Audit Services

Audits, Reviews and Compilations

Stockholders, creditors, and private investors often need assurance that the financial statements accurately represent the true financial position of a profit or non-profit business. Your stockholders, creditors, or private investors have different levels of risk tolerance, so we provide three levels of assurance to meet your needs.

Which Report Should You Use?

Each type of financial statement report may suit specific circumstances, depending on requirements from your client's bank or other parties, as well as meet budgetary needs. Understanding each report's unique strengths and weaknesses can help you choose the most appropriate one.

Contact us for an FREE Initial Consultation and we'll help you decide what kind of report is right for your business.

Audit - Highest Level of Assurance

An audit provides the highest level of assurance. An audit is a methodical review and objective examination of the financial statements, including the verification of specific accounting documents and information as determined by the auditor or as established by AICPA professional standards. Our work includes:

• Review of internal controls
• Testing of selected transactions
• Communication with third parties

Based on our findings, we issue a report on whether the financial statements are fairly stated and free of material misstatements.

An Audit allows you to...

• Satisfy stakeholders such as employees, customers, suppliers and pressure groups, as well as the investing community, as to the credibility of published information
• Comply with banking covenants
• Help deter and detect material fraud and error
• Facilitate the purchase and sale of businesses

You get the highest level of assurance because we go outside your company to obtain and verify information. We also perform physical inspections by observing your inventory counting methods and perform test counts. We document and test each operating cycle, including sales and cash receipts, expenses and cash disbursements, and payroll. Our audit papers include a detailed work program to document the examinations and testing performed, as well as the client's supporting work papers.

Review - Limited Assurance

Less extensive than an audit, but more involved than a compilation, a review engagement consists primarily of analytical procedures we apply to the financial statements, and various inquiries we make of your company's management team. If the financial statements or supporting information appear inconsistent or otherwise questionable, we may need to perform additional procedures.

A review doesn't require us to study and evaluate your company's internal controls or verify data with third parties or physically inspect assets. Rather, a review report expresses limited assurance in the form of the statement: "We are not aware of any material modifications" for the financial statements to be in conformity with the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Reviewed financial statements must include all required footnotes and other disclosures.

Compilation - Lowest Level of Assurance

In compiling financial statements for a client, we present information that is the "representation of management" and expresses no opinion or assurance on the statements. Compilations don't require inquiries of management or analytical procedures. Instead, we rely on our knowledge of accounting principles and a general understanding of your business. Banks often require compilations from an independent CPA as part of their lending covenants.

Send us an e-mail or call us today at 410-337-5661 and ask for Cheryl Hinton to discuss your audit and assurance needs with an experienced Baltimore CPA.