Services and contacts

PricewaterhouseCoopers provides assurance, tax and advisory services to more than 450 charities. Our specialists have been working with charities for more than three centuries. Of course, our approach has changed over the years, however, our key objective has always been to provide timely and effective support based on our commitment to quality and integrity.

Assurance and regulatory reporting

As the leading audit and assurance firm, PwC helps improve governance reporting and provides assurance that systems are operating effectively, within a well controlled environment.  We audit almost 170 of the RCM Top 3,000 Charities as well as almost half the FTSE 100 and literally thousands of other organisations, and our audit approach is at the leading edge of best practice.  Our experts tailor that approach to suit the size and nature of the organisation, drawing on our extensive industry knowledge. 

Our deep understanding of regulation and legislation means we can help with complex business issues.  We are leaders in the development of non-financial reporting, helping our clients respond to the drive for better corporate reporting.

We work with our clients to identify and manage the myriad of risks arising from their operational, fundraising and financial activities.

Understanding our clients’ activities and the issues which they face is fundamental to our audit approach. We do this by meeting with their people, not just in the finance department but across the key functional areas, to talk about strategy, current developments, risks and controls.

We have a rigorous internal charity accreditation process which means that clients will continue to deal with experienced charity practitioners, who have a broad range of relevant experience to bring to bear for their benefit.

Bob Humphreys, +44 (0) 20 7212 2842

Liz Hazell, +44 (0) 20 7804 1235

Internal audit

PwC understands the key commercial, strategic, compliance and operational risks facing charities today. Key to successful performance are:

• clear and accountable governance structures, with transparent and professional financial control
• well thought through risk taking
• strong control environments, supported by sound business processes and reporting.

We offer charities insight into their governance and risk issues, including effectiveness of existing structures and processes, so that Boards have confidence that objectives will be achieved.

Our internal audit approach is based on sound, risk-based coverage of financial and business systems, key risks, programmes and projects, governance and security structures. We use PwC specialists to rigorously assess process controls and to challenge management to continuously improve, based on best practice in the voluntary, public and private sectors.

The benefit of our approach is reliable audit opinions, commercial and practical advice and recommendations, and confidence that management are being properly held to account in its fiduciary stewardship of the charity.

Nicholas Haigney, +44 (0) 20 7213 5613    

Tax and VAT services

In order to deliver maximum value, charities need to be able to organise their tax activities efficiently. This means understanding the tax rules that apply to their income and expenditure – whether in terms of direct tax, VAT or employment taxes.

We have a team of highly-qualified and experienced tax and VAT advisers who will provide tailored solutions to charities on a wide variety of tax and VAT matters including:

• Structuring their operations to ensure they qualify for all relevant tax and VAT exemptions and reliefs
• Minimising tax and VAT liabilities
• Using Gift Aid to enhance their income strategies.

Antony Constantinidi, +44 (0) 117 930 0754

Risk Assurance Services

Our IT controls assurance specialists are active in the following areas, each of which presents key challenges to charities, as to other parts of the commercial and public sectors:

Technology Assurance - Deploying leading techniques to assess complex and emerging IT threats facing our clients:

• Oracle/SAP interrogation tools
• Attack & penetration methods
• Data assurance
• Emerging IT risk/controls assessments (e.g. compliance with PCI (Payment Card Industry) security standards

IT Project Assurance - Deploying deep knowledge and experience of IT project risk and control, to help prevent project failure

Availability Assurance (with particular focus on business continuity management) - Deploying structured and controls-based evaluation to assess the planning, testing and effective use of resources

IT Strategic Assurance- Deploying a benchmarking based approach to the assessment of IT strategy and IT service delivery against good practice.

Philip Huggett, +44 (0) 020 7804 3347            

Business and financial management advisory services

Charities exist in an environment of continual change. We help our clients to:

• Improve their performance
• Reduce costs
• Manage risks more effectively
• Modernise their activities
• Keep pace with regulatory changes
• Respond to increasing competition
• Understand changes in accounting and reporting requirements including SORP 2005
• Understand their responsibilities if they are concerned as to the charity’s solvency
• Develop and measure their need for reserves and reserves policies

Our specialists can also advise on issues related to outsourcing, IT effectiveness and business recovery.

Ian Oakley-Smith, +44 (0) 20 7212 6023 - Business recovery services

Jill Warren, +44 (0) 20 7804 6020 - Financial advisory services

Investment consulting

PwC understands the key commercial, strategic, compliance and operational risks facing charities today. A successful investment strategy is critical to that overall wellbeing and continued success:

• clear and accountable governance structures in respect  of the investment portfolio, supported by professional advice
• a clearly defined and understandable investment strategy that takes account of the income and capital requirements of the organisation
• where investment risks exist within a strategy, that the potential impact of such risk is both recognised and adequately rewarded
• that investment managers appointed continue to have the appropriate skills and people to meet the investment mandate, and do so at an appropriate and competitive fee.  Where a new manager is required we will assist in that appointment using our extensive market research.

Our approach to investment advice is to ensure Boards should have a total understanding of the investment strategy adopted and investment manager(s) appointed.  Further to ensure that any investment risk introduced into a strategy is adequately rewarded and further that suitable governance structures exist. 

Through our support and advice, Boards then have confidence that their long term investment objectives will be achieved.

Paul Watson, +44 (0)161 247 4500

Forensic Services

In Forensic Services we help clients who are experiencing a significant problem outside of their normal business activities. This can be a major insurance claim, or a dispute with a third party or a project which has gone badly wrong. But Charities call on us most often when they have been the victim of a fraud or need advice on fraud related issues – it’s sadly our experience that the Charity sector, which can least afford it, actually suffers disproportionately from fraud.  In such cases we help by:

• Preventing further loss,
• Establishing the facts,
• Recovering assets, and
• Suggesting appropriate remedial action, liaising if necessary with the Charity Commission. 

This enables management and Trustees (who are likely to have limited experience of fraud) to focus on the normal activities of the Charity, confident that the problem is being dealt with by experienced professionals who have handled similar cases.

Edwin Harland, +44 (0) 20 7084 5842