IFRS will hike councils, fire & police audits by 6%
Audit Commission outlines audit fee increases; health organisations and trusts to see fee freeze
Audit fees will climb by 6% for councils, fire and police next year due to
international accounting rules, according to the latest rates from the Audit
Commission.
While health organizations, probation boards and trusts will see fees stay
the same, the other bodies will face the hike due to the move because of their
move to international financial reporting standards. The commission said it
would subsidise the one-off costs arising from the move.
“It’s good to be able to announce that for many organisations audit costs
will go down next year, and costs won’t increase for most bodies,” said
Audit
Commission chief executive Steve Bundred.
“I’m sure that will be welcome with the financial squeeze ahead. The new fees
scales reflect views from the consultation.”
The audit commission stated that the cost of audit was a “tiny fraction” of
what public bodies spent, on average paying less than 0.05% of their overall
spending.
Audit fees for the following two years are not expected to rise above the
government’s inflation targets.