Local authority audit is changing but, Stephen Sheen argues, 100% private sector provision is unlikely to be “viable” while the underlying problem is difficulty recruiting for “soul destroying” work. At[…]
Coping with low morale, IFRS 16, standardised statements and an audit process he describes as a “mess” are the promised highlights of the coming year. It seems premature to look[…]
The Financial Reporting Council has delivered its verdict on council audits but, writes Stephen Sheen, it falls short of recognising the “unique nature of local authority accounts”. Although the Financial[…]
The Redmond Review has made a series of recommendations for improving local government audit. Stephen Sheen argues it leaves many questions unaswered. The report of the Redmond Review into the[…]
The regulator’s efforts to upgrade audit is “piling up wreckage” in local government, according to Stephen Sheen.
An effort to reduce the accounts preparation burden on local authorities in the midst of coping with the Covid-19 crisis was recently abandoned. Stephen Sheen looks at the implications. This[…]
Its the time of year when finance teams focus on their statement of accounts. Stephen Sheen argues that pushing back the deadline for audited accounts is not enough. There is[…]
Local government audit failed to reach optimum performance levels this year: Deadlines were missed and key staff lost. Things will need to improve in 2020, says Stephen Sheen Well, that[…]
The pressure has been on external auditors this Summer. The first year of the new Public Sector Audit Appointments (PSAA) contracts, with fees cut by 23%, reshuffled appointments, and firms[…]
When the Prudential Code was being developed, there was no expectation that it was going to be a document that was going to change the world. Its function was largely[…]
