Compilation, Review, and Audit Assurance Services

You’ve worked hard to get your business off the ground. Business is good— so good that you’re ready to trade up from your leased space and build your own building. You’ve met with the bank and they’ve given you preliminary approval on a loan package. But the bank representative says she needs to see your financial statements before she can finalize your loan.

You know that timely, accurate and understandable financial statements are necessary to gauge how well your business has performed and to assess the strength of its financial position. You know that they are the foundation upon which you make important business decisions.

You can prepare your financial statements in house, but if you’re like many small business owners, you may prefer to have an outside professional to prepare your financial statements in accordance with an accounting framework that is appropriate for your business.

Oftentimes, the certified public accountant (CPA) who performs your general accounting and/or bookkeeping and prepares your annual tax return can also prepare your financial statements and, in addition, perform the appropriate service in order to meet your bank’s requirements. Keep in mind that not all accountants are CPAs. In most states, only a licensed CPA can perform certain services.

What are the differences between a compilation, review, and audit?

Compilation of financial statements is a service where the role of the CPA is more apparent to outside parties, and as such, the requirements for performing this service are more explicit.

For example, if the CPA is not independent from ownership, management and other circumstances in their relationship to you and your business, she is required to disclose the impairment to her independence in her compilation report. The compilation report is the first page before the actual financial statements and is written by the CPA on her firm’s letterhead.

The review service performs analytical procedures, inquiries and other procedures to obtain “limited assurance” on the financial statements and is intended to provide a user with a level of comfort on their accuracy.

The review is the base level of CPA assurance services. Similar to a compilation, the CPA is required to determine whether he is truly independent. If he determines that he is not independent, the CPA cannot perform the review engagement.

In a review engagement, your CPA is required to understand the industry in which you operate — including the accounting principles and practices generally used in the industry. Your CPA is also required to obtain knowledge about you — including your business and the accounting principles and practices that you use — sufficient to identify areas in the financial statements where it is more likely that material misstatements may arise.

The audit is the highest level of assurance service that a CPA performs and is intended to provide a user comfort on the accuracy of the financial statements.

The CPA performs procedures in order to obtain “reasonable assurance” (defined as a high but not absolute level of assurance) about whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement. In an audit, your CPA is required to obtain an understanding of your business’s internal control and assess fraud risk. Your CPA is also required to corroborate the amounts and disclosures included in your financial statements by obtaining audit evidence through inquiry, physical inspection, observation, third-party confirmations, examination, analytical procedures and other procedures. When performing an audit engagement, the CPA is required to determine whether her independence has been impaired. Similar to a review, if her independence has been impaired, the CPA cannot perform the audit engagement.

To learn more about the differences in assurance services, download our whitepaper Guide to Financial Statement Services – Compilation, Review and Audit. The Whitepaper includes:

• Financial Statement Services Your CPA Can Provide
• Basic Financial Statement Preparation
• What is a Compilation?
• What is a Review?
• What is an Audit?
• Service Comparison of Assurance Services

For more specific information about how the requirement of an audit or review will affect your company, contact our in-house expert, Mike Rizkal, CPA.