In addition to the main activity, audit organizations provide their customers with additional services called “audit-related services”. Their list is quite extensive and includes:
- maintaining and restoring an enterprise accounting system;
- consultations in the field of taxation;
- providing advice in the field of financial support of an individual entrepreneur;
- provision of feasible support and assistance during the restructuring of organizations;
- audit firms are entitled to give advice and recommendations regarding the legal liability of an economic entity;
- audit services - these are measures to verify the correctness of filling and calculation of all financial documentation, as well as to identify the compliance of the consolidated balance of the available interim reporting. According to this definition, it is possible to put forward the conclusion that the specialists of audit firms have the appropriate level of qualification, therefore they can engage in the introduction of new information technologies, as well as the automation of the accounting system and internal control;
- the services associated with the audit also involve assessment activities, that is, the establishment of the liquidation and residual value of the enterprise, as well as determining the level of risk to which it is exposed;
- auditors can offer young entrepreneurs such type of services as the full development of a business plan for a new project;
- some legal entities turn to auditors for the purpose of conducting research in the field of marketing;
- large audit organizations provide such services related to the audit as scientific, developmental research;
So, audit firms have the right to provide audit services or related to them. And for this, each specialist needs to have certain skills and knowledge in the field of jurisprudence and economics. All services related to the audit can be conditionally distinguished and two main groups can be distinguished: those compatible with the mandatory audit and those incompatible with it.
The first include such types of services as:
- analytical study of the financial situation of the client company and organization of planning at the enterprise in terms of finance;
- implementation of internal audit ;
- comprehensive advice to the economic entity on issues related to the accounting scheme, the feasibility of introducing technological innovations;
- training for internal audit;
- development of a business plan for the client, organization of a new project and assessment of its prospects;
- marketing and analytical research, that is, market research and determining the volume of the market that the client occupies;
- providing advice in the field of legal regulation, as well as tax litigation.
Services that are not compatible with mandatory verification should include:
- work on the development of accounting management or restoration schemes;
- full documentation in the financial and tax areas;
- settlement measures in the field of transferring obligatory payments to the budget of all levels and extra-budgetary funds ;
- assistance with restructuring or liquidation of a company of an economic entity.
If the audit firm provides audit-related services, then each specialist in the company must have the appropriate skills and knowledge in the field of economics, in addition, he must be a legally savvy person. Employees of firms conducting audits are required to clearly observe the main principles of confidentiality, honesty, responsibility, thoroughness and good faith.