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.
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. 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 capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below.
Based on our understanding of the company and its financial operations we have considered the initial risks of non-compliance with the UK regulators, predominantly HM Revenue and Customs and the Companies Act. We have assessed the impact of any breaches in such laws and regulations, based on the results of audit testing and enquiries made with management, and considered whether any such findings would have a material impact on these financial statements. We have considered the risk of those charged with management overriding internal controls and the opportunity for financial manipulation. We have considered the effect of any accounting estimates included within these accounts and the effect this may have on our audit opinion.
Our audit procedures together with our assessment of risks identified at planning were transparent to the company and we have communicated with the client throughout the audit as well as the audit engagement team, and this includes such matters as fraud and irregularity. The above procedures do however have their limitations as we can only work on a sample of financial transactions. Ultimately it is the responsibility of those charged with management for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.A further description of our responsibilities is available on the FRC’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditors/audit-assurance/auditor-s-responsibilities-for-the-audit-of-the-fi/description-of-the-auditor%E2%80%99s-responsibilities-for. 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 audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit