THE ROYAL BELFAST ACADEMICAL INSTITUTION
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE ROYAL
BELFAST ACADEMICAL INSTITUTION
Opinion
We have audited the financial statement5 of The Royal Belfast Academical Institution (the
'School'l for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comprise the Statement of Financial
Activities, the Income and Expenditure Accounts, the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow and
notes to the financial statements, 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).
In our opinion:
The financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the School's affairs
as at 31 March 2024 and of its Incoming resources and application of resources, for
the year then ended,.
The financial statements have been properly prepared In accordance with the
standards of accounting Set by the Department of Education for Voluntary Grammar
School's Statement of Accounts and in accordance with United Kingdom Generally
Accepted Accounting Practice;
Proper accounting records have been kept by the School throughout the period;
The School's whole system of internal control in the relevant financial period was
such as to comply with the obligations placed on the Board of Governors by the
Department of Education and we have not identified any significant weaknesses,.
Grants made by the Department of Education and funds from other sources
reported in the relevant financial period have been applied in accordance with the
Financial Memorandum and any other terms and requirements attached to them:
Pension deductions made bythe School in the relevant financial period were
calculated correctly and have been paid over as required,. and
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with applicable law,
guidance issued by the Department of Education and International Standards on
Auditing IUKI.
Basis for opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) {ISAs
(UKII and applicable law. Our responsibilitie5 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 School 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 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 audit opinion.
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THE ROYAL BELFAST ACADEMICAL INSTITUTION
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE ROYAL
BELFAST ACADEMICAL INSTITUTION
Conclusions relating to golng concern
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Governors, 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 School'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 responsibilitles of the Governors with respect to going concern
are described in the relevant sections of this report.
Other Information
The Governors are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises
the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our
auditor's 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
expres5 any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the
other informatian 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 thls other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
Matters on whlch we are required to report by exceptlon
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where legislation requires us
to report to you if, in our opinion:
the information given in the Governors, Annual Report is inconsistent in any material
respect with the financial statement5; or
sufficient accounting records have not been kept,. or
the financial statements are not in agreement with the accountin8 records and
returns,. or
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
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THE ROYAL BELFAST ACADEMICAL INSTITirfioN
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE ROYAL
BELFAST ACADEMICAL INSTITUTION
Responslblllties of Governors
As explained more fully in the Governors, Responsibilities Statement set out on page 15, the
Governors 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 Governors
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 Governors are responsible for assessing the
School's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applica ble, matters related to
going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Governors either
intend to liquidate the School or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to
do so.
Auditorfs 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 mi5Statement 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, includin8 fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulation5.
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 capa ble of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below.
Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, Including
fraud
The objectives of our audit in respect of fraud, are; to Identify and assess the risks of
material misstatement of the financial statements due to fraud. to obtain sufficient
appropriate audit evidence regarding the assessed risks of material misstatement due to
fraud, through designing and implementing appropriate responses to those assessed risks;
and to respond appropriately to instances of fraud or suspected fraud identified during the
audit. However, the primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of fraud rests
with both management and those charged with governance of the School.
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THE ROYAL BELFAST ACADEMICAL INSTITUTION
INDEPENDENT AUDITOWS REPORT TO THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE ROYAL
BELFAST ACADEMICAL INSTITUTION
Our approach was as follows:
We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory requirements applicable
to the School and considered that the most significant to be the Accountin8 and
Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities
preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard
applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland {FRS 102).
We obtained an understanding of how the School complies wtth these requirements
by discussions with management and those charged with governance.
We assessed the risk of material misstatement of the financial statements, including
the risk of material misstatement due to fraud and how it might occur, by holding
discussions with management and those charged with governance.
We inquired of management and those charged with governance as to any known
instances of non-compliance or suspected non-compliance with laws and
regulations.
Based on this understanding, we designed specific appropriate audit procedures to
identify instances of non-compliance with law5 and regulation5. This included making
enquiries of management and those charged with governance and obtaining
additional corroborative evidence as required.
As part of an audit in accordance with ISAS IUKI we exercise professional judgement and
maintain professional scepticlsm throughout the audit. Audit procedures performed by the
engagement team included:
We obtained an understanding of the School's internal control systems in order to
design audit procedure5 that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the
purposes of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the School'5 internal control.
We obtained an understanding of how the School complies with relevant laws and
regulations by making enquiries of management and those charged with governance.
Enquiry of management, those charged with governance and the entity's solicitors
around actual and potential litigation and claims.
Enquiry of entity staff to identify any instances of non-compliance with laws and
regulations.
Performing analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships
that may indicate risk5 of material misstatement due to fraud.
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THE ROYAL BELFAST ACADEMICAL INsfiTUTION
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE ROYAL
BELFAST ACADEMICAL INSTITUTION
Reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance.
Reviewing internal audit reports.
Reviewing financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to
assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Auditing the risk of management override of controls, including through testing journal
entries and other adjustments for appropriateness, and evaluating the rationale of
significant transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business.
We communicated relevant laws and regulations and potential fraud risks to all engagement
team members, and remained alert to any indications of fraud or non-compliance with laws
and regulations throughout the audit.
There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above and the further
removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transaction5
reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we would become aware of it. Also, the
risk of not detecting a material mi5Statement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not
detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment through
collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations or the override of internal
control.
A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financia I statements is
located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at:
http://www.frc,org,uk/auditorsresponsibilties. This description forms part of our auditor's
report,
We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the
planned scope and timing of the audit and significant findings, including any significant
deficiencies in intern al control that we identify during our audit.
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THE ROYAL BELFAST ACADEMICAL INSTITUTION
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE ROYAL
BELFAST ACADEMICAL INSTITUTION
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the School's Governors, as a body. Our audit work has been
undertaken so that we might state to the School's Governors those matters we are required
to state to them in an auditorfs 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
School and its Governors as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions
we have formed.
C￿.1)
Moore (N.1.) NI LLP
Senior Statutory Auditor
4th Floor- Done8all House
7 Donegall Square North
Belfast
Northern Ireland
BTI 5G8
Date.,
Moore (N.I.I LLP is eligible to act as an auditor in terms of section 65 of the Charities Act INI)
2008
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