Financial Statement Audits & Reviews
Your bank or investors want CPA-reported statements, but do they need an audit or a review? We help you pick the right level, then deliver it on a timeline that meets your covenant or board deadline.
Read moreAudit & Assurance
Audit and Assurance Services
A lender, a funder, a board or a federal agency wants independent assurance on your numbers, and the deadline is fixed. Our audit and assurance services give them that assurance through a clearly scoped engagement, a document request you can plan around, and a report that meets the professional standard the reader expects.
Audit and assurance services for Virginia and Washington DC area organizations
Assurance work answers one question for someone outside your organization: can these numbers, or this compliance, be relied on? The right engagement depends on who is asking and what they need. A bank may accept a review. A grantor may require a Single Audit. A retirement plan with enough participants generally needs an audit attached to its Form 5500.
We work with businesses, nonprofits, government contractors and benefit plan sponsors in Northern Virginia, the wider Washington DC area and across Virginia. Every engagement starts with the requirement itself: the loan covenant, grant agreement, statute or board policy that created it. That way you buy the level of assurance you actually need, and nothing more.
Our audit services
Five audit and assurance engagements
Nonprofit Audits
Restricted gifts, functional expenses, grant revenue and a board that wants clear answers. We audit nonprofits with plain-English findings your finance team and board members can act on.
Read moreSingle Audits & Yellow Book Audits
Spent $1,000,000 or more in federal awards this year? We plan your Single Audit around your major programs and the nine-month filing deadline, so the reporting package lands on time.
Read moreAgreed-Upon Procedures
Need specific numbers checked rather than a full audit? We perform the procedures you and your funder, lender or agency agree on, and report exactly what we found.
Read more401(k) & Employee Benefit Plan Audits
Need an audit for your Form 5500? We assess your plan's participant count and applicable exceptions, then coordinate with your recordkeeper and TPA.
Read moreWho it’s for
Organizations that have to hand an independent report to someone else, usually by a fixed date.
- Privately held businesses with lender, investor or ownership reporting requirements
- Nonprofits answering to boards, donors, funders and state charity regulators
- Organizations that spend federal awards, including pass-through funding
- Government contractors with contract or agency reporting requirements
- Employers that sponsor a 401(k) or other employee benefit plan
What’s included
- A scoping call to confirm which engagement the requirement calls for
- A written proposal and engagement letter with scope, timing and fee
- A prepared-by-client (PBC) request list, organized by area
- Planning, risk assessment, fieldwork and testing under the applicable standards
- Draft report and findings discussed with management before issue
- The final report, plus any required communications to those charged with governance
How it works
How an engagement runs
Scope
We read the requirement and agree on the engagement type, period and deadline.
Propose
You receive a written proposal and, once accepted, an engagement letter.
Plan
We assess risk, plan the work and send a prioritized document request.
Fieldwork
We test balances, transactions, controls and compliance as the engagement requires.
Report
We review drafts with you, then issue the final report and communications.
Why Atlantic Assurance & Advisory
Assurance only has value if the reader trusts the person who signed it. We take independence seriously, we tell you early when an issue could affect the report, and we keep requests organized so your team is not answering the same question twice.
Because we also work on audit readiness and internal controls, we understand what it takes on the client side to get ready for fieldwork. Where independence rules limit what we can do for an audit client, we say so plainly.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Do we need an audit or a review?
Start with the document that created the requirement: your loan agreement, grant agreement, bylaws or a state charity registration notice. It usually names the level of assurance. A review gives limited assurance, based mostly on analytics and questions to management, and typically costs less. An audit gives reasonable assurance, with testing and confirmations behind an opinion. If the wording is vague, send it to us and we will tell you what it actually requires before you commit to anything.
How long does an audit take?
Most of the calendar time is preparation, not fieldwork. For a smaller organization with reconciled books, fieldwork often takes a few weeks, followed by review, drafting and a discussion with the board. First-year audits take longer because opening balances and policies need extra work. We agree on a timeline in the engagement letter and work back from your deadline, whether that is a bank covenant date, a board meeting or a federal filing date.
What do you need from us to prepare a proposal?
Not much to start: your latest financial statements or trial balance, the requirement that triggered the engagement, your fiscal year end and your deadline. For a Single Audit, include your schedule of federal award expenditures. For a 401(k) audit, your participant count and recordkeeper. With that, we can scope the work, flag risks such as complex revenue or large federal programs, and give you a written fee quote before anything starts.
What makes an audit run smoothly?
Three things: reconciled accounts, documents ready before fieldwork, and one person on your team who can answer questions quickly. We send a prioritized request list early, group our questions, and raise potential issues as soon as we see them rather than at the end. Organizations that close the year cleanly and keep support organized usually see shorter fieldwork and fewer surprises.
Can you help us get ready before the audit starts?
Yes, if we are not your auditor. Our audit readiness work covers reconciliations, technical accounting memos and draft statements. If we are your auditor, professional independence rules limit how much of that we can do, because we cannot audit our own work. We will explain clearly what is allowed and point you to practical steps your own team can take.
Request an audit proposal
Tell us what engagement you need, your year end and your deadline. We will confirm the scope and send a written proposal.
Related
Related services
Audit Readiness & Technical Accounting
Walk into your next audit with reconciled accounts, documented judgments and statements that follow US GAAP. We untangle complex transactions, tighten your close and cut the back-and-forth that drives up audit fees.
Read moreRisk & Compliance
Find the weak spots before an auditor, a regulator or a loss does. Risk assessments, internal control reviews, outsourced internal audit and practical policies your team will actually follow.
Read moreGrant Management
Winning the award is only the start. We help you budget it, charge only allowable costs, draw funds on time, report accurately and keep subrecipients on track, so every dollar holds up when the auditors arrive.
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