At Mitchell Charlesworth we recognise the added value an audit can bring to our clients. We are also aware that assurance services may not primarily be considered as a service that “adds value”. However, an audit, whilst a legal requirement in some circumstances, can bring with it added trust and confidence in the entity, and its financial statements. It can also add other intangible benefits including deterring fraud and providing comfort to external stakeholders such as customers and suppliers, and in the case of some charitable entities, the trust and confidence of the public.
Mitchell Charlesworth have a good understanding of combining our clients’ audit requirements and ensuring that this compliance assignment is a useful business tool. Our audit offering is continually assessed to ensure it delivers an efficient and expert service to our clients.
Our Practice Audit Coordinator ensures that all staff involved in audit are fully trained and aware of their responsibilities, and hold regular internal briefing sessions to ensure the entire team are fully versed with changing standards and efficient testing procedures.
The audit sector has become more specialised. In order to add to the team’s efficiencies our practice audit team now use paperless auditing software, ensuring that our audit work is risk focused, and to make the audit process as smooth as possible for our clients. Furthermore, our audit teams are structured in such a way that you can be assured that we are dynamic enough to best service you, whilst remaining alert for innovative methods to service you better.
The Audit Process – The MC Way
Mitchell Charlesworth is a partner led firm. Most of our audit partners have a general portfolio with a concentration in one or two areas of expertise. Sectors of expertise include:
Mitchell Charlesworth understands that Audit and Assurance is a complex area of our business and therefore we have ensured that we have a team of individuals who are capable of completing these tasks in the most efficient way – our audit team consists of an engagement partner, assignment manager and audit senior. Assistants may also be used for audit testing purposes.
We focus on our four key stages of audit:
The engagement partner will meet with you to discuss your individual business and to ensure they understand the company’s industry, regulators, accounting policies, business risks, objectives and strategies prior to commencing the audit process. As part of the audit planning process the audit team will meet to discuss the approach of the audit and the individual responsibilities for each member of the team.
The fieldwork will ensure that there is consistency between financial and non-financial information by sample testing documents in all material areas.
The fieldwork, via analytical review procedures, will ensure that there is consistency between financial years and constant training ensures that any changes in regulations and accounting standards are identified from year to year.
Service Quality
The work of the audit team is reviewed at all stages, initially by the manager and secondly by the partner responsible for the work, to ensure robustness of the audit, and that it addresses the risks and issues identified during the planning process. The partner and manager are actively involved throughout the audit process and generally throughout the year. We positively encourage contact with our clients so that we can advise on matters as they arise and not just as part of a year end process, by which time, may be too late to rectify any issues. Quality is at the core of what we do.
The audit of the auditors!
Additionally we are subject to periodic reviews by the Quality Assurance Directorate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants; we are also subject to reviews by fellow members of the Kreston Global network, and we have an annual Audit Compliance Review by external consultants to ensure that the quality of the work we perform is of a sufficiently high standard.
If you would like to meet to discuss our audit methodology in more detail, please get in touch with a member of the team to the right of this page.
