Notes to the financial statements
1. General Information
PSAA is responsible for appointing auditors to local government, fire and police bodies and for setting fees.
The company is limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The members of the company are set out in Note 15.
The company is incorporated and domiciled in the UK. The address of its registered office is: Local Government House, Smith Square, London, SW1P 3HZ.
2. Statement of compliance
The individual financial statements of PSAA have been prepared in compliance with United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006, under the provisions of the Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/410). We qualify for Small Company exemptions; however we have adopted this approach for the purpose of transparency.
3. Summary of significant accounting policies
The principal accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all the years presented, unless otherwise stated.
a) Basis of preparation
These financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis, under the historical cost convention.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the company. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £’000.
b) Public benefit entity
Under FRS102, PSAA qualifies as a public benefit entity and therefore the special provisions of section 34 of FRS 102 are applicable. These provisions have been reviewed and are not relevant to this financial year and prior accounting periods, as PSAA did not make any business combinations and did not receive any concessionary loans. The provisions will be kept under review.
c) Going concern
The financial statements have been prepared on the going concern basis. Our disclosure following our assessment of going concern is included within the Directors’ report on page 21. We are operating under the appointing person regime for the five years from 1 April 2018. In May 2021 DLUHC confirmed that PSAA would remain the appointing person responsible for the next procurement. In that context it is appropriate to prepare PSAA’s accounts on a going concern basis.
d) Revenue recognition and the treatment of surplus funds
Revenue and associated costs are recognised, excluding VAT, in the accounting period in which the services are rendered, when the outcome of contracts can be estimated reliably. The company uses the percentage of completion method based on the actual service performed as a percentage of the total services to be provided.
PSAA sets the fee scale annually and publishes the scale fee for each individual audited body. If the auditor subsequently considers that additional work is required that is not provided for in the scale fee for an individual body, a fee variation proposal can be submitted to PSAA. This is set out in the legal framework for audit fees and variations, in the Regulations. Regulation 17(2) provides for the auditor to propose to PSAA (as the Appointing Person) that fees should be varied where the work involved in a particular audit was substantially more or less than envisaged by the appropriate scale.
Revenue and associated costs in relation to fee variations are recognised as follows:
| Fee variation status | Calculation of revenue and associated costs |
| Fee variation proposals submitted by firms by 31 March and approved by PSAA | The amount of approved fee variations |
| Fee variation proposals submitted by firms by 31 March and are being considered by PSAA | Fee variation submitted by firms multiplied by previous year’s approval rate* |
| No fee variation proposals submitted by firms by 31 March, audits are delivered, and fee variations are expected from firms for all audits. | Scale fee multiplied by average % of fee variations submitted by firms for the audit year** multiplied by the previous year’s approval rate* |
| No fee variation proposals submitted by firms by 31 March and work in progress is 90%*** and above. | Scale fee multiplied by average level of fee variations submitted by firms for the audit year** multiplied by the previous year’s approval rate* multiplied by % of work in progress |
| No fee variation proposals submitted by firms by 31 March and work in progress is below 90%. | No fee variation accrued |
*approval rate for audit year 2019/20 is 77.6% (previously 73.7%), 2020/21 is 83.1% (previously 79.2%) and 2021/22 is 83.9%
**average level of fee variations submitted by firms for audit year 2019//20 is 53.0% (previously 49.5%), 2020/21 is 79.2% (previously 75.9%), 2021/22 is 78.7% (previously 72.0%) of scale fees
***audits where the % of work complete are 90% and above are considered to be near completion.
Scale fees belong to and are set by PSAA. For administrative convenience, PSAA requires audit firms to bill opted-in bodies on its behalf and to act as its agents to collect fees. PSAA invoices firms at the scale fee adjusted for the firms’ agreed remuneration. Firms are required to update quarterly work in progress returns with the amount of work they have completed in the quarter to establish the percentage complete. The revenue received by PSAA is to cover directly the costs of the auditors and the operating expenses of PSAA. If at the end of the period there is a remaining surplus or a shortfall, as a result of expenses being over or under-estimated, revenue is adjusted to the actual amount receivable from the opted-in bodies and payable by PSAA in total. Surplus funds are repaid to the opted-in bodies the surplus was generated from; however, the repayment date and method are to be determined by the Board. Until a decision is made to return specific funds, all potential surplus funds are shown as a liability in the form of deferred income, as PSAA has a constructive obligation to repay the funds. Once a decision is made by the Board to return specific funds the amount outstanding at the year-end is shown as creditors.
PSAA accounts for and reports on the transitional arrangements and appointing person separately.
