Private Company Audits & Reviews
Audits performed under Generally Accepted Auditing Standards, and reviews and compilations performed under SSARS, for privately held companies that need credible financial statements for lenders, investors, boards and buyers.
Standards we apply
Who needs a private company audit or review
Audit, review or compilation — matched to what you actually need
A process built on dates, not hope
Find out what is actually required
Lenders and investors often ask for an audit when a review satisfies the covenant. We read the requirement before we scope the work.
Planning
Written scope, fee basis and a dated calendar built around your covenant or board date.
Fieldwork
Consolidated request list, weekly written status, issues raised as they arise.
Report & management letter
Issued to your date, with observations you can actually act on.
We plan backward from your deadline
Filing dates, plan-year deadlines and board meetings do not move. Neither does our schedule. Every engagement starts with a written timeline built backward from your date, and we hold the milestones we commit to.
If we prepare it, we cannot audit it
Independence rules do not allow a firm to audit financial statements it prepared. If JV CPA performs your accounting or financial statement preparation, your audit must be performed by a different firm — and we will say so at the first conversation, not the fourth.
Choosing which role we take early is faster and far less expensive than unwinding it later.
Questions we get asked
What is the difference between an audit and a review?
They are performed under different standards. An audit follows Generally Accepted Auditing Standards, provides reasonable assurance and results in an opinion; it involves substantive testing and an assessment of internal control. A review follows SSARS, provides limited assurance based primarily on analytical procedures and inquiry, and costs meaningfully less. Which one you need is usually written into your loan agreement or investor documents — we will read it with you.
Which standards apply to our engagement?
For private company audits, the AICPA sets standards through Generally Accepted Auditing Standards, issued as Statements on Auditing Standards by the Auditing Standards Board. Reviews and compilations are governed by the Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services. Issuer audits are a separate regime governed by PCAOB standards. We will tell you which applies to you before we scope the work.
Can you do our bookkeeping and our audit?
No. If JV CPA performs your accounting or prepares your financial statements, independence rules require your audit be performed by another firm. We will tell you which role we can take at the outset.
Is your firm peer reviewed?
JV CPA INC. is enrolled in the peer review program; our first review is not yet due. Our issuer engagements are separately subject to PCAOB oversight and inspection.
We have never been audited. How much disruption should we expect?
The first audit is always the heaviest, because we are establishing opening balances and understanding your processes for the first time. We front-load the request list so the work lands in a block rather than dragging across your quarter.
Need audited or reviewed statements by a date?
Send us the covenant language or the investor request. We will tell you what level of service it actually requires and whether the date is achievable.
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