Audit and Assurance Services

Audit services have become very specialised in recent years with added regulation and the constant flow of new auditing and accounting standards. Does your business require an audit?

The current audit threshold for turnover that determines if a limited company (or limited liability partnership) requires an audit is £5.6 million. In some cases the turnover level may be below that limit but other criteria such as gross balance sheet assets in excess of £2.8 million and having more than 50 employees would also mean an audit is required.

There can also be situations where a company which is well below all three limits is required to have an annual audit by its shareholders who are perhaps not involved in the day to day running of the business or perhaps a major lender or the bank may prefer the financial results are audited.

Although perceived as a compliance burden (and cost!) a well run audit process can bring significant benefits to the company and the business owners. Audit assurance testing can highlight weaknesses in the company’s own internal financial systems and expose areas if risk exposure. Very often the fact that the accounts are audited can give potential customers and lenders added assurance when dealing with the company. The detection of fraud by employees and others can sometimes be identified up by a well planned and comprehensive audit.

The charity sector has also become more strictly regulated and even the smallest of charities need to consider if they require an independent accountants report or full audit. Even the style and layout of their accounts is now legislated by the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. If you are involved with running a charity you must take professional advice on how these new regulations affect your organisation.

At Carters we have a very strong audit compliance team headed up by our Audit Partner, Mark Gibson, and supported by our Audit Manager, Ruth Boyd. Using the latest computer assisted audit programmes and testing ensure an extremely efficient audit process focused on getting the assurances that the financial accounts are true and fair and that any weaknesses are highlighted to the management.

If you require a quote for audit services for your company or charity, contact Mark or Ruth.