2021’s Affordable CPA of the Year for Crowdfunding Financial Statement Audit

A Crowdfunding CPA to Meet Your Needs

Your Crowdfunding campaign is a lot of hard work. There are moments that you just don’t think it will come together. But now it’s time for your financial statement audit as required by the funder. The question is: what is a CPA Crowdfunding financial statement audit?

Crowdfund audits and reviews of a business are not as complicated and stressful as you may think. Though some would like you to believe it, this is a misconception. Your audit should be quick, affordable and help you learn more about your business. As well, you shouldn’t feel rushed or put out by the auditors.

Three things make this company different in the way we perform a financial statement audit of a crowdfunding business. They are inclusion, cost, and timing. NO one makes this process better, faster, or easier than we do. Whether you are campaigning through Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Crowdfunder, Crowd Supply, Wefunder, Seedinvest, Fundly or any of the many platforms, we can help. Here’s why:

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We Speak Your Language

The audit process should not be unpleasant, invasive, or disruptive. Many examiners give you this impression so that they can justify their inflated fees. Let me assure you, this is not how things are at Ernest L. Tomkiewicz CPA PLLC. My job as an auditor is to be inclusive of you and your management throughout the audit process. We explain things and work with you.

Plain English responses to your questions is a priority during an audit. Nothing spells mistrust and confusion more than a financial auditor that doesn’t take the time to listen to your concerns and address them in a way that you understand. I am here to help you, not protect my own interests.  This is not “Auditing for Dummies”, it’s giving you what you deserve, a fair shake.

The Price is Right

You should not have to pay the cost of a small house for your audit. This is a common theme I hear from Crowdfunding clients. “The auditors want too much money for this job”. If you feel this way, you’ve come to the right place. I do not base my pricing on your ability to pay. Nor do I base it on the price that you have set as your upper limit allowed for the examination.

I will work with you to get the job you need at a cost that you can afford. I don’t base pricing on the maximum I feel you can afford. My philosophy is that there is a comfortable, affordable and fair price that can be achieved for any financial statement auditAudit Solutions for Business.

Putting YOUR needs first!

√ Relaxed client atmosphere

√ Affordable pricing

√ Easy, convenient access

Auditing on YOUR Schedule

Have you been told, “this audit is very complex and could take four to six months”. If so, you’re talking to the wrong auditing company. Many auditors will tell you this is a long, complicated process in order to justify their pricing. As well, they leave this extra time so that they can over-book their schedules and move YOU to the backburner.

Do not allow this to happen. Timing in an audit engagement is a simple task. Similar to a contractor’s production schedule.  I use a system that allows me to scale work and stay on time. As well, I’ve personally developed the processes and IT of my company from my background is in data systems.  My work process and data integration aid in keeping your audit timely.

What This Means for You

All of these things lead us to the ultimate ending, providing you with an unmodified opinion on your audited financial statements. Along the way we may encounter areas of the financials that aren’t quite conforming to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). If this is the case, we will work with you to find alternatives that bring you into compliance.

Our goal isn’t to churn out your financial statements with a modified opinion. It’s to include you in the process of achieve statements that materially conform to GAAP. This is achieved by providing you with options and ideas that are designed to help you comply. A clean opinion is a goal that can be achieved with a little hard work and creative thinking.

Some facts:

When Title III, called Regulation CF of the JOBS Act was signed in 2012, it put into effect in 2016 a provision allowing private early-stage companies to raise money from all Americans. This was a major leap forward for investors and start-up companies. Because early-stage businesses can now use equity crowdfunding to turn their customers into investors.

The draw-back, a company is required to have a CPA review for the prior two years when offering securities if the raise is for more than $250,000 and you were incorporated more than 6 months ago.  If over $1,000,000 and the company has previously performed an offering, an audit is the requirement.  There are slight differences depending on length of time incorporated, prior fund raising and other factors. Please consult with your funder to determine your requirements.

How much does a financial statement audit cost?

An audit of financial statements will generally run between $5,000 to $25,000 depending on the size of the company. Factors that affect the overall cost and fee structure are the number of balance sheet accounts, number of transactions, amount of revenue and whether inventory is a part of the business.

The average small e-commerce company with revenues of $1 million to $5 million per year, is probably going to pay $15,000 for an audit. Multi-year comparative audits can be cheaper than having several years prepared as standalones. In this example the auditor can perform concurrent procedures lowering the overall rates of preparing separate years.

How are audit fees determined?

Audit fees, when performed on an hourly basis can range from $30 per hour for the clerical staff to $500 per hour for senior auditors. Firms will charge based on the person performing the work and this scale, as you can see, is wide. You should always confirm with the financial statement auditor on how staff are allocated to your job.

Some audits have lower fees if more work is pushed from highly paid seniors to clerical staff. This is especially true with ecommerce audits. The reality is much of the legwork, research and data mining can be done by lower level staff. However, many firms keep this in the hands of seniors which increases your outlay unnecessarily.

How long does a financial audit take?

An audit of a complete set of financial statements can take from one to three months. Many ecommerce businesses can be completed in under a month depending on the complexity of their accounting information system. The stages of the audit flow faster when information is readily available.

The factors that determine the timetable of an audit are the number of accounts, the measure of transactions and how you calculate inventory moves through the accounting system. If you have easily verifiable data held with various third-party vendors and customers, your audit period can be reduced substantially.

What can I expect from a financial statement audit?

During a financial statement audit you will be asked many questions about your governance and corporate structure. You will also have to provide documents relating to your contracts and legal matters. These are needed to verify company liabilities and legal encumbrances. You should be provided with a guide or checklist to help you through the process.

During the audit you will need to grant access to employees and staff relevant to the process. Accounting staff should be ready to discuss measures and objectives of their jobs. The audit staff will steer the audit in the direction needed to procure all the needed information. The step-by-step instructions of an audit are lengthy and you should ask plenty of question prior to hiring an accountant.

Elite Services in Auditing

Financial statement audit

A financial statement audit is a complex process. This is why one must be a Certified Public Accountant to provide the highest level of assurance, an audit. Our auditing process is thorough and quick. We do not dwell on the old ideas of micro-managing every aspect of auditing. Instead we focus on the client applications and data relationships to provide superior services in auditing.

Audit of select accounts

In some instances, you may not need a full audit. A bank or lender may just require the audit of select accounts. In this limited form of auditing we can help you save money with our unique applications and programs. All our processes are designed to help you achieve the best audit for the least cost. Your bottom line is our priority.

Full corporate audit

A full corporate audit is the most complex of all auditing procedures. In a full audit every aspect of your operations will be look at. Every process form accounts receivable to inventory storage will be considered. If you are in need of a full corporate audit, we can help.