2025-12-31-accounts - Smithton & Culloden Free Church

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MacKenzie‘ Kerr7 Limited‘ ‘

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Our ref: BA/AI/S397/360972

20 April 2026

The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) 29 Floor Quadrant House 9 Riverside Drive Dundee DD1 4NY

Dear Sir

Smithton & Culloden Free Church Charity No: SC012271

We are writing to inform you that we have issued a qualified audit report with the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2025 and attach a copy of our report for your information

Should you have any queries or require further information please contact our audit manager, Martin Nairn, in the first instance.

Yours faithfully

MacKenzie Kerr Limited

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SMITHTON & CULLODEN FREE CHURCH

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF SMITHTON & CULLODEN FREE CHURCH

Qualified opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Smithton & Culloden Free Church (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 31 December 2025 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, 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, except for the possible effects of the matter described in the Basis for Qualified Opinion section of our report, the financial statements:
give a true and fair view of the state of the charity's affairs as at 31 December 2025 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 Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and regulation 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006.

Basis for qualified 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 in note 22 to the financial statements, 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 qualified opinion.

The charity had limited information available with regard to its payroll, which resulted in us not being able to fully confirm that the amounts recorded through the financial statements and calculations and deductions from its employees and paid over to HMRC were correct. There were no alternative procedures available to us to ensure these amounts are materially correct.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustee 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 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 trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. 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 course of 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 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 this regard.

SMITHTON & CULLODEN FREE CHURCH

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) TO THE TRUSTEES OF SMITHTON & CULLODEN FREE CHURCH

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In respect solely of the limitation on our work relating to historic bank accounts and certain payroll information described above:

we have not obtained all the information and explanations that we considered necessary for the purpose of our audit; and - we were unable to determine whether proper accounting records had been kept.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

the information given in the financial statements is inconsistent in any material respect with the trustee report; or
the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records.

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the statement of trustee responsibilities, the trustees 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 cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditor under section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and report in accordance with the Act and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

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.

The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below.

Identifying and assessing risks related to irreqularities:

We assessed the susceptibility of the company's financial statements to material misstatement and how fraud might occur, including through discussions with the directors, discussions within our audit team planning meeting, updating our record of internal controls and ensuring these controls operated as intended. We evaluated possible incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements. We identified laws and regulations that are of significance in the context of the company by discussions with directors and updating our understanding of the sector in which the company operates. Laws and regulations of direct significance in the context of the company include The Companies Act 2006, and UK Tax legislation. Audit response to risks identified: We considered the extent of compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our audit procedures on the related financial statement items including a review of financial statement disclosures. We reviewed the company's records of breaches of laws and regulations, minutes of meetings and correspondence with relevant authorities to identify potential material misstatements arising. We discussed the company's policies and procedures for compliance with laws and regulations with members of management responsible for compliance.

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SMITHTON & CULLODEN FREE CHURCH

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) TO THE TRUSTEES OF SMITHTON & CULLODEN FREE CHURCH

During the planning meeting with the audit team, the Responsible Individual (RI) drew attention to the key areas which might involve non-compliance with laws and regulations or fraud. We enquired of management whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations or knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud. We addressed the risk of fraud through management override of controls by testing the appropriateness of journal entries and identifying any significant transactions that were unusual or outside the normal course of business. We assessed whether judgements made in making accounting estimates gave rise to a possible indication of management bias. At the completion stage of the audit, the RI's review included ensuring that the team had approached their work with appropriate professional scepticism and thus the capacity to identify noncompliance with laws and regulations and fraud. 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 transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we would become aware of it. Also, the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentations, or through collusion.

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.

Other matters

Your attention is drawn to the fact that the charity has prepared financial statements in accordance with "Accounting 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)" (as amended) in preference to the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice issued on 1 April 2005 which is referred to in the extant regulations but has now been withdrawn.

This has been done in order for the financial statements to provide a true and fair view in accordance with current Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charity's trustees, as a body, in accordance with Regulation 10 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity's trustees 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 trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

& \ Soin.

Rhona Wilson, BA, FCCA (Senior Statutory Auditor)

For and on behalf of MacKenzie Kerr Limited Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors Redwood

19 Culduthel Road Inverness IV2 4AA Date: 21 April 2026

MacKenzie Kerr Limited 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.

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