What kind of financial statement service
do I need?
There are three different levels of
service that we, as Certified Public Accountants, can
perform:
Compilation
- This is the lowest level of service we can
provide. No opinion or any form of assurance is expressed regarding the
financial statements, and no testing procedures are required. Still, the
accountant needs to determine, based on the financial statements being
presented, whether they appear to make sense and whether disclosures have been
made that cause them to be in accordance with generally accepted accounting
principles.
Review
- Less in
scope than an audit, no opinion is expressed but, instead, we state that, based
on analytical procedures and inquiries of company personnel, we are not aware of
any material modifications that should be made to the financial statements in
order for them to be in conformity with generally accepted accounting
principles.
Audit
- This is the highest level of service that a
certified public accounting firm can provide. And only a CPA firm can provide
this. At the completion of the audit, we expresses an opinion that the
financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial
position (balance sheet), results of operations (statement of income) and cash
flows of the company are in accordance with generally accepted accounting
principles. This opinion is based on certain procedures performed that provide
reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material
misstatement.
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What Kind of Financial Statement do I need?
