Statement of trustees’ responsibilities The trustees are responsible for preparing the annual report and the financial statements. Company law requires trustees to prepare statements for each financial year, to give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and the group—as well as the incoming resources and application of resources—including the income and expenditure of the charity for that period. Trustees must: select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently observe the methods and principles in the charity statement of recommended practice (SORP) make reasonable and prudent judgements and estimates state whether applicable UK accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed, and explained in the financial statements prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it’s inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business The trustees are responsible for ensuring proper accounting records are kept. The records must disclose with reasonable accuracy, at any time, the financial position of the charitable company and the trustees must make sure the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. The trustees are also responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website. Trustees must safeguard the assets of the charitable company and the group and take reasonable steps to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities: as far as the trustees are aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditor is unaware, and trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information Delegation of duties Our scheme of delegation outlines decision-making responsibilities within national Citizens Advice. It lists issues reserved for the board and areas which may be delegated to the executive team. The standing financial instructions form the basis of the delegation of financial functions by the Citizens Advice trustee board to staff. Our procurement policy sets out authority levels for purchasing decisions. 44 Our structure, governance and management