ANNUAL REPORT 2021-22
MOVING FOR WARD
In auditing the Financial £tatempnts, we
have concluded that Senate's use ol the
going concern basis of accounting in the
preparation of ihe Finaiicial 5￿teMents is
ppropriate.
these laws and regulations as part of our
procedLJre% on ihg related financial
sialement Ilems, including 655es5ing the
financi31 staLeffleni di5closure5 agreeing
thetn to supporting documentdtion when
necessary.
INDEPENDENT
AUDITOR'S REPORT
TO THE SENATE OF QUEEN'S
UNIVERSITY BELFAST
Based Dn the Wofk we have porforrnpd,
we have not identified any material
uncertainties relating Lo evenl5 Of condition5
that, individLJally or colleclively, mdy Cast
significant doubt on thp Group oi. the
University's ability to continup as a going
concern for 3 period of at least twelve
montlis Frorn the date when the kinancial
Stalements dl& autliorised for issue.
The Group and University are not subject to
other laws and regulations where the
consequences of non-complianc@ could
have a material effect on amourits or
disclosLJres in the Financial Sthtements.
Auditing standard5 limit the required audit
procedures to identify non-compliance with
tlièsè iion-direci laws arid regulat10ns Lo
inquiry of the management and in5PeCtiDn
of regulatory and legal correspoTrdenee, if
any. These limited procpduFes did not
identify actual or 5USPgCted non-
compliance.
REPORTONTHEAUDIT OF
THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
OUF responsibilities and the responsibilities
of Senate with resppr.t to going roncerD
aFe described in the relevant sections of
this report.
OPINION
We hfjve audited the Financi615tatements of We conducted our dudil In accordance with
Queen'y Uiiiver51ty Belt35t C'the UTriversity'l
International Standards on Auditin9 (UK) (ISAS
and ils sub5idi6rie5 (collectively'the Group'l
(UKII and applicable law. OUF Fo5ponsibilities
for the year ended 31 July 2022 sel out on
under those st.aTrdards aFe further described
page5 82 to113, which comprise the
in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of
Consolidated and 1jnr￿er5ltY Statemenis of
the Financial Statefflents section of our
Comprehensive Income, the Consolidated
report. Wè dr& indèpeiidenl of the Group in
and University Balance Sheets, the
accordance witli eLI)ical re4uireinents tlidt are
Consolidated and Universily Statements of
rplevant to our audit of Financial StatemÉirits
Changes in Re5ervo5, the Consoliclaled Cash
in the UK, including the Financial Roporting
Flow SrAterneTrt and the related oote5,
Council (kRC)'s Eth5cal St6ndèrd, ènd we have
including the summary r)f signifirant
fLJlfilled our other ethical re5POn5ibilities In
accounting policies set out on pa9es 72 to 79.
accc)rdance willi tlie%e requiren)eiiLs.
BASIS FOR OPINION
However, a5 we cannot pred￿cl all future
events or conditlOnS ¢3nd as subsequent
@vents may result in outcomes that are
incon5i5tent with judgements that were
rèasonable at the lime they were made, the
absence of reference to a moterial
uncertainty in this auditor's report is not a
guarantee ihat the C)roiJp or the University
will continue In operation.
We a55e55ed ev¢nts or conditions that could
indicatè an incentive or pressure to commit
fraud or provide èn oppoitunity to comFnit
fraud. As required by auditing standards, we
performed procedures to atsdre55 the Fisk of
management overiide of controls. We did
not Identify any additional Fraud risks.
In response to risk of Fraud, wp also
performed procedures Inr.IiJding.' Identifying
journal entries to test based on risk criteri
and comparing the identified entfie5 to
supporting documentstion., eviludting the
business PLJrpose of significant unusual
tfansartions,. a55e55ing si9nificant
accounting estimales for bi65,' and a%se£sing
the disclosures in the Trinancial Stalements.
DETECTING IRRÉGULARITIES
INCLUDING FRAUD
Tho financial reporling frarnewoik ihat h85
We bplieve that the aLJdit evidence we have
been applied in their preparation is UK Law
obtéined 15 5uffieient ano appropriate to
nd fft510? The Finfjnciol Reporting Standord provicle a basis for our opinion.
opplic(Jhle in the UK ond Republic ofireland.
Wè identified the areas of law5 and r£gulations
that coiild reasorK8hly bo p.xpp_cled to have a
mat?rial effert on the Financièl Statements
and risks of Fnaterial mi55tatetnent due to
fraud, our understanding of the entity's
industry, regulatory environmenl and oLhei
external factors and inquirywith managefnenL
In riddition, our risk assessment procedures
included. inquiring wit.h the fnanagemeTrt a5 to
the Group's University's policie5 and
pioLedL1r￿ regarding cornpliance with law5
and regulation5 dnd prL'venLioi) and detecti¢)n
of I raud,. ifiquiFing wl)ethef the management
have knowledge of any actual orsuspoc.led
non-compliance with laws or ￿QU￿tionS or
alleged fraud., inspecting lh& Group'5 3nd
Univeryilys regulatory and legBI
correswndeiice. and reading cornn)ittee
minute&
CONCLUSIONS RELATING
TO GOING CONCERN
In our opinion the accompanying Financial
Statements..
