What to Expect Working with an Auditor

Working with an auditor for the first time can be intimidating. Due to the nature of an independent auditor’s role, many people assume that they are solely out to find the mistakes and errors you’ve made. The reality is that the relationship is all about collaboration and joint problem solving.

When you work with us on an attest engagement there is no contentious environment, we’re there to help you through it as a trusted advisor. You can rest easy knowing that we are on the same team with our shared efforts of accurate financial reporting and helping your company reach its goals.

We are available year-round for support. Working with your auditor outside of the traditional season is a great way to ensure nothing goes amiss come the official audit. Throughout the year, you can lean on us for assistance and to discuss any issues you’re trying to overcome.

Discussing unusual and complex transactions with the our team in real time is a great way to avoid adjustments. Proactively involving your auditors early in the process gives us the insight to be predictive in our efforts to assist you, instead of being reactive to past events.

If you’ve entered into an unusual transaction, we recommend reaching out to your audit team so it can be accounted for correctly the first time around, as opposed to adjustments being made after year end while we perform our testing procedures.

While the list is vast, a few areas to involve your auditors would include:

Revenue recognition under Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, was a huge undertaking for many private companies when the standard went into effect in 2019. If your company implements new streams of revenue during the year, or enters into unusual contracts with customers, proactively reaching out to your audit team to understand how and when those contracts should be recognized is a great way to avoid mishaps after year end.

If you purchase a business, you’ll need support to correctly account for the transaction using the acquisition method. We can help you through the complex and multi-step process of identifying the acquired assets and liabilities at the proper value, and accounting for any gain or loss on the transaction.

Whether your company is changing an accounting principal due to an allowance and voluntary change in preference, or due to a mandatory change required by an update to accounting standards, it is best to involve your auditors in the adoption of the principal as they can be difficult to implement or have a significant impact on prior and future fiscal periods.

Your audit team will obtain a current understanding of your controls to best assess your business. We will perform “walkthroughs” to identify key internal controls, how controls are implemented, and any areas where controls need improvement. We’ll provide information on where fraudulent items or errors might be able to break through your controls can be strengthened. With our help you can increase your confidence in your controls, and spend less time worrying about financial matters and more time on the things you enjoy.

At Sensiba, we focus on providing businesses with personalized audit and assurance services designed to enhance strategic planning and ease the stress of compliance and reporting. We will help you assess and strengthen the quality of information you use to make critical decisions, formulate solutions to your business problems, and evaluate your company’s financial performance.

Our team of knowledgeable professionals is here to make your audit process smooth, approachable and suited to your business structure. Reach out today to get started.