Internal Audit

We are a team of experienced internal audit specialists. We offer you an internal audit service highly tailored to your needs. We provide internal audit to clients in the local government, education and wider charity sectors.

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Our education sector internal audit clients are multi academy trusts (MATs), for whom we predominantly carry out ‘deep-dive’ reviews into two or three topics per financial year, in line with the MAT audit committee’s assessments of the key risk areas for their MAT, and to help satisfy requirements of the Academy Trust Handbook.

Our internal audits cover both financial and non-financial areas. Recent reviews for our education clients have included:

Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) funding

Estates management including health & safety

Payroll

Governance

Ring-fenced Department for Education funding

GDPR compliance

Financial controls

Compliance with Academy Trust Handbook ‘musts’

Our reports are designed so readers can quickly and easily evaluate the key conclusions and observations. The reports include a RAG-rated overall opinion, a RAG-rated summary of recommendations and then the detailed findings.

For our education clients, we prepare an Internal Scrutiny Annual Report, summarising all relevant reviews during the financial year just ended. We also provide this as a standalone annual service to education sector clients that employ a range of internal auditors during the year.

In the local government sector, our clients are town and parish councils, for whom we provide a highly tailored service reviewing the effectiveness of their controls and processes in all the areas listed on the Annual Internal Audit Report page of their Annual Governance and Accountability Return.

We carry out our internal audit testing for our local council clients twice each year, first via an interim visit during the financial year itself and again soon after financial year end, so we can assess the effectiveness of controls over the whole 12-month period. After our visits, we provide a written report to Councillors.

Relevant Insights

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Academies Accounts Direction 2022-2023

We highlight changes to the Academies Accounts Direction (AAD2023) – issued by ESFA annually, which sets out requirements and guidance for accounting periods ending on 31 August 2023.

Webinar

Academies annual update: Surviving turbulent times

This webinar presented by the education specialists from PrimeGlobal member firms covers updates on the Academy Trust Handbook and Accounts Direction, leasing electric vehicles, VAT, case studies and more.

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Academies Newsletter Summer 2023

This Academies update from PrimeGlobal experts covers topics including Deregulation in the Academy Trust Handbook, Managing risk in difficult times, How the cost of living crisis is impacting schools, Should academy trusts offer employee electric car schemes and more

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Services to academies

Our specialist team will support academies and schools throughout the process. Find out more about our accountancy services and ongoing support.

Giles Kerkham

Partner

Marc Cawthorne

Senior