Finance processes
Case reference FOI2026/00704
Received 28 March 2026
Published 29 April 2026
Request
1. Does Guildford Borough Council have a policy to clear suspense accounts either in general fund, or housing revenue account of mis-postings?
2. Where are these balances shown in Finance reports & Annual Statutory accounts?
3. For :2022/3, 23/4, 24/5 & 25/6
Please list these unreconciled suspense balances in the Annual accounts.
4. When were these suspense accounts last reconciled & cleared?
5. Does Guildford Borough Council pro-actively retrieve over-payments made to suppliers?
Did this policy exist in 2022/23 & 23/4
6. If it did, where were the overpayments on the Housing Revenue Account posted in the relevant quarter-end finance reports for both accounting years?
7. How much in total HRA over-payments ( part of the £13.5m fraud) were retrieved?
8. Is the retrieval of over-payments an ongoing KPI ? If not why not?
Response
Please find the answers to your queries below:
1. Does Guildford Borough Council have a policy to clear suspense accounts either in general fund, or housing revenue account of mis-postings?
Yes. This is an ongoing process of daily reconciliation, as any unallocated payments are posted to the suspense account and an income management officer works on allocating them from there. The Accounts Receivable team are also able to assist with allocation if necessary. All suspense payments are treated the same.
2. Where are these balances shown in Finance reports & Annual Statutory accounts?
They are consolidated as part of the year end accounts process and included in our Statement of Accounts Creditor figure under Short term creditors, further details of which can be found under the Balance Sheet, Group Balance Sheet and ‘Note 18’ of the 2024/25 accounts (https://www.guildford.gov.uk/statementofaccounts).
3. For :2022/23, 23/24, 24/25 & 25/26
Please list these unreconciled suspense balances in the Annual accounts.
The balance on account at the end of 2024/25 was a credit of £791,419. 65, balance as at 2025/26 is still being consolidated as part of ongoing accounts closure process.
4. When were these suspense accounts last reconciled & cleared?
They are currently in the process of being consolidated as part of ongoing accounts closure process for 2025/26.
5. Does Guildford Borough Council pro-actively retrieve over-payments made to suppliers?
Did this policy exist in 2022/23 & 2023/24?
Yes, this is part of standard practice and not a recent policy but following the Authority's financial management framework and Financial Procedure rules. We run a local software to help identify potential payment inconsistencies and errors (including overpayments) and chase suppliers for repayment as part of their contractual obligation.
6. If it did, where were the overpayments on the Housing Revenue Account posted in the relevant quarter-end finance reports for both accounting years?
This information is not posted in the Housing Revenue Account finance reports.
7. How much in total HRA over-payments (part of the £13.5m fraud) were retrieved?
Please note that as this is an ongoing police investigation work remains ongoing in relation to this matter and therefore this information can not be provided until the investigation is complete.
8. Is the retrieval of over-payments an ongoing KPI? If not why not?
This is not a published KPI however, we monitor retrieval of over-payments as part of our Financial Management framework during the Budget Monitoring and Reporting process.
Documents
This is Guildford Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
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