Financial and property information

2023-24 Draft Statement of Accounts

The external audit of the draft statement of accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024 has not yet been completed by our external auditor, Azets Holdings Ltd, due to the complex set of factors contributing to audit delays across the sector. This situation is allowed for by Regulation 10, paragraph (2a) of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015. Therefore, this notification explains, as per paragraph (2a), that we are not yet able to publish our audited 2023/24 final statement of accounts in line with the deadline of 30th September 2024, as per paragraph (1). The [audit committee] will consider the results of the 2023/24 audit, after which we will publish the final audited accounts.

We are also required under the 2020 Code of Audit Practice, for Local Government bodies, to issue our Auditor’s Annual Report (AAR) by 30th September or, where this is not possible, issue an audit letter setting out the reasons for delay.

For the same reasons as set out above, our AAR will also not be issued by 30th September. We expect to issue our AAR within three months of issuing our opinion on your financial statements.

The Draft Statement of Accounts 2023/24 was authorised for issue by the Director of Finance on 15th October 2024.

View the accounts online (PDF - 1.88MB).

The period of Public Inspection runs from 25th October 2024 to 5th December 2024. Please see the Notice of Public Rights (PDF - 72kB) for further details.

The council publishes its Statement of Accounts annually to illustrate the Authority’s financial position as at the end of the financial year and the transactions within that year.

The accounts are presented in a format to comply with statutory regulations and are split into sections as follows:

The narrative statement

• The narrative gives a brief explanation of what is included within the Statement of Accounts, as well as providing a summary of the main financial results for the year.

The annual governance statement

• This statement is required by The Accounts and Audit Regulations (England) 2011 and gives details of how the council operates its governance structure.

The statement of total movement in reserves

• This brings together all the council's movements in its balances for both capital and revenue reserves in the year.

Comprehensive income and expenditure statement

• This statement shows the income and expenditure of the council shown on an accounting basis in accordance with generally accepted accounting policies, rather than the amount to be funded from taxation
• Councils raise taxation to cover expenditure in accordance with regulations; this may be different from the accounting cost
• The taxation position is shown in the General Fund in Movement in Reserves Statement.

The Consolidated Balance Sheet

• The Balance Sheet shows the value, as at the balance sheet date, of the assets and liabilities recognised by the council (often expressed as the ‘net worth’ of the council)
• The net assets of the council (assets less liabilities) are matched by the reserves held by the council.

The cash flow statement

• This shows the cash inflows and outflows arising from transactions with third parties for capital and revenue activities
• The statement enables the full movements in cash to be identified.

The collection fund

• This account reflects the statutory requirement for the council, as the billing authority, to maintain a separate Collection Fund
• It shows transactions in relation to Non-Domestic Rates and Council Tax and illustrates the way in which these have been distributed to the Government and the precepting bodies - Hertfordshire County Council and Hertfordshire Police.

Group accounts

• The council also publishes accounts for those entities in which it has an interest.