RSM is one of the UK’s largest independent firms of chartered accountants and business advisers. We have 35 offices across the UK, enabling us to provide local and timely support to our clients wherever they may be based.
RSM is the UK’s most popular provider of audit, tax and consulting services to the public and third sector, working closely with over 450 education institutions and over 1,100 charities across the UK.
RSM’s education clients are supported by a 200-strong Education Group within the firm, headed by senior individuals with decades of experience supporting clients across all areas of the education sector, including sector regulators and advocacy organisations such as CST. A number of team members act as trustees in a personal capacity and have harnessed additional skills and insight from roles in agencies and regulators.
This rich mix of education experience, coupled with insights gained from our extensive internal audit, external audit and consulting work across the sector, helps RSM arm its clients with pertinent and timely information on emerging issues and risks, driving optimised audits and advice, thus ensuring well-informed management decisions.
Working closely with sector regulators allows us to provide our staff and clients with information and advice on emerging issues, develop the services we offer, and how we tailor our audit strategy and plan to cover emerging risks and areas of required assurance. This insight is also advantageous in informing our approach and tailoring our work to support clients through any regulatory change
We provide a client-centric, collaborative approach that’s based on a deep understanding of our clients’ businesses. This is how we empower you to move forward with confidence and realise your full potential.
We provide a full range of assurance services to the sector. This includes the annual external audit of your financial statements and other year-end reporting requirements. To ensure that we provide the best service, we are active members of Education and Skills Funding Agency working groups contributing to guidance and good practice.
The role of trustees (governors) is critical to the success of the Trust and we support boards in meeting their responsibilities. A board assurance framework assists boards in identifying the risks that could stop them achieving their objectives, the controls that mitigate those risks and how the board gains assurance that those controls are working.
We have invested considerable resource and time into developing a bespoke and tailored service offering, designed to meet the needs of academy trusts across the country. Insight4GRC™ is a cost-effective cloud-based governance, risk and compliance (GRC) solution that provides management teams with the ability to efficiently manage risks and controls, track actions, communicate policies and procedures and engage with stakeholders in real time, making use of tailored interactive dashboards and reports.
Internal scrutiny is one of the key tools for providing assurance over each academy trust’s framework of governance, risk management and internal control, and is also a key requirement of the Academy Trust Handbook. RSM provides a full out-sourced internal audit service or can assist in discrete reviews and deep dives.
RSM works closely with existing Academies, particularly those that are in multi-academy trusts, in order to assist them to monitor and manage their VAT position. This includes ensuring that correct claims are made to recover VAT via the VAT 126 for those Academies that are not VAT registered, and working with them to monitor whether VAT registration is necessary, or desirable. For VAT registered organisations, we provide training on the set up of systems to ease VAT reporting and provide consistent data across sites. Many Academies find that an annual review of their VAT reporting gives comfort that errors are not accruing year on year. Unusual transactions or new activities will always have the potential to add complexity from a VAT perspective with advice being given on these as and when they arise.
For schools or colleges converting to Academies, VAT is one of the many issues that need to be considered not least because the administration and operation of the tax will change. RSM assists alongside other colleagues to facilitate the transition and ensure VAT is set up correctly from the start of Academisation.
RSM has one of the largest Technology Risk Assurance teams outside of the ‘Big 4’ firms, with over 30 qualified and experienced IT audit and advisory specialists. The breadth and scope of our IT related audit and advisory work includes reviews of network security, change control, cyber security, remote working and network resilience / data security.
We have a forensic and fraud investigation team who have vast experience working to prevent fraud through proactive activities assessing your "anti-fraud” policies and culture, and in carrying out investigations.
RSM works closely with existing Academies, particularly those that are in multi-academy trusts, in order to assist them to monitor and manage their VAT position. This includes ensuring that correct claims are made to recover VAT via the VAT 126 for those Academies that are not VAT registered, and working with them to monitor whether VAT registration is necessary, or desirable. For VAT registered organisations, we provide training on the set up of systems to ease VAT reporting and provide consistent data across sites. Many Academies find that an annual review of their VAT reporting gives comfort that errors are not accruing year on year. Unusual transactions or new activities will always have the potential to add complexity from a VAT perspective with advice being given on these as and when they arise.
For schools or colleges converting to Academies, VAT is one of the many issues that need to be considered not least because the administration and operation of the tax will change. RSM assists alongside other colleagues to facilitate the transition and ensure VAT is set up correctly from the start of Academisation.
RSM has one of the largest Technology Risk Assurance teams outside of the ‘Big 4’ firms, with over 30 qualified and experienced IT audit and advisory specialists. The breadth and scope of our IT related audit and advisory work includes reviews of network security, change control, cyber security, remote working and network resilience / data security.
We have a forensic and fraud investigation team who have vast experience working to prevent fraud through proactive activities assessing your "anti-fraud” policies and culture, and in carrying out investigations.
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Company no: 05303883
Charity no: 1107640
