Clement Keys
Chartered Accountants

The public sector plays a key role in today's modern society, managing and delivering a vast array of services and resources to UK citizens and businesses.

The public sector operates in an environment where competition, regulation, inspection and assessment are just some of the day to day challenges facing the organisations and individuals working in this area.

At Clement Keys, we have dedicated public sector specialists with a strong understanding of the complex legal and accounting framework within which public sector bodies operate.

Servicing clients both in the UK and in Europe, our involvement in the public sector is extensive and includes:

• Membership of the Small Bodies' Advisory Group and Joint Practitioners' Advisory Group co-ordinated by the Audit Commission
• Planning and delivering seminars and training for local authority (Parish Council) clerks and councillors
• Producing technical literature and guidance for the sector
• Working with the European Commission to audit grant funding made available through its Research and Technical Directorate to research institutions and commercial organisations and with the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (DG ECHO) which provides assistance and grants to the charitable sector.

Our involvement enables us to appreciate the issues affecting the public sector and to develop pragmatic solutions on an impartial and informed basis.

Our services to the public sector include:

• Public accountability - assistance in drafting the annual report and accounts

• Assurance - the statutory audit of annual financial statements

• Contract audits and grant audits - providing assurance that contractual and donor obligations are being met and complied with

• Governance - assessing the effectiveness of board procedures by the use of benchmarking tools and assistance in putting in place best practice procedures

• Risk management - assistance with identifying and classifying risks facing the organisation and delivering solutions to mitigate those risks on an ongoing basis

• Organisational structure - assistance in selecting the most appropriate legal structure for the entity

• Taxation advice - maximising the benefits and minimising the costs of the direct tax and indirect tax (VAT) regimes together with advice on employer / employee taxes and national insurance

• Payroll services - the operation of employer payrolls as a standalone outsourced service