An early-stage private company approached us to help with preparation for a first-year audit. We assisted them with auditor selection and provided an overview of how a typical AICPA audit works. We reviewed all historical journal entries (5 years) to ensure the opening balance sheet was accurate and complete. Additionally, we reviewed the current year journal entries on a risk-based approach to ensure that the client had sufficient support.

We prepared a reconciliation file in Excel that included reconciliations for all balance sheet accounts. This file also included the trial balance, the roll-up of the trial balance into the financial statements, and cash flow workbook. The file was provided to the auditors, which they used to make selections for the audit. We also prepared the financial statements and footnotes, and assisted the client with auditor questions throughout the audit.