Audit Readiness

Properly planning for an audit can save the finance team a considerable amount of time and angst when the audit team is on-site.  A smooth audit process ensures minimal interruption to the business and ‘no surprises’ with respect to the final audit fee.  Examples of how I can assist in audit readiness include:

  • Identification and preliminary review of key account balances or transactions with higher audit risk

  • Preparation of position papers to support technical accounting issues

  • Financial statement preparation and / or review

  • Training and development of finance team members around the application of accounting standards, risk and / or potential audit procedures

  • Preparation of business process flows and documentation of key controls relied upon by management to mitigate the risk of material misstatement

  • Assistance in the preparation of corporate governance documents such as risk registers and charters

  • Assistance in appropriately responding to audit requests and / or recommendations to improve the internal control environment

“Dana has a strong focus on client delivery with a pragmatic approach to the resolution of issues.”
— Liam Crawley, CFO

Technical Accounting Experience

My experience has given me the ability to critically assess whether a preferred accounting position is supportable and in accordance with prescribed Accounting Standards.  Over the past 18 years I have provided technical accounting assistance to clients across a broad range of issues, including acquisition, consolidation, foreign exchange, contributions, taxation, impairment and corporate governance.  

Improvements in the Control Environment and Business Processes

One of the key requirements of delivery of a successful audit is that the audit team develops a deep understanding of clients' key processes and controls.  This involved documenting the end-to-end process of a business cycle and identifying relevant key controls that support the accuracy of the financial statements.  As a part of this process my role was to identify areas where the control environment could be strengthened to ensure the risk of error is reduced to a level acceptable to the business.  This is particularly important in high growth, small, or not-for-profit organisations.