The members present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025.
The principal activity of the limited liability partnership continued to be that of a law firm.
The profit for the year before members' remuneration and profit shares was £368,034 (2024 - £238,800).
Members are permitted to make drawings in anticipation of profits which will be allocated to them. The amount of such drawings is set at the beginning of each financial year and regularly reviewed and adjusted, taking into account the anticipated cash needs of the LLP.
Designated Members are required to subscribe a pre-determined level of capital agreed between the Members, and on retirement, capital is repaid to Designated Members. In both cases subject to the terms of the written agreements between the Designated Members.
The designated members who held office during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were as follows:
The members are responsible for preparing the annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
Company law (as applied by The Limited Liability Partnerships (Accounts and Audit) (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2008) requires the members to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the members have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice. Under company law (as applied by The Limited Liability Partnerships (Accounts and Audit) (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2008) the members must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the limited liability partnership and of the profit or loss of the limited liability partnership for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the members are required to:
select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the limited liability partnership will continue in business.
The members are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the limited liability partnership’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the limited liability partnership and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 (as applied by The Limited Liability Partnerships (Accounts and Audit) (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2008). They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the limited liability partnership and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
In order to assist you to fulfil your duties under the Companies Act 2006, we have prepared for your approval the financial statements of Christopher Davidson Solicitors LLP for the year ended 31 March 2025 which comprise the income statement, the statement of financial position and the related notes from the limited liability partnership’s accounting records and from information and explanations you have given us.
As a practising member firm of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, we are subject to its ethical and other professional requirements which are detailed at www.accaglobal.com/rulebook.html.
This report is made solely to the limited liability partnership's members of Christopher Davidson Solicitors LLP, as a body, in accordance with the terms of our engagement letter dated 18 September 2024. Our work has been undertaken solely to prepare for your approval the financial statements of Christopher Davidson Solicitors LLP and state those matters that we have agreed to state to the limited liability partnership's members of Christopher Davidson Solicitors LLP, as a body, in this report in accordance with the requirements of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants as detailed at www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/ACCA_Global/Technical/fact/tf-audit-exempt-companies-jan-24.pdf. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than Christopher Davidson Solicitors LLP and its members as a body for our work or for this report.
It is your duty to ensure that Christopher Davidson Solicitors LLP has kept adequate accounting records and to prepare statutory financial statements that give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit of Christopher Davidson Solicitors LLP. You consider that Christopher Davidson Solicitors LLP is exempt from the statutory audit requirement for the year.
We have not been instructed to carry out an audit or a review of the financial statements of Christopher Davidson Solicitors LLP. For this reason, we have not verified the accuracy or completeness of the accounting records or information and explanations you have given to us and we do not, therefore, express any opinion on the statutory financial statements.
Christopher Davidson Solicitors LLP is a limited liability partnership incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 2 & 3 Oriel Terrace, Oriel Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, GL50 1XP.
These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" including the provisions of Section 1A "Small Entities" and the requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice, Accounting by Limited Liability Partnerships. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the limited liability partnership. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
Turnover is measured at the fair value of the consideration received or receivable, excluding discounts, rebates, value added tax and other sales taxes.
Turnover is revenue arising from the sale of services. It is stated at fair value of consideration receivable, net of value added tax. Revenue is recognised when the LLP has performed its obligations and, in exchange, obtained the right consideration.
Disbursements incurred on behalf of clients during the year are included in turnover. No profit is made on these disbursements.
Revenue is recognised in accordance with the requirements of Financial Reporting Standard 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" so that estimated sales value of work done is accounted for in proportion to the stage of completion of that work, taking into account any uncertainties as to recovery.
Under the Members' agreement, to which the LLP is a party, all profits are treated as being allocated in the financial year and are therefore, disclosed as members' remuneration charged as an expense.
The LLP has no right to refuse payment to the members for their capital and therefore it has been treated as a financial liability. Where members' capital accounts are overdrawn, they are presented as an asset and disclosed as amounts due from members.
Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.
Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:
All fixed assets are initially recorded at cost. The library assets are constantly being replaced and the value is not subject to material variation. All library additions are expensed in the year that they are purchased.
Stocks are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value, after making due allowance for obsolete and slow moving items.
Financial assets, other than those held at fair value through profit and loss, are assessed for indicators of impairment at each reporting end date.
Financial assets are impaired where there is objective evidence that, as a result of one or more events that occurred after the initial recognition of the financial asset, the estimated future cash flows have been affected. If an asset is impaired, the impairment loss is the difference between the carrying amount and the present value of the estimated cash flows discounted at the asset’s original effective interest rate. The impairment loss is recognised in profit or loss.
If there is a decrease in the impairment loss arising from an event occurring after the impairment was recognised, the impairment is reversed. The reversal is such that the current carrying amount does not exceed what the carrying amount would have been, had the impairment not previously been recognised. The impairment reversal is recognised in profit or loss.
Financial assets are derecognised only when the contractual rights to the cash flows from the asset expire or are settled, or when the limited liability partnership transfers the financial asset and substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership to another entity, or if some significant risks and rewards of ownership are retained but control of the asset has transferred to another party that is able to sell the asset in its entirety to an unrelated third party.
Derivatives, including interest rate swaps and forward foreign exchange contracts, are not basic financial instruments. Derivatives are initially recognised at fair value on the date a derivative contract is entered into and are subsequently re-measured at their fair value. Changes in the fair value of derivatives are recognised in profit or loss in finance costs or finance income as appropriate, unless hedge accounting is applied and the hedge is a cash flow hedge.
Debt instruments that do not meet the conditions in FRS 102 paragraph 11.9 are subsequently measured at fair value through profit or loss. Debt instruments may be designated as fair value through profit or loss to eliminate or reduce an accounting mismatch or if the instruments are measured and their performance evaluated on a fair value basis in accordance with a documented risk management or investment strategy.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the limited liability partnership’s obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
Rentals payable under operating leases, including any lease incentives received, are charged to profit or loss on a straight line basis over the term of the relevant lease except where another more systematic basis is more representative of the time pattern in which economic benefits from the leased asset are consumed.
The average number of persons (excluding members) employed by the partnership during the year was:
Included in other creditors is an amount of £8,152 (2024: £32,480 shown as due in less than one year and £8,120 shown as due after one year) owed to a former partner.
In the event of a winding up the amounts included in "Loans and other debts due to members" will rank equally with unsecured creditors.
The LLP rents part of its trading property from 2 & 3 Oriel Terrace Trust ("the Trust"), a partnership between the members of the LLP. During the year, the LLP paid rent of £35,000 (2024: £35,000) to the Trust.