Compilations, Reviews and Audits

Financial statements help owners and management make decisions and accurately represent the true financial position of a company for stockholders, lenders, other creditors and private investors. Working with an experienced accounting firm can help ensure proper reporting so that appropriate decisions can be made and necessary requirements are met.

Whittaker Cooper P.A. provides three levels of reporting on financial statements: compilation, review and audit.

Compilation: A compilation is the preparation of financial statements from information provided by a company. In a compilation, we express no opinion nor offer any type of assurance. This is a popular service for small businesses because it is typically cost-effective, requires minimal time and effort for the business, and is accepted by many lenders and investors.

Review: A review also requires preparation of financial statements from information provided by a company, but requires further analytical procedures and inquiries of management to ensure that the information presented conforms to generally accepted accounting procedures with limited assurance. A review may be appropriate for those planning for significant near-term changes, such as an expansion or sale of the business.

Audit: An audit is the highest level of service and assurance, provided and conducted in accordance with auditing standards, generally accepted in the United States. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by a company, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. All public companies, many non-profit entities and some non-public companies may be required by banks, lenders or government agencies to undergo an annual audit of their financial statements.

While the procedures differ for each of these services, each is intended to provide a specified level of assurance that a company's financial statements are presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles or other comprehensive basis of accounting and are free of obvious misstatement.

To learn more about how Whittaker Cooper P.A. can assist you in the preparation of the financial statement that is right for the unique circumstances of your business, please contact us today.

Tax Services are provided as a service of Whittaker Cooper P.A., and not as a service of Raymond James Financial Services.

Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services Inc., member FINRA/SIPC