Memorandum from the William Price Charitable
Trust (DCH 257)
DRAFT CHARITIES BILL—REQUIREMENT FOR
PROFESSIONAL AUDIT
This educational charity is a grant-making charity
that has annual income in the region of £150,000 from assets
of approximately £40 million, mainly invested in Charity
Common Investment Funds. Under the 1993 Charities Act it has not
required a fall professional audit but has benefited from being
eligible for an independent Examination by a qualified accountant.
Until receiving the May Charity Commission News,
outlining the proposed changes to Charity Law, it was assumed
that the audit threshold levels for charities were being raised.
It was therefore with some surprise at we found that this charity
is likely to require a professional audit in future, as our assets
exceed £2.8 million. We have yet to discover the increased
cost of a full audit but we know that it will be far from insignificant
and this cost will inevitably mean less available for educational
grants.
To date our trustees (and presumably the Charity
Commission) have been happy with an annual independent examination.
If in future a professional audit is required it is likely to
be done by the same person but at a greater cost due to the a
paperwork involved. It would therefore be appreciated if the views
of this charity could be taken into account in establishing the
new thresholds in order to enable charities of this and a similar
size to continue benefiting from eligibility for Independent Examinations.
July 2004
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