Senate has prepared the Financial SLaiement5
on the going concern basis as they do not
int@nd to liquidate the Group or the University
or to cease their operation5, and a5 they have
concluded ihat the Group's and the
University's financial p05ilion means that this
give a true and foir view of the stato of the
Group'5 6nd the Univer5iÈy'5 6ffairs as at 31
July 2022, dnd of the Group'5 ond the
Ui)iversity's income and expenditure, g3ins
and losses and chdriqes in reserve5, and OF
the Group's casli flov¢s, for ilie yedr tl)ei)
ended..
have been properly prepared in accordance
They have also concluded that there are no
fflaterial uncertèintieg that could have cast
with UK accounting standards, including
FRS 102 The Financial R&porting Standard
sigriificant do)vbt over their ability to continue
as a going concern for dt léasl a year from the
appliiable in the UK and Republic of Ireland, date of approval of the Financial Statement5
and w1th the 2019 Statement of
R?romnipnded PractKe - Accounting for
Cthe going c.oncern period,).
Further and Hi9her Ediication., and
meet the requirements of the Depèrtmenl
for lh& Economy IDfEI Accounts Direc.lion
to Higher Edvcdtion Institutions for 2021-
22 Financial StaLEments.
Owing io thè inherent limitations of an
aijdit, tl)ere is an unavoidable risk that we
may not have detected some material
misstateiiieiits in the FinanciBI Statetnent5,
even tliough we have properly planned and
performed our audit in dccordance with
auditing Standards. For exaiTiple, the further
removed non-compliance with law5 and
iegulations (irregularities) is from the Events
ancl transactions reflected in the Financial
Stateinents, the less likely the inherently
limited procedures required by aLJditing
standard5 would identify it.
We di5CU5sed identified laws and regul6tiOn5,
fraud risk factors and the need to remain
alèrt among the audil team.
Ir) our evaluation of Senalp'5 conclusions, we
Onsidered the Inhe￿nt r15ks to the Groiip's
nd Universit}I's business mociel and èndlysed
how tliose risk5 might afFect the Group s and
the University's fin6neial resources or ability
to continue operations ovor the going
oncorn period. We have nothing to report in
Ihe5& respècts.
In addition, a5 Wlth any audit. r.hpre remains a
higher risk of non-detection or irregularities,
al these may Involve collusion, forgery,
intentional omi55ions, ffli5r&prèsentations, or
the override of interniil controls. We are not
responsible for preventin9 non-compliance
and connot be eYpect?rJ to detpr.r. nnn-
cofflpliance with all laws and regL,lations.
The Group ond Univer51ty are subject to laws
and regvlations that directly affect the
Financial Statements includin9 companies
and financial rÈporting legislation. We
assessed the extent of compliance with
68
69

ANNUAL REPQRT 2021-22
MOVING FORWARD
OTHER INFORMATION
Staiempnts as a whole aic frpe from moterial
mi55t6tement, whethpr due to fraud, oth?r
irregularities or error, and Lo issue an opinion in
an auditor's report. Reasonable assurance is
high lovel of a55urance, but is not a guarantee
that an audit. corducted in accordance wilh
ISAS IIJKI will always det?ct a matorial
misstatement when it pxists. Misstatetnents can
arise from fraud, oLher Irregularities or error
anci are consider.ed materidl if, indivdually or in
tho aggregate, they could reasonably be
expected to Influenc& tho economic decisions
of user% taken on the basis of these FinorKial
Statements.
Senate is re5pon5ible for ihe other
information p￿Sented in Ihe Annual Report
together wilh the Financial StateM￿nts.
The other information comprises the
Inforryotion included in the mes￿9? from
thevice-chancellor, Ivlessage from th& Chair
of Sendle, Moments of the Year, Overview OF
the University, Our Stskeholder5, fitiatojic
Ovptview, Sustoinable DevolDpmgnt Goals,
Public Benefit fjtatpment, Philant.hropyat
Queen's, Financial Review and Corporate
Governai)ce. The Financial Statemenls and
our auditor'5 reporl therèon do not comi)rise
part of the oth£( inforn￿tion.
Afull&i' d￿￿I.1ptIOrn OF our IEgwnsibilibes
is provided on the FRC'S website at
www.frc.0rg.uklauditorsre5￿nslbrl1lIes
Our OPIn￿n on the Financ￿1 Ststpment5
does not cover the oiher Information and,
aCCfJFdingly, we do not expre35 an audit
opiriion or, excepta5 explicilw 5lited below,
any form of assurance conclusion tl)ereon.
REPORT ON OTHER LEGALAND
REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS
We are required to report on the following
matters under the furmer Department for
F.mplovtnent ènd Learninq (now DfEI Audit
Loi= g Fr=_-ic="SSLa.
- tip F.. rt_ e:-
Our r¢j5ponsibiljtV 15 fro reBd the other
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RESPECTIVE RESPONSIBILITIES
AND RESTRICTIONS ON USE
Re5pon5ibilities of Se￿1 ate
for th= -inancial Statements
THE PURPOSE OF OUR AUDITWORK AND
TO IIIHOM WE O¥'4E OUR
RESPONSIBILITIES
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Sean O'Keefe
AUDITOR'S RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE
AUDIT OFTHE FINANCIAL STATEkAENTS
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