INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORTTO THE TRUSTEES OF WELLINGTON CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYfERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND Year ended 31 December 2023 Opinlon We have audited the financial statements of Wellington Congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (the 'charity'l for the year ended 31 December 2023 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, statement of cash flows and notes to the financlal statements, including a summary of si8nificant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied In thelr 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: glve a true and fair vlew of the state of the charity's affairs as at 31 December 2023, and of Its total incoming resources and expenditure 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 Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008. Basls for oplnlon We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAS {UKII 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, includlng 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. Concluslons relatlng to 8olng concern In auditin8 the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees, 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 collectlvely, may cast significant doubt on the charity's ability to contlnue 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 responsibillties of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report, 12
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF WELLINGTON CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYfERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND (cont'd) Year ended 31 December 2023 Other informatlon The other information comprlses the information Included in the trustees annual report, other than the financlal statements and our auditor's report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Qur 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. Our responslbility Is to read the other informatlon and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identlfy such material Inconsistencles or apparent material mlsstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. 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 thls regard. Matters on whlch we are required to report by exceptlon We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to whlch the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations {Northern Irelapdl 2015 require us to report to you if, in our opinion.. the information given in the financial statements Is Inconsistent in any materlal respect with the trustees, report; or the charity ha5 not kept adequate accounting record5; or the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records; or we have not recelved all the information and explanations we require for our audit. ResponslbSlltles of trustees As explained more fully in the trustees, responsibilities statement set out on page 9 and 10, the trustees are responsible for the preparation of financlal statements which 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 responslble for assessing the charity's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as appllcable, matters related to Boing concern and using the going concern basls of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charity or to cease operatlons, or have no realistic alternative but to do so. 13
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF WELLINGTON CONGREGATION OF THE PRE5BYfERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND Icont'd) Year ended 31 December 2023 Audltorfs responslbllltles for the audlt of the financlal statements We have been appointed as auditor under section 65{2} of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 and report in accordance with regulations made under section 66 of that Act. Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financlal 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. Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responslbllities, 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: the nature of the organisation and sector, control environment and performance,. results of our enquiries of management about their own identification and assessment of the risk5 of irregularities; any matters we identified having obtained and reviewed the charity's documentation of their policies and procedures relatlng to: identifying, evaluating and complying with laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any instance5 of non-compliance; detecting and respondlng to the rlsks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud; the internal controls established to mitigate risks of fraud or non-compliance with laws and re8ulations; the matters discussed amon8 the audit engagement team and relevant Internal Specialists where necessary regarding how and where fraud might occur in the financial statements and any potential indicators of fraud. We developed an understanding Of the key fraud risks to the entity (including how fraud might occur), the controls in place to help miti8ate those risks, and the accounts, balances and disclosures within the financial statements which may be susceptible to management bias. We also obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that the charity operates In, focusing on provisions of those laws and regulations that had a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures In the financial statements. The key laws and regulations we considered in this context included the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 and Taxation Legislation. 14
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'5 REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF WELLINGTON CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYfERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND (¢onVd) Year ended 31 December 2023 In addition, we considered provisions of other laws and regulations that do not have a direct effect on the financial statements but compliance with which may be fundamental to the charity's ability to operate or to avoid a materlal penalty. As a result of performlng the above our procedures to respond to risks identified included the following:" revlewlng the financlal statement disclosures and testlng to supporting documentation to assess compliance with provision5 of relevant laws and regulations described as having a direct effect on the financial statements, enquiring of management concerning actual and potential litigation and claims, performin8 analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relatlonships that may indicate risks of materlal misstatement due to fraud, reading minutes of meetings of those charged with governance and reviewln8 correspondence with HMRC, addressing the risk of fraud through management override of controls by testing the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments, assesslng whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potent131 bias, and evaluating the business rationale of any significant transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business. We also communicated relevant identified laws and regulations and potential fraud risks to all engagement team members, including internal speclalists, and remalned alert to any Indications of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations throughout the audit. A further descrlptlon of our responsibilities is avallable on the Financial Reportlng Council's website at: htt www.frc.or auditorsres onsibilitie5. The description forms part of our auditorfs report. 15
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF WELLINGTON CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYfERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND {cont'dl Year ended 31 December 2023 Use of our report Thls report is made solely to the charity's trustees, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity's trustees those matters we are requlred 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 trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed. Ja es Gage (Senior Statutory Audltor) For and on behalf of Johnston Kennedy DFK Chartered Accountants and Reglstered Audltors 10 Pilots Vlew Heron Road Belfast BT3 9LE Date: za>4 16