PSAA will account for and report on each appointing period separately to enable PSAA to return surplus funds back to the bodies that opted in for the particular appointing period. The opted-in bodies may vary from one period to another, and the distribution will match the opt-in period. If a body ceases to exist, then the appropriate share of the distribution may be due to a specific successor body (ies) in which case it will be paid to the body (ies) concerned. If a new body is created within an appointing period, the amount due to it will be based on the proportion of the appointing period for which the body existed.
e) Corporation tax and deferred tax
The company is liable for corporation tax on its profits, but it will not have any trading profits as it accounts for its trading activities on a no profit/no loss basis. As a consequence, there is no deferred tax in the financial year. The company is liable to corporation tax on investment income.
f) Provisions
Provisions are recognised when PSAA has a present legal or constructive obligation as a result of past events; it is probable that an outflow of resources will be required to settle the obligation; and the amount of the obligation can be estimated reliably.
g) Employee benefits
- Short term benefits
Short term benefits including holiday pay and other non-monetary benefits are recognised as an expense in the period in which the service is received. - Defined contribution pension plan
PSAA operates a defined contribution plan for its employees. A defined contribution plan is a pension plan under which the company pays fixed contributions into a separate entity. Once the contributions have been paid, PSAA has no further payment obligations. The contributions are recognised as an expense when they are due. Amounts not paid are shown as accruals in the balance sheet. The assets of the plan are held separately from the company in independently administered funds.
h) Financial instruments
Financial instruments are shown as follows:
- trade and other receivables at their nominal amount;
- deferred income at nominal amount. Amounts falling due after more than one year mainly represent potential surplus fees to be repaid to opted-in bodies at a future date. The potential surplus fees will be repaid in accordance with a formula which will be agreed by the Board, therefore deferred income falling due after more than one year is also reported at nominal amount;
- trade and other payables at their nominal amount; and
- short-term financial assets, cash and cash equivalents are held by the LGA on PSAA’s behalf in line with PSAA’s treasury management policy. These balances are deposited in accordance with the PSAA’s investment strategy. These are stated at their nominal value, which approximates to fair value because of their short maturity period of the assets.
i) Contingent Liabilities
PSAA indemnifies appointed auditors for legal costs they incur when carrying out their special legal functions that are otherwise irrecoverable. The amount incurred in any one year from this indemnity depends on the progress of individual cases and so cannot be predicted or quantified until any liabilities crystallise. The indemnity under the Appointing Person arrangements is capped at £50,000. The indemnity under the transitional arrangements is not capped.
4. Turnover
Analysis of turnover
5. Cost of sales
Analysis of cost of sales
6. Administrative expenses
7. Directors, independent member of audit committee and Employees
The average monthly number of persons employed by the company during the year was:
8. Taxation
9. Debtors
This note provides an analysis of the debtors shown in PSAA’s Balance Sheet.
10. Accrued trade income
This note provides an analysis of the accrued trade income (work completed, but not yet billed) shown in PSAA’s Balance Sheet.
11. Current asset investments
Surplus cash balances are lent to financial institutions on the brokers approved counterparty list and to non-English local authorities. Investments are typically for periods not exceeding twelve months and as such the loan amount is a reasonable assessment of fair value. The counterparty list is currently restricted to financial institutions and local authorities that meet agreed credit ratings criteria and subject to the cash limits (per counterparty) as shown in PSAA’s Investment Strategy agreed by the PSAA Board. PSAA’s Investment Strategy strictly applies credit limits for all financial institutions on the approved counterparty list to ensure that investments are diversified. No credit limits were exceeded during the year and PSAA does not expect any losses on short term investments.
12. Trade and other payables
13. Deferred income
Deferred income represents invoices raised in advance for work the firms have yet to deliver and surplus fees to be paid to opted-in bodies at a future date.
Deferred income due within 1 year includes work in progress of £0.650m in relation to the arrangements under the Appointing Persons regime.
£1.746m of the £12.946m deferred income falling due after more than 1 year relates to the transitional arrangements and £11.200m relates to the Appointing Persons regime. Once it is clear the money is not required to meet PSAA costs the funds will be returned to opted-in bodies, in accordance with a formula to be agreed by the Board (as explained in note 3d above).
Deferred income – falling due within 1 year
Deferred income – falling due after more than 1 year
14. Cash flow
15. Related party transactions
Public Sector Audit Appointments Limited (PSAA) is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee without share capital. The company’s sole member and guarantor is the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), which is a subsidiary of the Local Government Association (LGA). PSAA is operationally independent of both organisations. PSAA’s financial statements are not consolidated into the LGA’s as neither the IDeA nor the LGA exercise control over PSAA or benefit from its results and financial performance.
The IDeA and the LGA are treated as related parties in these accounts. During the year PSAA received services from the LGA, such as IT, HR finance support and accommodation. The total value of these services was £166,756 (2023: £142,993). To date PSAA has paid a total of £137,369 in this financial year. £29,387 (2023: £44,645) is owed by PSAA to the LGA. There were no transactions between PSAA and the key management personnel other than the compensation and expenses set out in the Remuneration Report
16. Contingent liabilities
At the end of 31 March 2024 or 31 March 2023, PSAA had no contingent liabilities.