{"id":6547,"date":"2025-08-20T09:49:02","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T08:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bainesjewitt.co.uk\/blog\/?p=6547"},"modified":"2025-08-20T08:49:04","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T08:49:04","slug":"think-your-business-doesnt-need-an-audit-the-chaos-with-the-local-councils-says-otherwise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bainesjewitt.co.uk\/blog\/think-your-business-doesnt-need-an-audit-the-chaos-with-the-local-councils-says-otherwise\/","title":{"rendered":"Think your business doesn\u2019t need an audit? The chaos with the local councils says otherwise"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s no secret that many of the local councils throughout England are on the verge of bankruptcy or have already crossed that threshold.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It can seem like quite an abstract concept for business owners looking in from the outside, as the question of how such essential institutions fumble their finances.<\/p>\n

Recent reports seem to indicate the answer could be a look at quality audits, and this is where businesses can learn the most lessons.<\/p>\n

Did a lack of audits cause local councils to collapse?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

While there are a plethora of reasons why the local councils are in their current financial distress, it does seem like audits have played a big part in it.<\/p>\n

The Coalition Government scrapped the local council spending watchdog that served to standardise the way that audits were conducted across the country.<\/p>\n

This resulted in local councils seeking the service of private auditors and often suffering as a result.<\/p>\n

Without approaching audits effectively, the local councils often faced delays that spanned a number of years in some cases.<\/p>\n

The situation was handled so poorly that it was reported that only one per cent of local councils had their 2022-2023 audits published on time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Recent reports have begun to assess the impact of poorly handled audits on the current financial viability of local councils.<\/p>\n

The lack of control over money has resulted in \u201ca broken system that is costing taxpayers more money than it was promised to save<\/a>\u201d as many local councils are effectively operating without audits.<\/p>\n

This has resulted in a lack of oversight on the expenditure of the local councils, with issues like the SEND time bomb set to make the situation worse in the coming months<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In order to combat the crisis, a new Local Audit Office is also being established to ensure that control is regained over the currently broken system.<\/p>\n

What lessons can businesses learn from the chaos with the local councils?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

While local councils can petition the Government for additional funding to continue to provide the services that are vital to communities, your business is not in such a position.<\/p>\n

If you are not having an annual audit, you are jeopardising the long-term financial health of your business.<\/p>\n

Costs can add up quickly, and any holes in the budget can expand to consume your working capital and swallow any potential for future investment.<\/p>\n

There is another important issue raised by this story as well that needs to be addressed.<\/p>\n

If you are currently having your business audited but find that you are not satisfied with the service you are receiving, then it is worth seeking a new auditor.<\/p>\n

Poorly managed audits are nearly as damaging as not having one in the first place, so be sure that you are getting the most out of your audits.<\/p>\n

To ensure that you maximise the benefits of an audit, seeking professional financial advice in the wake of an audit is always advised.<\/p>\n

Our team is on hand to help you get control of your finances and can help you work through any recommendations that have been made by an auditor.<\/p>\n

Audits are a great way to spot financial problems before they become devastating, so if you fall below the threshold for mandatory audits, you should strongly consider getting a voluntary audit.<\/p>\n

Many of the local councils in England are in a dire financial position, but your business doesn\u2019t have to be.<\/p>\n

Speak to our team today to ensure that you are in full financial health. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s no secret that many of the local councils throughout England are on the verge of bankruptcy or have already crossed that threshold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6550,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,125],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bainesjewitt.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6547"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bainesjewitt.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bainesjewitt.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bainesjewitt.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bainesjewitt.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6547"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bainesjewitt.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6548,"href":"https:\/\/www.bainesjewitt.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6547\/revisions\/6548"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bainesjewitt.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bainesjewitt.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bainesjewitt.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bainesjewitt.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}