Now it has to be said that audit and assurance services are more often seen as a necessary evil rather than a valuable opportunity to benefit the business.  However, we see things a little differently.

The analysis work involved in an audit is a great springboard to considering wider business risks and benefits and there’s no doubt that the rigours of an audit process will encourage your team to make sure that everything is properly recorded and kept up to date.

Naturally, we’ve got all our technical ducks in a row.  We’re registered with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales to carry out audit work, we use the latest auditing tools and systems, and all the team members who get involved have specialist update training each year.  Alongside regular company and LLP audits, we’ve also got the expertise to do specialist audits such as those for insurance brokers, Solicitors’ Accounts Rules, pension schemes or charities and non-profit organisations.

Currently, limited companies and LLPs with a turnover of more than £5.6m and/or total assets of more than £2.8m have no choice but to have a statutory external audit.  Many other smaller organisations also choose to have an audit if, say, their shareholders or bankers are looking for extra assurance about the numbers or perhaps future plans involve the need for demonstrably reliable accounts.

Audit and assurance does involve a lot of historical checks, but we feel that supporting a business’ future success is important too.  So, we’ll let you know how the company’s systems and control environment is looking and make suggestions for improvements where appropriate.  We’ll also work with business owners in assessing the big picture of how well the company is doing.  In other words, building on the analysis that comes out of the audit work, we’ll listen to your plans and help you to consider:

• what ‘the numbers’ actually mean in terms of what’s important to you (personally and for your business)
• what else you should be thinking about beyond the numbers, and
• what the possibilities for the future might be.

Contact John Beevers on 0113 297 6813 or j.beevers@sagars.co.uk for more information.