Audit & assurance

Audit (auditor’s report)

Regarding financial statements audits a distinction can be made between statutory (legal) audits* and audits conducted on other than statutory grounds. Statutory (legal) audits have become extensively regulated by national and international legislation and guidelines in recent years, mainly due to audit scandals overseas and in the Netherlands.

In order contain the growing number of such scandals an audit license system was installed. Only those audit firms which fulfill certain strict requirements are eligible for such a license. These audit firms are frequently monitored by the AFM (Authority Financial Markets).

Chartered Accountants who are not working for such accountancy companies are no longer allowed to issue an audit opinion! In order to be able to conduct statutory (legal) audits MPR Accountants has obtained the aforementioned license.

We offer the full expertise of our audit & assurance department to conduct financial statements audits. We perform our client audits according to our in-house developed methodology. This audit does not only encompass the financial statements nor does it solely deal with the question whether or not the numbers are accurate (“provide a true and fair view “). We attach great importance to the review of your internal control procedures and the quality of your reporting.Our audit provides insight into potential risks and hands you valuable points of interest. These issues combined with recommendations on ways to mitigate your risks are captured in our management letter. If you can be sure that all data entry and subsequent reporting is reliable, you can be convinced that you are you using the accurate numbers to base your decisions on. In short our audit provides you with much more than just an audit opinion.

Statutory audits are mandatory if a company meets at least two of the following legal requirements ex Civil Code 2:396 for two or more consecutive years:

  • Turnover exceeding 15 million euro
  • Balance sheet total exceeding 7,5 million euro
  • Staff exceeding 50 fte (on average)

 

Pre-audit

In some cases companies and their chartered accountants agree on a fixed fee regarding the financial statements audit. If the chartered accountant concludes on a so-called reasonable basis that the financial statements are free of material misstatements this will result (in most cases) in an unqualified audit opinion. In order to achieve a reasonable basis your chartered accountant will perform an interim and final audit. A list of documents to be delivered by you is usually part of the fixed fee arrangement.

In many cases the communication between the chartered accountant and his client is hampered by noise which in turn may lead to the client producing (supporting) documents and/or break-downs of little to no value to the chartered accountant.

Subsequently the chartered accountant will need to invoice the client additionally for all related hours involving the acquisition of necessary audit information and evidence. We clarify things and reduce noise by preparing audit files based on the deliverable items list. Our experts have years of experience in audit and assurance and know exactly what your chartered accountant needs to conduct his audit as efficiently as possible. This in turn will lead to additional invoicing being absent and in many cases open up the possibility to reduce the overall audit fee.

Review of financial statements (auditor’s review report)

An auditor’s review report is a report regarding a review performed by us on statements containing historical financial information. Often these statements are the yearly financial statements but they can also be grant settlements. The review report on financial statements provides a higher assurance regarding the accuracy and completeness of information in the financial statements than a compilation report, but less assurance than an auditor’s report.

Certain trade and professional associations as SGR and BPBI require resorting members (such as travel agencies and professional trustees) to present an auditor’s review report on their financial statements. The Bureau Financial Supervision (Bureau Financieel Toezicht, BFT) also demands an auditor’s review report of notaries and bailiffs operating under its supervision. The auditor’s review report is particularly useful for companies lacking staff in respect to the necessary segregation of duties.

Special audits (special statements)

We also perform checks on the financial statements other than statements leading to controls assurance statements and reports. Examples of assurance statements and reports are:

  • ISAE 3402 Type I and Type II
  • Remittance Statements (payment of payroll taxes and / or sales tax)
  • Contribution Statements for the contribution in a NV / BV (Contribution in kind)
  • Kiwa statements (statement credit for passenger transport)
  • NIWO statements (statement credit for the transport sector)
  • Revenue Statements (usually required for procurement)
  • Grant Statements (usually required for subsidieverstrekkking)

Other accounting and auditing firms often contact us in relation to aforementioned special audits. We work in close cooperation with these firms by dividing work yet retaining final responsibility.