Regulations for the Accounts of the Colleges

1. (1) The financial statements prepared annually by the colleges under the provisions of Part B of Statute XV shall conform to the pro-forma accounts and detailed guidelines which shall be circulated by the College Accounts Committee not later than the end of the financial year to which the financial statements will relate.

(2) Such extracts from the audited financial statements as are submitted annually by the colleges to permit combination of the accounts of all the colleges shall be submitted exactly in accordance with the format provided.

2. The financial statements shall include for the year concerned:

(1) the report of the governing body of the college;

(2) the statement of the responsibilities of the governing body, including a statement on charitable status and on the use of property and income for purposes which are charitable in law;

(3) the statement of principal accounting policies;

(4) the balance sheet of the college, and the consolidated balance sheet of the college together with its subsidiaries and connected entities;

(5) the consolidated income and expenditure account;

(6) the consolidated statement of total recognised gains and losses;

(7) the consolidated cash-flow statement;

(8) the notes to the financial statements.

3. The additional information required under section 11 of Statute XV shall consist of schedules, compiled in accordance with the formats issued by the College Accounts Committee, showing the analysis of the college's income and expenditure, and the computation of its liability for or exemption from college contributions.

4. The auditor or auditors who are appointed by the college to audit the financial statements shall be eligible to perform audits of limited companies in the UK.

5. The report of the auditors, to be published with the financial statements, shall include their opinion as to whether the financial statements for the year give a true and fair view of:

(1) the state of affairs of the college, and of the college together with its subsidiaries and connected entities, at the end of the financial year; and

(2) the consolidated income and expenditure of the college together with its subsidiaries and connected entities for that year;

and have been properly prepared in accordance with the provisions of Statute XV made by the University under the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act, 1923.

6. (1) The auditors shall carry out such investigations as are necessary to enable them to form an opinion as to:

(a) whether proper accounting records have been kept by the college; and

(b) whether the college's accounts are in agreement with the accounting records.

(2) If the auditors reach a satisfactory opinion as to (a) and (b) in paragraph (1) above, they do not need to state this in their report.

7. If the auditors fail to obtain all the information and explanations which they consider necessary for the purposes of their audit, they shall state that fact in their report.

8. The auditors shall consider whether the information given in the report of the governing body is consistent with the financial statements and, if they are of the opinion that it is not, they shall state that fact in their report.

9. The auditors shall also, if they consider that they can justifiably do so, supply to the University's Director of Finance and Secretary of the Chest (for onward transmission to the external auditors of the University's Accounts), by such date as the College Accounts Committee shall specify:

(1) a statement that they have not identified any significant accounting or control weaknesses relating to the income received by the college from the University out of grants and income for specific purposes; and

(2) a statement that all such income has, in their opinion, been applied to the purposes for which it was received.

WD13-013