Signing and submitting the AGAR forms
There are no changes in the requirement for wet signatures on the AGAR. Wet signatures need to be added to the AGAR in the same order as previous years and the AGAR will need to be passed between the relevant individuals for signature.
Submission deadlines
We set a default submission deadline for the receipt of the approved AGAR and supporting documentation or the Certificate of Exemption (as appropriate) – these are not the same as the statutory deadlines.
The default submission deadline for the 2023/24 reporting season is Monday 1 July 2024. If you wish to extend your deadline to avoid receiving a chaser fee for late submission, please contact us – there is no charge to change the submission deadline.
Non-submission by the deadline set for your authority will lead to chargeable chaser letters being issued (£40 plus VAT for all financially active smaller authorities). It is important to note, however, that:
- no submission deadlines will be granted beyond 31 July 2024;
- it will only be possible to extend submission deadlines by a maximum of four weeks to 31 July 2024 providing sufficient justification explaining the exceptional need for the extension is given;
- we are only able to extend the submission deadline for exceptional reasons, and no extensions past 31 July 2024 will be given under any circumstances. If you do not submit your completed and signed AGAR or exemption certificate to us by 31 July 2024 additional charges will apply for chaser letters issued
- a statutory recommendation will be issued to all financially active non-responding authorities that fail to submit their documents by 15 September. Statutory recommendations for non-response are charged at the standard fee rate depending on the authority’s expenditure banding and hence give rise to a minimum additional fee of £210 plus VAT.
IMPORTANT: If a financially active smaller authority is issued with a statutory recommendation (and/or a public interest report) for 2023/24 it will not be able to claim exemption from a limited assurance review for 2024/25, regardless of whether it meets all other criteria.
Contact us
Our Small Body Assurance (SBA) team can be reached on sba@pkf-l.com or +44 (0)20 7516 2200.