The University of Waikato - Te Whare Wananga o WaikatoThe University of Waikato - Te Whare Wananga o Waikato

2008 Annual Report

   
LEARNINGRESEARCHLIBRARYENROLMENTNEWSABOUT USCONTACT US
To The University of Waikato Homepage Waikato Home > Annual Report
Site Index | Text Only
Waikcookie logout image


Report of the Auditor General

Audit New Zealand logo
TO THE READERS OF
THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO AND GROUP'S
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2008

The Auditor-General is the auditor of the University of Waikato (the University) and group. The Auditor-General has appointed me, B H Halford, using the staff and resources of Audit New�Zealand, to carry out the audit of the financial statements and statement of service performance of the University and group, on his behalf, for the year ended 31�December�2008.

Unqualified Opinion

In our opinion:

  • the financial statements of the University and group:
    • comply with generally accepted accounting practice in New�Zealand; and
    • fairly reflect:
      • the University and group's financial position as at 31�December�2008; and
      • the results of operations and cash flows for the year ended on that date.
  • the performance information of the University and group fairly reflects its service performance achievements measured against the performance targets adopted for the year ended on that date.

The audit was completed on 18 March 2009, and is the date at which our opinion is expressed.

The basis of our opinion is explained below. In addition, we outline the responsibilities of the Council and the Auditor, and explain our independence.

Basis of Opinion

We carried out the audit in accordance with the Auditor-General's Auditing Standards, which incorporate the New�Zealand Auditing Standards.

We planned and performed the audit to obtain all the information and explanations we considered necessary in order to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial statements and statement of service performance did not have material misstatements whether caused by fraud or error.

Material misstatements are differences or omissions of amounts and disclosures that would affect a reader's overall understanding of the financial statements and statement of service performance. If we had found material misstatements that were not corrected, we would have referred to them in our opinion.

The audit involved performing procedures to test the information presented in the financial statements and statement of service performance. We assessed the results of those procedures in forming our opinion.

Audit procedures generally include:

  • determining whether significant financial and management controls are working and can be relied on to produce complete and accurate data;
  • verifying samples of transactions and account balances;
  • performing analyses to identify anomalies in the reported data;
  • reviewing significant estimates and judgements made by the Council;
  • confirming year-end balances;
  • determining whether accounting policies are appropriate and consistently applied; and
  • determining whether all financial statement disclosures are adequate.

We did not examine every transaction, nor do we guarantee complete accuracy of the financial statements and statement of service performance.

We evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the financial statements and statement of service performance. We obtained all the information and explanations we required to support our opinion above.

Responsibilities of the Council and the Auditor

The Council is responsible for preparing financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting practice in New�Zealand. Those financial statements must fairly reflect the financial position of the University and group as at 31�December 2008. They must also fairly reflect the results of operations and cash flows for the year ended on that date. The Council is also responsible for preparing performance information that fairly reflects the service performance achievements for the year ended 31�December 2008. The Council's responsibilities arise from the Education Act 1989 and the Crown Entities Act 2004.

We are responsible for expressing an independent opinion on the financial statements and statement of service performance and reporting that opinion to you. This responsibility arises from section 15 of the Public Audit Act 2001 and the Crown Entities Act 2004.

Independence

When carrying out the audit we followed the independence requirements of the Auditor-General, which incorporate the independence requirements of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New�Zealand.

Other than the audit, we have no relationship with or interests in the University or any of its subsidiaries.



B H Halford
B H Halford
Audit New Zealand
On behalf of the Auditor-General
Tauranga, New Zealand

Matters Relating to the Electronic Presentation of the Audited Financial Statements and Performance Information

This audit report relates to the financial statements and performance information of The University of Waikato and group for the year ended 31 December 2008 included on The University of Waikato and group's website. The University of Waikato and group's Council is responsible for the maintenance and integrity of The University of Waikato and group's website. We have not been engaged to report on the integrity of The University of Waikato and group's website. We accept no responsibility for any changes that may have occurred to the financial statements, performance information and the other requirements since they were initially presented on the website.

The audit report refers only to the financial statements and performance information named above. It does not provide an opinion on any other information which may have been hyperlinked to or from the financial statements and performance information. If readers of this report are concerned with the inherent risks arising from electronic data communication they should refer to the hard copy of the audited financial statements and performance information as well as the related audit report dated 18 March 2009 to confirm the information included in the audited annual report presented on this website.

Legislation in New Zealand governing the preparation and dissemination of financial information may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.



<< Head of Corporate Services Overview Table of contents Statement of Responsibility >>

The University of Waikato - Te Whare Wananga o Waikato
Last modified: Wed May 13 10:09:25 2009

Page Generated: Sat Mar 30 03:23:00 2024
URL: https://www.waikato.ac.nz/annualreport/2008/auditor.shtml
This page has been reformatted for printing