Partnering with you to deliver in the public interest

We are committed to serving the public interest by delivering audits that uphold trust, transparency and accountability. We align our practices with global standards and regulatory expectations so that our people always deliver value to both clients and wider society.

Our purpose is to protect stakeholder value and contribute to a resilient and trustworthy financial ecosystem through the promotion of high-quality financial reporting, ethical leadership, innovation and proactive risk management, all of which contributes to the quality of financial reporting.

Our Audit Oversight Board (AOB) has a clear purpose: to provide independent challenge and oversight on the audit practice for the benefit of the public interest. Through connections with bodies such as the Centre for Public Interest Audit, the AOB inputs on policy developments impacting the industry and the companies it serves.

Our quality assurance framework

Our robust quality assurance framework ensures we deliver consistent value to our clients. Quality is maintained throughout each project, from talent acquisition to consistent communication and feedback during and after the engagement, for example through independent audit file reviews.

Tone at the top

The leaders of our audit business are committed to creating, nurturing and sustaining a culture of respect, openness and challenge.

Leadership and governance

Our leadership and governance structure provides oversight and transparency across the whole of the RSM UK group. It supports our compliance with the Audit Firm Governance Code and maintains oversight on strategic and operational decisions. Our audit business is delivered through RSM UK Audit LLP.

The AOB is responsible for independent oversight of the operation of the audit business as well as work in respect of public interest matters relating to the firm’s audit practice. The Audit Management Board (AMB) is responsible for all aspects of the management and governance of RSM UK Audit LLP, including the strategy, quality and performance of the audit practice.

People

Our Grow Our Own strategy provides a platform for all our people to develop and achieve their full potential. We develop and enhance our teams’ technical skills and capabilities through regular, structured training.

Values and behaviours

Our leaders foster a culture of openness and a commitment to quality. Both the AMB and AOB look for any aspects of culture that need redressing, while the ethics team promotes and monitors adherence to independence and integrity. Management and non-executives also champion the importance of people speaking up and our formal Speak Up policy provides various channels for staff to raise concerns.

Support

The support we provide through our dedicated audit quality team, our technical capabilities, specialist skills and focus on continuous learning are essential to the quality of our audits. Internal resources and access to third party experts provide engagement teams with a wide range of support and the opportunity to develop their own skills.

Methodology and technology

We adapt our audit methodology and toolkit to align with regulatory changes and technological developments. Our Audit Digital team brings together software development and data analytics specialists who are also experienced auditors. This specialist expertise means they are ideally placed to work closely with audit teams. Our governance framework prioritises responsible, secure and fully compliant data management.

Quality monitoring

We monitor audit quality using various methods:

• Our independent Quality Assurance Department provides assurance regarding compliance with our procedures. This includes delivering feedback and promoting good practice to support continuous improvement.
• Our audit quality indicators cover our people, culture and processes, and are regularly reviewed.
• We also value feedback from our clients and conduct ‘Voice of the Client’ interviews to measure their satisfaction with our service.
• We engage positively with our regulators, using their valuable insights and findings as part of firm-wide improvements. We share key lessons from these findings across our audit teams.

Quality risk mitigation

We have a dedicated system of quality management as required under ISQM1. Our latest annual evaluation is that the system of quality management provides reasonable assurance that the objectives of the system are being achieved.

Other quality risk mitigation measures include a system of internal authorisations, rigorous client acceptance procedures and the requirement for independent second opinion reviews in certain circumstances. We also have strict rotation policies for all audits which comply with relevant legislative requirements.