FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Northern Ireland Scout Council
Independent Auditor’s Report to the Members of Northern Ireland Scout Council Year ended 31 March 2023
Opinion
31 March 2023 which comprise the statement of financial activities, statement of financial position, 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 United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
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give a true and fair view of the state of the charity's affairs as at 31 March 2023 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended;
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have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice;
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have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008.
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 auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and the provisions available for small entities, in the circumstances set out below, 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.
Entities", issued by the Financial Reporting Council, in the circumstances set out in note 26 to the financial statements.
Conclusions relating to going concern
of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity'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 members with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
Other information
statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The members are responsible for the other information.
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Northern Ireland Scout Council
Independent Auditor’s Report to the Members of Northern Ireland Scout Council (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023
Other information (continued)
otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the 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.
Matters on which we are required to report by exception
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the members' report.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
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statements; or
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adequate accounting records have not been kept; or
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we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
Responsibilities of members
As explained more fully in the members' responsibilities statement, the members 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 the members determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the members either intend to liquidate the charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion.
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Northern Ireland Scout Council
Independent Auditor’s Report
to the Members of Northern Ireland Scout Council (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023
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.
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances 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 which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:
We discussed laws and regulations and fraud risks during our audit planning procedures. The charity must comply with relevant legislation and prepare financial statements which give a true and fair view. Fraud is most likely to involve the misappropriation of charity assets, for example fraudulent payments which might include the creation of fictitious suppliers or employees or the changing of bank details.
Our engagement team collectively had appropriate experience of applicable laws and regulations and competence to recognise non-compliance. We used checklists in evaluating the presentation, structure and content of the financial statements. We consider that our audit has a reasonable chance of detecting material non-compliance with laws and regulations. We remain mindful that fraud, by its very nature, may be difficult to detect, and that misappropriation may occur before transactions enter the accounting records of the charity. Audit procedures were planned and performed to test controls in place for authorisation and payment of supplier invoices and salaries. We also undertook analytical procedures to identify trends that might indicate fraudulent payments and we reviewed general ledger payments processed differently to regular supplier payments. We consider that our audit has a reasonable chance of detecting a material fraud in this area.
Reporting Council’s website at www.frc.org.uk/auditors responsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the charity's members, as a body, in accordance with section 65 of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we 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 accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
Muir & Addy Chartered Accountants & statutory auditor Muir Building, 427 Holywood Road, Belfast, BT4 2LT 11[th] September 2023
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