Case Study: University of Oxford slashes audit fees and secures FRS 102 compliance with FinQuery

University of Oxford Slashes £55,000 in Audit Fees and Secures FRS 102 Compliance with FinQuery

The University of Oxford needed to prepare for the Higher Education SORP requirement to comply with FRS 102 lease accounting in 2026, which meant converting about 50 operational leases into finance leases. After using a spreadsheet for its first finance lease and seeing the complexity and risk firsthand, the finance team looked for a more reliable way to manage lease data, strengthen controls, and avoid escalating audit costs. They chose FinQuery’s LeaseQuery platform to help manage the transition.

FinQuery implemented LeaseQuery to centralize lease data, provide strict approval controls, use AI to extract key lease details, and give auditors read-only access. The result was a smoother implementation, faster monthly postings and reconciliations, better forecasting for lease liabilities, and greater confidence in FRS 102 compliance. Most notably, the University avoided an additional £55,000 in audit fees on the first external audit, while also reducing stress and manual work for the finance team and auditors.

University of Oxford

Louise Lipsham

Head of Capital Accounting