Financial statement audit services
A bank, investor, buyer or board has asked for audited statements, and you need an independent CPA firm to sign the opinion. We plan our financial statement audit services around your deadline and tell you early what records we need.
Call 855-203-8957“Professional attentive staff. Very responsive and efficient.”
What audited financial statements include
We deliver your audited financial statements with our report and any written control findings.
The auditor's report
We open the report with our opinion, then the basis for it and each side's responsibilities.
The audited statements
We audit your balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement and the notes that explain them.
A letter on your controls
If we find serious gaps in your controls, we list them in a separate letter with suggested fixes.
Clean audit opinion vs qualified, adverse and disclaimer opinions
A clean audit opinion, called an unmodified opinion, is the result your lender wants. The other three are modified opinions under AICPA standards.
| Opinion | What we say in the report |
|---|---|
| Unmodified (clean) | The statements present fairly, in all material respects. |
| Qualified | The statements present fairly, except for a stated issue. |
| Adverse | The statements do not present fairly. |
| Disclaimer | The auditor does not express an opinion. |
We cannot promise a clean opinion before testing. If we find an issue that would make us modify the opinion, we raise it while you can fix it.
The financial statement audit process, step by step
Our team plans the audit, studies your controls, tests the numbers and signs the report.
Four stages of a financial statement audit
From engagement letter to signed report
- 1
Planning
We agree the scope and assess where the statements could be misstated.
- 2
Controls
We learn how your team records transactions and approves payments.
- 3
Testing
We confirm balances with banks and customers and test samples of transactions.
- 4
Reporting
We issue the auditor's report with your audited financial statements.
Illustration of an audit under generally accepted auditing standards
Alexander Accountants, CPAs Harvard, MA
We size each stage to the state of your records.
What is a financial statement audit under GAAS?
In a GAAS audit, we follow the generally accepted auditing standards the AICPA's Auditing Standards Board issues for private companies and other organizations that do not issue public securities. Public companies follow PCAOB standards.
We give reasonable assurance, not certainty, that no misstatement is large enough to change the decisions of people who rely on your statements.
Our firm is enrolled in the AICPA Peer Review Program and registered with the PCAOB.
What sets the fee for a financial statement audit
We quote after we review your draft statements.
Size. With more revenue and transactions, we test larger samples.
Readiness. If you need your books cleaned up first, we quote bookkeeping separately.
Audit type. If you need a Single Audit for federal awards, we test more than in a GAAS audit alone.
Deadline. If your lender or buyer leaves us little time, we charge more.
First audit. We also audit your opening balances and check that the prior year was carried forward correctly, which adds time.
A company with reconciled books and a prior audit is the lightest quote. These are the factors, not a quote. You get the quote before we start.
Charity audits, reviews and Form PC filings
See Massachusetts charity thresholds, Form PC due dates and the choice between an audit, review or compilation on our audit services page.
Request a financial statement audit quote
We scope our financial statement audit services from the request you received and your latest statements. Send both, and we confirm which level of service your lender requires, the standard and a timetable.
Our team keeps your details confidential.
Reviewed by Xintian Wang, CPA, Harvard, MA. Senior Tax Manager at Alexander Accountants, CPAs.