2023-12-31-annual-return

Chartered Accountants Support Limited

Independent Auditors' Report to the Members of Chartered Accountants Support Limited

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Chartered Accountants Support Limited for the financial year ended 31 December 2023 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities incorporating the Income and Expenditure Account, the Balance Sheet, Statement of Cash Flows 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 FRS 102 The Financial Reporting standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland issued in the United Kingdom by the Financial Reporting Council.

In our opinion the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the company's affairs as at 31 December 2023 and of it surplus for the financial year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with FRS 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland'; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

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 Auditors' responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the United Kingdom, including the Financial Reporting Council'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 director's 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 company'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 directors with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Page 7

Chartered Accountants Support Limited

Independent Auditors' Report to the Members of Chartered Accountants Support Limited (continued)

Other information

The directors are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report, other than the financial statements and our Auditors' 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.

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 course of 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.

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:

• the information given in the Director's Report is consistent with the financial statements.

• the Director's Report has been prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of our knowledge and understanding of the company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Director's Report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

• adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

• the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

• certain disclosures of director's remuneration specified by law are not made; or

• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or

• the director were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies' exemptions in preparing the Director's Report and from the requirement to prepare a Strategic Report.

Responsibilities of directors

As explained more fully in the Directors' Responsibilities Statement, the directors 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 directors are responsible for assessing the company'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 directors either intend to liquidate the company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Page 8

Chartered Accountants Support Limited

Independent Auditors' Report to the Members of Chartered Accountants Support Limited (continued)

Auditors' responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our report is made solely to the company's 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 company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an Auditors' 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 company and the company's members, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed

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 Auditors' 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.

Extent to which the audit was capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of noncompliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

As part of the audit we gained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework applicable to the company and the sector in which it operates, and considered the risk of acts by the company that were contrary to applicable laws and regulations, including fraud. We considered the company’s own assessment of the risks that irregularities may occur either as a result of fraud or error, the company’s compliance with laws and regulations that have a direct impact on the financial statements such as the Charities Act and other laws and regulations applicable to the company such as employment law, data protection and health and safety legislation. We considered financial performance, key performance indicators and other performance targets. We also considered the risks of non-compliance with requirements imposed by the Charity Commission, and other regulators, and we considered the extent to which non-compliance might have a material effect on the company financial statements.

We also communicated relevant identified laws and regulations, potential fraud risks and that there were no known matters of significant non-compliance with laws and regulations, to all engagement team members, and remained alert to any indications of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations throughout the audit.

As a result of these procedures, we considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the organisation for fraud and identified the greatest potential for fraud in the following areas: donations and revenue recognition.

Our tests included:

• agreeing the financial statement disclosures

• enquiries of management

• review of minutes of meetings of those charged with governance • audit testing a sample of donations

• performed audit procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud.

As in all of our audits, we also addressed the risk of management override of internal controls, including testing journals and evaluations, whether there was evidence of bias in accounting estimates by management or the Board that represented a risk of material misstatement due to fraud.

Page 9

Chartered Accountants Support Limited

Independent Auditors' Report to the Members of Chartered Accountants Support Limited (continued)

Our audit procedures were designed to respond to risks of material misstatement in the financial statements, recognising that the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery, misrepresentations or through collusion. There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures performed and the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we are to become aware of it.

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 Auditors' Report.

Simon Carbery Senior Statutory Auditor for and on behalf of BDO Statutory Audit Firm Block 3, Miesian Plaza, 50-58 Baggot Street Lower, Dublin 2, D02Y754

Date: 03/05/2024

Page 10