Advisory
Fieldwork goes as well as the trial balance it starts from.
Goldenthal & Suss Consulting P.C. prepares businesses, nonprofits, and government entities for audits performed by any firm, including first-year financial statement audits, first single audits after crossing the $1,000,000 federal expenditure threshold, and transitions to a new auditor. Readiness work includes reconciling balance sheet accounts, preparing the schedules an auditor requests, assembling grant and contract documentation, building the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards, and documenting existing controls.
Auditors send a request list before fieldwork. Readiness means everything on it exists, ties to the general ledger, and can be explained: bank, receivable, and payable reconciliations; fixed-asset and depreciation schedules; debt and lease schedules; payroll reconciliations; deferred revenue and, for nonprofits, net asset restrictions; and the detail behind every significant estimate.
Organizations facing a first single audit also need a Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards that agrees to the ledger, identification of the federal programs and Assistance Listing numbers involved, and documented policies for procurement, allowable costs, and subrecipient monitoring.
Work the auditor has to do because the books are not ready is billed at audit rates and usually generates audit adjustments and findings in the process. The same work done beforehand costs less, shortens fieldwork, and keeps the management letter shorter. For a business heading toward a first audit at a lender's request, it can also be the difference between meeting the covenant deadline and missing it.
Yes, and that arrangement carries no independence complication. It is one of the most common advisory engagements we perform, particularly for organizations facing a first audit or a first single audit.
For a first audit, ideally before the fiscal year being audited ends, so opening balances, inventory counts, and documentation can be planned. For a recurring audit, starting a month or two before fieldwork is usually enough to have reconciliations and schedules complete.
Partly. An auditor can tell you what will be needed and answer questions, but cannot prepare your accounting records or make management decisions and then audit the result without independence concerns. Substantial readiness work is better done by someone other than the auditor.
Tell us about your organization and the deadline you are working toward. We will tell you what the engagement involves and what it costs.
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