## **WOMEN IN BUSINESS NI LTD** ## **INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF WOMEN IN BUSINESS NI LTD** ## **Opinion** We have audited the financial statements of Women in Business NI Ltd (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the statement of financial position, the statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 _The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland_ (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). In our opinion, the financial statements: - give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company's affairs as at 31 March 2024 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, for the year then ended; - have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; 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 _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 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** We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the ISAs (UK) require us to report to you were: - the directors' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is not appropriate; or - the directors have not disclosed in the financial statements any identified material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt about the group's or the parent company’s ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting for a period of at least twelve months from the date when the financial statements are authorised for issue. ## **Other information** The other information comprises the information included in the Directors’ 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 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 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. - 6 - ## **WOMEN IN BUSINESS NI LTD** ## **INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) TO THE TRUSTEES OF WOMEN IN BUSINESS NI LTD** ## **Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006** In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit: - the information given in the trustees' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared, which includes the directors' report prepared for the purposes of company law, is consistent with the financial statements; and - the directors' report included within the trustees' report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements. ## **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 directors' report included within the trustees' report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 require us to report to you if, in our opinion: - the information given in the financial statements is inconsistent in any material respect with the trustees' report; or - sufficient accounting records have not been kept; or - the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records; or - we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit. ## **Responsibilities of trustees** As explained more fully in the statement of trustees' responsibilities, the trustees, who are also the directors of the charity for the purpose of company law, 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 trustees 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 trustees are responsible for assessing the charity’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 trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so. ## **Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements** 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 auditor's 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. A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https:// www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report. - 7 - ## **WOMEN IN BUSINESS NI LTD** ## **INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) TO THE TRUSTEES OF WOMEN IN BUSINESS NI LTD** Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, was as follows: - the engagement partner ensured that the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills to identify or recognise non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations; - we identified the laws and regulations applicable to the company through discussions with directors and/or senior management, and from our commercial knowledge and experience of the sector; We focused on specific laws and regulations which we considered may have a direct material effect on the financial statements or the operations of the company, including Companies Act 2006, taxation legislation, data protection, anti-bribery, employment, environmental and health and safety legislation - we assessed the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations identified above through making enquiries of management and inspecting legal correspondence; and - identified laws and regulations were communicated within the audit team regularly and the team remained alert to instances of non-compliance throughout the audit. We assessed the susceptibility of the company’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by: - making enquiries of management as to where they considered there was susceptibility to fraud, their knowledge of actual, suspected and alleged fraud; and - considering the internal 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 analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships; - tested journal entries to identify unusual transactions; - assessed whether judgements and assumptions made in determining the accounting estimates set out in Note 2 were indicative of potential bias; and - investigated the rationale behind significant or unusual transactions; In response to the 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; - reading the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance; - enquiring of management as to actual and potential litigation and claims; and - reviewing correspondence with HMRC and the company’s legal advisors; There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of non-compliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the directors and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any. Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion. - 8 - ## **WOMEN IN BUSINESS NI LTD** ## **INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) TO THE TRUSTEES OF WOMEN IN BUSINESS NI LTD** ## **Use of our report** This report is made solely to the company’s members, as a body, in accordance with chapter 3 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 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 company and the company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed. **Angela Craigan (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of Harbinson Mulholland** 16 December 2024 **Chartered Accountants Statutory Auditor** Centrepoint 24 Ormeau Avenue Belfast Co. Antrim Northern Ireland BT2 8HS Harbinson Mulholland is eligible for appointment as auditor of the charity by virtue of its eligibility for appointment as auditor of a company under section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006. - 9 -