01Audit and assurance
Financial statement audits, reviews, compilations, employee benefit plan audits and single audits for Columbus businesses and nonprofits. Catherine Mapleton signs every opinion. Fieldwork, draft and signing dates are in the letter.
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| 01 | A bank, a bonding company or a grantor has asked for audited or reviewed statements, with a deadline. |
| 02 | Your 401(k) plan crossed the participant threshold and the plan now needs its own audit. |
| 03 | Last year's audit ran months late, cost more than quoted, and the partner never showed up after the first meeting. |
02Scope
| Number | Item | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Audit | The highest level of assurance. We test balances, transactions and controls and issue an opinion. Required by most lenders above a certain exposure, by sureties for larger bonding lines and by many grantors. |
| 02 | Review | Analytical procedures and inquiry; limited assurance. Often enough for smaller credit lines and bonding programmes. Faster and less expensive than an audit. |
| 03 | Compilation | Statements presented in the proper form from your records, with no assurance. Useful for internal reporting and some lender covenants. |
| 04 | Employee benefit plan audit | Required once a 401(k) or similar plan reaches the participant threshold. Filed with Form 5500. We run these on a fixed schedule around the filing deadline. |
| 05 | Single audit | For nonprofits and governments spending federal funds above the threshold. Compliance testing by programme, scheduled around grantor deadlines. |
| 06 | Agreed-upon procedures | Specific procedures agreed with you or a third party, with findings reported as facts. Used in acquisitions, royalty reviews and disputes. |
03How it runs
Before you sign, the engagement letter states the week fieldwork starts, the date you receive the draft and the date the opinion is signed. It also states what we need from you and by when, because most late audits are late on both sides.
Progress lives in the client portal: the open items list, who owns each item, and where the engagement stands against the dates. You should never need to call to ask.
04Specifics
05Who leads it
Managing Partner, Audit and Assurance
Catherine founded the firm in 2009 after a decade in the assurance practice of a national firm. She signs every audit opinion the firm issues and runs the engagement letter process that sets dates and fees before fieldwork begins.
Senior Manager, Audit
Priya runs fieldwork on financial statement and employee benefit plan audits and is the day-to-day contact for most assurance clients.
06Timeline
Letter signedScope, fee, dates, the document request list and the portal opened.
PlanningRisk assessment, walkthroughs with your team, confirmations sent to banks and customers.
FieldworkOn site or remote, led by the senior manager with the partner present at the opening and closing meetings.
Draft statementsDraft financial statements and any proposed adjustments, walked through with you line by line.
Opinion signedSigned opinion delivered, with a management letter that says what to fix before next year.
FAQBefore you call
Ask the bank, in writing, which level the loan agreement requires. Many agreements say "reviewed" and the relationship manager says "audited" out of habit. We will read the covenant with you before we quote either.
For a company with clean monthly closes, eight to ten weeks from signed letter to signed opinion. If the books need work first, we say so before signing and price the clean-up separately, usually through our outsourced accounting team.
Almost always, the books were not ready or documents arrived late. Our letter fixes the fee for the agreed scope; if the scope genuinely changes, the change is priced before we continue, not added at the end.
It depends on the number of participants with balances at the start of the plan year and the threshold in force that year. Send us your Form 5500 from last year and we will tell you in a day.
Catherine leads the opening meeting, reviews the file, chairs the closing meeting and signs the opinion. Priya runs fieldwork day to day. Both names are in your letter.
→Next step
You will hear from a partner within 48 hours with a scope, a fee and a date.