Financial Services Audit

Regulated firms cannot treat the audit as a formality: exemption rules differ, client money adds a second reporting deadline, and the FCA reads your accounts. We bring genuine financial services depth — CASS, IFPR capital, safeguarding, valuations — so your audit stands up to regulatory scrutiny without consuming your compliance team's quarter.

Audit Requirements for FCA-Regulated Firms

Company size is not the whole story in financial services. Banks, insurers, e-money issuers, MiFID investment firms and UCITS management companies are excluded from the small companies audit exemption altogether — they need a statutory audit regardless of size. Other regulated businesses, such as many insurance intermediaries and advisory firms, may still qualify for exemption under the thresholds that apply for periods beginning on or after 6 April 2025 (turnover £15m or less, balance sheet £7.5m or less, 50 or fewer employees, meeting two of three). The analysis depends on your permissions and group structure, and getting it wrong is an expensive compliance failure — we confirm your position definitively at the start.

Client Money and CASS

If your firm holds client money or custody assets, a CASS audit runs alongside the statutory audit, with the client assets report due to the FCA within four months of the period end under SUP 3.10. We deliver CASS 5, CASS 6 and CASS 7 engagements — reasonable assurance where you hold client assets, limited assurance where you claim not to — coordinated with the financial statement audit so your team answers each question once, not twice.

Prudential Requirements and IFPR

For MIFIDPRU investment firms, the audit intersects with the Investment Firms Prudential Regime: own funds composition, the ICARA process, regulatory capital disclosures and wind-down planning all inform our going concern and disclosure work. We understand what the numbers in your regulatory returns mean, which makes the audit faster and the conversations more useful.

Valuations and Financial Instruments

Investment valuations are usually the dominant audit risk: fair value hierarchies, hard-to-value level 3 positions, fund unit pricing, and revenue driven by assets under management. Our team audits complex financial instruments, securitisation vehicles and Venture Capital Trusts, and includes members who previously worked on audits for major international financial and corporate names — so unusual instruments do not slow us down.

Payment and E-Money Firms: Safeguarding

Payment institutions and e-money firms must safeguard relevant funds under the Payment Services and Electronic Money Regulations, and the FCA has been tightening safeguarding expectations, moving the regime closer to CASS with annual safeguarding audits. We provide safeguarding audit and assurance work alongside the statutory audit, testing segregation, reconciliation and acknowledgment arrangements over relevant funds.

Why Acumon for Financial Services Audits

Regulated by the ICAEW and FRC with a PIE audit licence, more than half our audit team drawn from top-4 and top-5 firms, and a portfolio that includes listed entities and FCA-regulated businesses. Add a dedicated audit portal, remote-first fieldwork and fixed fees, and you get a regulator-credible audit that is genuinely manageable for a lean compliance function.

What You Get With Acumon

• FCA-regulated entities: investment firms, wealth managers, brokers and intermediaries
• Definitive advice on audit exemption for regulated firms
• CASS 5, 6 and 7 client asset audits coordinated with the statutory audit
• IFPR/MIFIDPRU regulatory capital and ICARA-informed going concern work
• Safeguarding audits for payment and e-money firms
• Investment valuation and complex financial instrument expertise
• Fixed fees and a dedicated portal that cuts audit traffic

Why Acumon for Financial Services Audit?

• Regulated by both ICAEW and FRC; holds a PIE audit licence
• FCA exempt professional firm status
• Over 50% of the audit team come from top-4 and top-5 firms
• Audit portfolio includes 10 listed entities including Sharp Electronics, Linguaphone and Kuoni
• Jersey and Isle of Man Recognised Auditor status for cross-border groups

Get a Fixed-Fee Quote

Tell us what you need and we'll come back within one business day with a clear scope and a fixed price — no hourly-rate surprises. Call 020 8567 3451 or use the form and we'll be in touch.