PENSIONS AUDIT

A PASSION FOR PENSIONS AUDIT

As a pension trustee, administrator or adviser, whether your scheme has 13 members or 13,000, you need to make sure everything is running smoothly so you can sign off your accounts within seven months of the scheme’s year-end.

That means you need a hassle-free pensions audit; delivered by a tight-knit team of industry experts who can drive the process, tailor it to your specific needs and advise you on any key risk areas, such as unauthorised investment transactions, fictitious pensions and incorrect benefit payments.

As the 2020 Pensions Age Awards’ ‘Pensions Accountancy Firm of the Year’, we cut the mustard.

Because even with the tighter turnarounds, the most schemes we’ve ever worked on, and all the other challenges COVID threw at us, we’ve still never missed a deadline. And when we asked our clients, “How are we doing?”, they scored us 9.2 / 10.

BUT ONE THING’S GOT US PUZZLED

Pension scheme audits are a niche area. They require specific training and a strong understanding of the sector and the terminology. And that’s why we can’t understand why so many accountancy firms don’t have a team dedicated to them.

Our specialist pensions audit team are one of the four UK accountancy firms on the Pension Protection Fund’s (PPF)  Audit Services Panel.

That means we’ve got the technical knowledge to flex our approach to your specific needs, with proactive advice that will keep you ahead of the curve on legislative changes, guaranteeing compliance and future-proofing as the regulator gets tougher.

A PAINLESS PROCESS. STEP BY STEP

We’ll be getting in touch with you regularly. We form partnerships with our clients. And we guarantee continuity because our team are all based under one roof. You won’t be asked the same question twice and we’ll always be working closely together to iron out any issues and create a seamless service.

• Before the pensions audit kicks off, we’ll outline our fee, discuss a timetable that works for you, and make sure you’re aware of all your deadlines well in advance.

• During the pensions audit, we’ll keep you updated on our progress and let you know straight away about any issues we’ve identified. This includes outlining any risk areas and advising you on control measures and other ways to improve your management process going forward.

• After the pensions audit, we’ll make sure you’re kept in the loop about any pension legislation changes, and we’ll always be on hand to answer any queries you may have.

OUR WORK. THEIR WORDS

On top of being named Pensions Accountancy Firm of the Year at the 2020 Pensions Age Awards, we’ve also been shortlisted for the same prize in 2021. And if you’d like to find out what our clients think about us, you’re in the right place:

“I can’t think of anything to improve on. There’s a consistent high level of quality across the whole pensions audit team and the friendly and collaborative working style makes it very easy to deal with Cooper Parry.”  

Stewart Graham, 2020 Trustee Services Limited

“Your delivery and quality is always excellent. Helen and the team are experts in pensions audit and can always be relied upon to work constructively with advisors and trustees. The team is friendly and approachable, and we always feel they are on our side, which is far from the case with many audit firms who are aloof and inflexible. They do a professional job and deliver to time and cost. I always feel Cooper Parry will find solutions, not problems, and that’s very important to me.”

Alan Collins, Spence & Partners Limited

“We enjoy working with a happy, professional and extremely helpful team, committed to delivering a value for money service. I can’t think of any way the service could improve – if it was any better, I don’t think I could stand it.”

David Pearce, The Delta Pension Plan

WHAT’S HOT IN OUR WORLD?

Here’s Helen Scothern, our Pensions Audit Director, with a video update on everything that’s been happening in the team over the last year.