Breakdown of accounting roles

Below is a simple summary of how the respective accounting roles break down between (1) the Managing Agent (2) Ringley Final Accounts service (3) the Independent Certifier.

(1) The Managing Agent's work
(Paid for by your management fee)

• fulfil the RICS* duty of cashbook accounting * Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
• reconcile bank accounts to cashbooks
• maintain service charge and membership ledgers
• split budgets and post budget adjustments including balancing charges
• manage the demand cycle
• assist with evidence for debt chase and court action
• make contractor payments
• close each financial year and produce the year end pack
• assist with final accounts queries
• prepare balancing charge explanations & letters
• Director liaison with a Finance Officer/Management Accountant

(2) RFAS LLP
(Ringley Final Accounts Service)

• process prior years accounting adjustments to test the opening position
• bank reconciliation testing
• cross check expenditure allocations to lease schedules
• verification of site-staff remuneration and PAYE tax due (if any)
• checking invoices where items could be reserve items
• verification of debtors, including developer's void charges
• verification of creditors, including estimated utility account readings
• testing legal debt chase invoices, where the lease allows, have been recovered
• testing that repair costs (where part of an insurance claim) have been recovered
• meet and review costs with Property Managers, exchange of ideas makes for a better future budgets
• review of expenditure against the context of the lease
• prepare accounting accruals, eg, where work is done but has been invoiced late
• prepare pre-payments, eg, for insurance where the invoice date & premium spans two accounting years
• expenditure where invoices span several lease schedules (inter schedule allocation)
• Director liaison with a Chartered Accountant
• accounts prepared within 6 months else we'll not charge you a penny

(3) the Independent Certifier
*fee scale reflects agreed fees with SEEUS Chartered Accountants Independent certification of service charge accounts is a legal requirement under the 1985 Landlord & Tenant Act where there are 5 or more flats. Audit prices are available on application and the requirement to audit (if any) would arise from the lease. the Independent Certifier's role is to

• test opening balances
• test bank reconciliations to the balance sheet
• test debtors to the balance sheet
• test by sample invoices from the income and expenditure account
• apply an independent certificate in accordance with Section 21-28 of the 1985 Landlord & Tenant Act
• apply an audit certificate if required by the lease

If you fail to comply with the requirements in sections 21, 22 and 23 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (see above) without reasonable excuse you will be committing a summary offence and will be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale (2,500).
* see Section 25 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 & Section 37 Criminal Justice Act 1982.