Financial Audits for nonprofits

The purpose of a financial audit is to provide an objective independent examination of the nonprofit’s financial statements. Auditors offer an opinion about whether the financial statements of the nonprofit organization are stated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). An audit opinion provides reasonable assurance, but not absolute assurance.

Your nonprofit may be required to have an audit because you have internal policies, e.g. by-laws or accounting policies, that require an audit, or there may be external regulatory entities or grantors that require your nonprofit to have a financial statement audit. For example, if your nonprofit expends $750,000 or more in federal grants, you may be required to have a financial audit and you may also need a compliance audit. Some states also have a requirement for a financial audit, for example, in New Mexico, the Office of the Attorney General (AGO) requires all charitable organizations that report $500,000 in “total” revenue (defined as gross revenue prior to any deductions or losses) to have an audit and file an electronic copy with the AGO.

However, many of our clients have an audit not because of internal or external requirements, but because it is a best practice and the audit can be a helpful with grant applications.

If your nonprofit does not currently require an audit, we encourage you to consider a review, which can be a helpful process for your nonprofit to go through with an auditor, especially if you anticipate that your nonprofit will need an audit in the future.

A nonprofit financial audit involves an examination of each significant amount included in the nonprofit’s financial statements. To do this examination, we start by providing a list of items to be prepared in advance of our on-site visit. Typically, our on-site visits range from 2 to 5 days, depending on the complexity of your nonprofit’s financial activities.

The cost of an audit conducted by Taylor Roth Nonprofit CPA is agreed to in advance and is a fixed fee; there are no additional “out of pocket” expenses. If, during the audit process, we identify a requirement that is not included in our engagement agreement, we will discuss this requirement with you as well as the cost of the additional work. Please keep in mind that this scenario is unusual; the conversations that we have with you during the proposal process are designed to flush out any possible reporting requirements that may be applicable to your nonprofit.

• A signed PDF version of the audit report,
• Up to 15 hard copies of the audit (if desired),
• A management letter that discusses issues identified during the audit process that involve your nonprofit’s financial reporting and internal control processes, with recommendations on how to resolve and/or address the issues.