Audits for industry sectors, including occupational pensions, charities and FSA-regulated businesses

Occupational pension schemes

At Booth Ainsworth, our pensions specialists provide a first class pensions audit, tax and accountancy service to trustees of a range of occupational pension schemes.

Occupational pension schemes provide benefits to employees and their dependents after retirement, and are usually funded either by the employer or by both employer and employee. There are two main types of scheme: salary-related (also known as final salary or defined-benefit) and money purchase (also known as defined-contribution).

In salary-related schemes, members and their employers usually set funds aside to meet the future cost of benefits. The benefits are based on how much you are paid and the number of years you have been in the scheme.

Money purchase scheme benefits are generally based on how much has been paid into the scheme, the return on investments, and how much pension this money will buy at retirement.

Trustees of occupational pension schemes must comply with the provisions of trust law, the Pension Scheme Act 1993, and the Pensions Acts 1995 and 2004. Audited accounts and independent auditors' statements about contributions are a legal requirement, and the activities of occupational pension schemes are subject to HM Revenue & Customs and Financial Services legislation. It is imperative that your pension scheme auditors be fully aware of the accounting and auditing implications of all these requirements.

Our Pensions Group can offer you just such expertise. Our pension scheme audits comply with all the relevant laws and regulations, and we always prepare financial statements in accordance with the appropriate regulations and guidelines.

Some ‘small self-administered pension schemes' (SSAS) and other ‘self-invested personal pension schemes' (SIPP) do not need audited accounts. For these, we can help you prepare annual accounts and complete the appropriate self-assessment tax returns.

Charity audits

Charities have different objectives from their commercial counterparts, but still need a strong management team supported by professional charity specialists and charity auditors to achieve them.

As no two charities are the same, we make sure we understand your charitable activities in detail so that we can offer you a great service and prompt, proactive advice. In fact, many of the Booth Ainsworth partners are trustees of local charities and have first-hand experience of charity business planning, fundraising and the stewardship of a charity's assets, so we are ideally placed to help you achieve your charity goals.

The Charities Act has considerably increased the compliance burden on unincorporated charities, and we can help you make sure you comply with your legal responsibilities. We can also offer you a training service to cover a range of subjects, from basic accounting and control issues to compliance and governance.

Changes to the charity audit thresholds were implemented in February 2007. For more details about these, see Charities Act 2007 new audit thresholds below and http://www.opsi.gov.uk/Acts/acts1993/ukpga_19930010_en_1

FSA-regulated businesses

Some businesses are registered with the FSA. To audit these, you should have specialist industry knowledge. Our team of FSA auditors and FSA specialists regularly deals with these types of audits, and can help you with any difficulties or queries.

Charities Act 2007 new audit thresholds

Non-company charity:

• Audit: Gross income greater than £500,000 or income over £100,000 with assets over £2.8 million.
• Independent examination: Gross income over £10,000 but not exceeding £250,000 - independent examination by an independent person with appropriate ability.
• Gross income over £250,000 but not exceeding £500,000 - independent examination by examiner with specified qualification.
• Total exemption: Income not exceeding £10,000

Charitable company:

• Audit: Income over £500,000 or aggregate assets over £2.8 million.
• Group rules for audit: Member of a large group, or aggregate group income over £700,000 net (£840,000 gross), or group assets over £2.8 million net (£3.36 million gross).
• Accountant's report: Income over £90,000 but not exceeding £500,000 and aggregate assets not exceeding £2.8 million.
• Total exemption: Income not exceeding £90,000 and aggregate assets not exceeding £2.8 million.

All audited accounts must comply with the Statement of Recommended Accounting Practice (SORP 2005).