Ulster-scots Community Network Company Limlted by Guarantee Independent Auditor's Report to the Members of Ulster-scots Communlty Network Year ended 31 March 2023 Opinion We have audited the financial statements of Ulster-scots Community Neork (the 'charity'i for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the statement of financial activities {including income and expenditure account), statement of financial position and the related notes, 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 FRS 102 Th8 Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republi¢ of Ireland (United Kingdom Generalty ACpted Accounting Practice). In our opinlon the financial statements.. give a true and fair view of the slale ol Ihe charity'5 affairs as at 31 March 2023 and of it5 incoming resources and application of resources. including its income and expenditure. for the year then ended; have been properly prepared In accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice., hav8 been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006. Basls for opinion We conducted our audit in accordance with Intemational Standards on Auditing {UK) (ISAS (UKI) and applicable law. Our r8sponsibilitie5 undèr those standards are further de5Gribed 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 8thical r8quir8ments that are relevant to our audit cf the financial 51alements 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. Materlal uncartalnty related to golng concern We draw attention to note 3 in the financial statements, which indicat88 that in foming our unqualified opinion, we have considered thè adequacy of the disck)sures made in the financial statements concerning the charity's ability to continue as a going concern. Short term grant funding horizons mean that th8 organisation must apply for core financial assistance on an annual basis and, at the datè of our audit report, whilst confirmation has been received for the 2023 calendar year, the charity Is not in receipt Df a letter of offer extending beyond that period. The financial statements have been prepared on a going concem basis, the validity of which depends on the continued support of the charity's grant funders. As stated in note 3, Ihese evenls or Conditions. along with the other matters as set forth in note 3, indicate that a materi81 uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the charity'5 ability lo continue a5 a going concem. Our opinion is not modified In respect of thi$ matter. Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the directors with mspect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report. 10
Ulster-scots Community Network Company Llmited by Guarantee Independent Auditor's Report to the Members of Ulster-scots Community Network (contlnu Year ended 31 March 2023 Other informatlon The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial Statements and our auditor's report thereon. The directors are responsible for the other information. 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 Ihereon. In connecllon with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other Information and, in doing so. consider wheth&r the other information is materialty inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained In the audit or otherwise appears to be materially m15Stated. If we Identify such material inconsistencies or appar8nt 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. Oplnlons on other matters prescrlbed by the Companles Act 2006 In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit: the information given in the directors, report for the financial year for which thg financial statements are prepared 18 consistent with the flnancial statements,. and the directors, report ha5 been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements. Matters on which we are requlrad to report by 8xception In the light of the knowledge and understandlng of the charlty and its environment oblalned In the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the directors, r8POrt. We have nothing to report in re$ped of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Ad 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion: adequate accountlng CordS hav8 not been kept, or retums adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visiled by us; or the financial statements are not In agement wlth the accounting records and retum8', or certain dlsclosures of directors, remuneration speclfied by law are not made: or we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit, 11
UlsterScots Community Network Company Limitsd by Guarantse Independent Auditor's Report to the Members of Ulster4cots Community Network (¢ondnu•d) Year ended 31 March 2023 Respon5ibilitles of dlrectors As explained more fully in the directors, responsibilities Statement, the directors {who are also the directors for the purposes of company law) are responsible for tha preparation of the financial statements and for belng satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the directors determine is necessary to enable the preparats'on of financial statements that are free from material mi5Statement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statement5, the directors are responsible for assessing the charity's abllity to continu8 as a golng concern, discloslng, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concem basis of accounting unless the directors elther intend lo liquidate the charity or to cease operations. or have no realistic altemative but to do so. 12
Ulster-scots Community Network Company Limited by Guarantee Independent Auditor's Report to the Members of Ulster-scots Communlty Network (eonllnuedj Year ended 31 March 2023 Audltor's SponsIbl11t18s for the audit of the flnancial statements Our objeclives 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 auditorfs report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high lével of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAS (UK) will always detect a material misstaternent when it exists. Misslatement5 can arise from fraud or error and ar8 conSided 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 inStanS 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 extent to whlch our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud 18 detailed below: Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, w8s as follows: the engagement partner ensured that the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills lo identfy or recognise non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations,. we identified the laws and regulations applicable to the company through discussions with Iru8tees and other management., we assessed the extent of compliance with the laws and regulation5 identified above through making enquiries of management and inspecting legal correspondence., and identified laws and regulations were communicated within the audit team regularty and the team rernained alert to instances of non-compliance throughout the audit. We assessed the susceptibillty of the companvs financial statements lo material mlsstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by= making enquiries of management as to where they considered there was suscéptibility to fraud, their knowledge of actual, suspected and alleged fraud,. and considering the internel controls in place to mitigate risks of fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations. To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of Controls, we: performed analyti¢al procedures to id8ntfy any unusual or unexpected relationships., tested joumal entries to identify unusual transactions., and assessed whether judgements and assumptions made in determining the accounting estimates set out in note 3 were indicative of potential bias. In response to th8 risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to: agreeing financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation,. 13
Ulster-scots Community Network Company Llmlted by Guarantee Independent Auditor's Report to the Members of U1sterCots Communlty Network (contlnuod) Year ended 31 March 2023 r&ading the minutes of meetlngs of those charged with governance,. and - enquiring of management as to actual and potential litigation and claims. There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures des¢rib8d above. The more removed that laws and regulation5 are from financial Iransaclions, the less likely r( is that we would become aware of non-compliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedur8s required to idèntify non-compliance with laws and reguSations to enquiry of the d1CtOrS and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, rf any. Material misstatements that arlse due to fraud can be harder to detect than those thal arise from error as Ihey may involve deliberate concealment or collusion. As part of an audit In accordance with ISAS (UK), we exercise professional judgment and maintain professional s¢8Pticism throughoLrt the audit. We al$o'. Identify and asses5 the risks of material misstalement of the financial slalemenls, whether due lo fraud or error, désign and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a bas55 for our oplnion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than far one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intenlional omissions, misrepresentations, or the overrida of internal control. Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circurnslances, but nol for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the internal control. Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and th8 reasonablen85s of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by the directors. Conclude on the appropriateness of the directors, use of tha going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exlsts related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubl on the charity's ability to continue as a going concem. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exisls, we arè required lo draw attention in our auditor'5 report to the related disclosures in the financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor's report. However, future events or conditions rnay cause the charity to cease to Gontinue as a going concern. Evaluate th8 overall pr888ntation, structurè and content of the financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair pr8sentation. 14
Ulster4cots Community Network Company Limited by Guarantee Independent Audltor's Report to the Members of Ulster-scots Community Network (conllnu•d) Year ended 31 March 2023 We communicate with those charged with govemance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and liming of the audit and significant audit flndings. including any significant deficiencies in intemal control that we identty during our audit. Usè of our report This report is made solely to the charity's members, as a body, in accordancé with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that w8 might state to the charity's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no other Purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not aG¢epi or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity'¥ members as a bcAly, for our audit work, for th1$ report. or for the opinions we have formed. Joh ee enio Statutory Audltor) Fora n beha Aubrey Campbell ompany Chartered accountants & statutory auditor 631 Lisburn Road Belfast BT9 7GT 28 Novamber 2023 15