Small Audits Made Easy and Profitable

Can small audits be profitable? Some practitioners think this question is an oxymoron, i.e., that the word profitable can’t be applied to small audits! My experience has shown otherwise.

Over 20 years ago I authored a Small Business Audit Manual that was designed to comply with the requirements of existing professional standards and, at the same time, minimize engagement time charges. Many smaller CPA firms have used the operating philosophies in that manual to achieve profitability on small audits for decades. Here, in a nutshell, are some of those operating philosophies:

• Involving leadership throughout engagements to establish and communicate the “tone at the top.”
• Meeting personal and firm ethical requirements.
• Accepting and serving high-quality clients.
• Hiring outstanding staff persons.
• Maximizing the benefits of CPE and on-the-job training for staff personnel.
• Assigning the right people to engagements.
• Providing the right level of supervision for engagement personnel.
• Planning, assessing risk and performing engagement procedures to produce the optimum mix of quality and profitability.
• Monitoring quality control for engagements and firm administration.
  
  

Over the next few months, our subscribers at www.cpafirmsupport.com will received detailed information on each of these operating philosophies.