you do realise that audit is legally protected and only registered auditors can perfrom audits don't you?
Fee's vary greatly from one practice to another. Best place to start is looking at how much was charged in prior year audits which will be disclosed in the accounts.
Note that not all qualified accountants are qualified to be auditors. That requires a different (and more expensive) type of practice certificate.
HTH,
Shaun.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
my impression was the Bob was looking at doing the audit.
That's territory that bookkeepers should not go anywhere near as for starters their PII won't cover them and if your going to be sued for anything it will invariably be Audit work.
I think that Bob would be wise to take you up on your kind offer of introducing him to a specialist accountant who would be willing to take these two clients on.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Thats OK, I do know from Bobs LinkedIn profile he is does bookkeeping for charities, so I thought he was looking for someone to audit the accounts.
I was told by a registered auditor that anyone can do an audit, as the word means - it is just a proper check of records. But not anyone can sign a statutory auditors statement for accounts that require a statutory audit. It is the statutory audit that is protected, not the audit.
A signature about the word "auditor" does not always mean that someone is a registered auditor - it just means they have done proper independant checks on the records.
In the village I live, the local "auditor" for all the local voluntary bodies and charities (under 10k) has no qualifications at all. She is a respected "retired" bookkeeper - but as she does not do any statutory audits - she is just signing to say she checked the records by using the word auditor.
I personally have been changing the wording to "verfied by" for any of the accounts I ask her to "audit", but not all organisations have done so. In time they all should so there is less confussion over the use of the word "audit".
-- Edited by YLB-HO on Sunday 24th of July 2011 10:44:23 AM
As the amounts are under £250,000pa you don't need an audit, just an independant examination.
If the organisation is grant funded, chances are they will be legally required to have an audit with a registered auditor, it will most likely be written into the letter of offer. Most grant funding bodies will not even consider a funding application unless they have their accounts audited by a registered auditor as standard.
I used to have to arrange audits for a small local group receiving peace money. For a small not for profit with a turnover of £45.000, receiving a grand total of £16,000 funds, they had to pay an auditor £1500 plus VAT for their end of year accounts, and that was with me preparing all books. Audit prices have gone through the roof since Enron, apparently the audit report is about 4 inches thick.
The groups can apply for the audit fees in with the funding application, most funding bodies do recognise this as a legitimate expense. It is a bit ridiculous though, and more money that ultimately comes out of the taxpayers pocket, but there has been so much fraud with funding money, funders see it as a necessary safeguard (and a useful scapegoat if their own internal monitoring checks miss anything...).
Edited as I forgot to say, it's been a while since I received quotations for NFP's or Charities, but the last one was about £2008 for a NFP with a turnover of £200,000, about half of that was funded. Out of the 3 Auditor quotations, one was £1200, the other was £1400, and the third was £1800, all plus VAT, that was with full and accurate management accounts being handed over. We gave the job to the medium priced company due to their professionalism and good reputation. They did a great job, but I have just heard there that their latest bill was £2500 plus VAT, and the company has not got any bigger, if anything the turnover and funding has dropped. Even with the auditing standards being tightened and the auditor having to complete more documentation, it still is a disgraceful amount for a small company to pay out for what is really 1-2 days work.
It depends on your local area and what the average price is, but chances are it will not be cheap.
-- Edited by mushroom on Monday 25th of July 2011 02:46:27 PM
