd towards any third party acting or refraining from action as a result of this report._
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