Whilst satisfying a mandatory requirement for an audit is important, an external audit should be more than just a compliance exercise. An external audit should provide you with independent assurance that the financial results and position reported is materially correct. It should also identify weaknesses in your existing systems and recommend improvements. This can result in stronger internal systems and processes, and increased confidence in the quality and reliability of management reporting. It can also identify errors or anomalies which may have gone unnoticed or unreported.

Whether or not an audit is mandatory is usually determined by the legislation which is applicable to your organisation, such as the Corporations Act 2001 or the Associations Incorporation Act 2009. If you receive funding from a Federal or State government body, the funding body may also require you to have an external audit conducted. If you are in any doubt, it is always best to check. We are happy to discuss this with you without obligation.

Yes. Even if you do not have a mandatory requirement for an audit, you can still engage an external auditor to provide assurance on your financial statements.

We can provide a variety of audit and assurance services.

External audit

The purpose of an external audit is to provide an opinion on your financial statements. This will not only assist you in complying with your regulatory requirements, but it will also provide assurance to other stakeholders such as members, directors, committee members and senior management that the financial performance and financial position of the organisation as reported in the financial statements is materially correct.

Review engagements

A review provides a lower level of assurance than an audit, but they are also generally less costly than an external audit. In some circumstances, a review may satisfy your reporting obligations under the Corporations Act 2001 or Associations Incorporation Act 2009.

Agreed upon procedures (AUP) engagements

An agreed upon procedures engagement can address areas of particular concern you may have on your organisation’s operations. For example, you may be purchasing a new business and want independent confirmation of the value of employee leave entitlements you are acquiring. An agreed up on procedures engagement can provide you with the independent information you need to make an informed decision. It can even be as simple as having an independent person attend your year end stocktake and report to you on the manner in which the stocktake was conducted and perform some test counts to confirm counts undertaken by your staff.

Internal audit

An internal audit differs from external audit in that the organisation determines the areas to be reviewed. You might want to have your inventory management systems reviewed to confirm ordering is being conducted in accordance with your policies and procedures, stock is being held securely, obsolete stock is identified and accounted for, and that inventory is correctly recorded when it is sold or utilised. Alternatively, you may want a specific location or department within your organisation reviewed to ensure compliance with organisation policies and procedures.

There are a number of different steps in the external audit process. For an overview of this process, please refer to Our Process page

We’d be happy to talk with you about whether you are required to have an audit, with no obligation on your part. Contact us on:

Ph: 02 6362 5100 (Orange Office)

Ph: 02 6333 7611 (Bathurst Office)

We can only come to fully understand your business and build effective relationships with you by the on-site participation of senior staff. So we devote considerably more Partner and Manager hours to our clients than the industry generally. What this means is that you will have personal contact with the decision maker and they will understand your circumstances thoroughly – guaranteeing decisiveness.

At Intentus we have a strong focus on professional development and the promotion of work/life balance for all our staff, resulting in experienced staff and very low staff turnover.

Intentus is an ASIC authorised audit company with multiple directors who are Registered Company so rotating partners on a given client is not a problem.

To meet reporting deadlines requires teamwork between your staff and the audit team. We guarantee that whenever our clients meet their performance requirements we will always meet the deadline. If that means working all-night to do so then that is what our value of commitment is all about. But more importantly, we believe that with good planning and teamwork, we can achieve the outcome without the need for last minute pressure.