The Azets Group, a top ten accountancy firm, has again been ranked first for the quality of its service in the Charity Finance Audit Survey, 2020, with 96 per cent of respondents rating the service as ‘good’.

Azets, which is a sponsor of the South Wales Argus Business Awards, was also ranked first for its expertise in the sector, with all 96 respondents rating it as ‘good’. Clients were given a rating choice of good, average or poor.

Baldwins, Wilkins Kennedy, Scott Moncrieff and Campbell Dallas, which collectively rebranded as Azets in September 2020, have climbed to 13th place in the overall fee ranking, up three places from last year.

Azets performed well across all aspects of the survey, which included speed of delivery, partner access, proactivity, access to other related services, contact-ability, training and corporate social responsibility.

The survey highlighted how audits across the charity sector have changed, due to the pandemic, in 2020 over previous years, with the adoption of digital accounting. It also noted that the audit process within the charity sector has been less impacted by the pandemic than other business sectors, with charities being quick to embrace the move to digital audit processes and communication methods.

The Charity Finance Audit Survey is an annual event, covering 1,024 charity organisations, with a total income of £30.7bn in 2020. Now in its 28th year, it is seen as a barometer for audit performance across the sector.

Azets has a specialist charities team, with more than 25 years’ experience providing high-quality compliance, governance, taxation and advisory services to a wide range of charities and not-for-profits.

The team is involved in the charity sector and are regular attendees at forums, such as, the Charity Finance Group, Charity Tax Group and the Audit Practices Board Charity Audit Working Group.

Sarah Case, charity partner at Azets, said: “We are delighted to be ranked first for the quality of service and expertise we provide our clients within the charity sector. This testament to our quality has resulted in us climbing three places to 13th in overall audit fees of charity clients. The hard work and dedication of the team, alongside the passion we have to support charities, have all contributed to how well we have done across other areas covered by the survey. These results reflect the strength and depth of the charities team, allowing us to offer our clients a specialist service, dedicated to their specific needs. We are also able to draw on the wider Azets Group to offer other related accounting and business advisory services as required.”