COULD YOU BE OUR NEW AUDITOR?
For many years we have been very fortunate to have a volunteer auditor, Joe Marr, to whom we are extremely thankful. However, Joe is now stepping down and we need to find a suitable replacement before our next AGM in October.
We are seeking an individual who would be willing to become the auditor for our accounts. This person would, in the interests of keeping our costs as low as possible for our charitable purposes, ideally be a volunteer! COULD THIS BE YOU?
Our Treasurer explains that, because Friends of Pittville is a charity with an annual income of less than £250k, we are NOT required to appoint an auditor who is a member of one of the professional accounting bodies. This is in accordance with the HMRC guidelines. The person we are looking for would simply (in HMRC’s words) ‘need to be able to demonstrate financial awareness, numeracy skills and relevant experience’ in order to be able to review and check our accounts. This is where you come in!
We are looking for someone who has run, or helped to run, a business and who has an understanding of and familiarity with accounting procedures and end of year accounts. According to Joe, the task is not an onerous one. Timewise, it would only involve input once a year as we prepare the end of year accounts. This is in late September/early October, ahead of the AGM. In Joe’s experience, he usually had the set of accounts for a couple of days. He always had a few questions which meant he would expect to spend an hour or so with Sarah, the Treasurer, and that was pretty much all he needed before signing off on the figures.
Sarah explains that, because he has been auditing our accounts for many years, Joe was familiar with their format. Therefore, the initial challenge for our new post-holder would be navigating a set of Excel spreadsheets and gaining an understanding of the way FoP is set up and run; membership and fundraising etc.
If you are personally prepared to volunteer, or indeed you know someone who may be willing to help, please email our treasurer at: treasurer@friendsofpittville.org.uk
Thank you in anticipation of your help.
Author: John Holloway