First external audit
Gap assessment, reconciliations, financial-statement support, documentation, controls, prepared-by-client schedules, and coordination with the independent external auditor.
Explore Audit Readiness
For companies facing an external event
Be ready before the deadline controls the process.
A first external audit, financing request, investor review, or sale can expose years of reporting and documentation gaps at once. We help organize the financial information before another party starts asking questions.
The pressure point
Outside scrutiny changes the standard for financial information.
Records that have been adequate for tax filings or internal use may not be ready for an external auditor, lender, investor, or buyer. The challenge is rarely one missing schedule. It is the combined burden of reconciliations, policies, controls, supporting documents, management explanations, and deadlines.
Preparation creates time to fix issues deliberately instead of defending them in the middle of fieldwork or diligence.
For financing preparation, read Are your company’s financials ready for a lender or financing request?
Important distinction
Readiness is not the external audit.
John W. Halloran CPA, P.C. prepares companies for external audits performed by other independent CPA firms. We do not perform external audits or issue audit opinions. Transaction Advisory is seller-side advisory work and is not an external financial-statement audit.
Start with the requirement
Different events. One preparation discipline.
The work begins with the outside requirement and works backward to the records, analysis, controls, and support needed to meet it.
Financing or investor reporting
Strengthen financial packages, forecasts, covenant reporting, supporting schedules, and the consistency between operating data and financial results.
Explore Client Accounting ServicesSale or buyer diligence
Improve reporting, prepare seller-side earnings and working-capital analyses, document potential normalization items, organize the data room, and coordinate financial and tax readiness with the deal team.
Explore Transaction AdvisoryHow the engagement works
Move from uncertainty to a controlled work plan.
- 1
Define the external requirement
Clarify the deadline, reporting framework, stakeholders, anticipated requests, and responsible team members.
- 2
Assess readiness
Identify gaps across records, policies, reporting, controls, staffing, documentation, and data availability.
- 3
Prepare the agreed support
Prepare agreed schedules, reconcile accounts, document accounting support for management’s review, and organize requested materials.
- 4
Coordinate the process
Help management track requests, status, responsibilities, and open items with the relevant external parties.
When a first audit is approaching
The requirement is new, but the finance team is already at capacity.
A readiness assessment can identify the gaps before work expands into account cleanup, supporting schedules, policy documentation, financial-statement preparation support, targeted control improvements, and request coordination with the separate external audit firm. The result is a controlled preparation plan instead of a deadline-driven scramble.
Before the work begins
What does the first readiness step produce?
The initial work identifies priority gaps, responsible parties, dependencies, and a practical sequence for addressing them before outside requests control the calendar. Any follow-on accounting, reporting, or transaction work is established separately.
How early should we begin?
Begin once the requirement or transaction becomes likely. The necessary lead time depends on the condition of the records, company complexity, available capacity, and deadline. For a contemplated sale, starting earlier may provide more reporting periods in which to organize records and document trends.
Can you work with our existing accountant and deal team?
Yes. We can coordinate with internal finance staff, the separate external audit firm, attorneys, lenders, investment bankers, brokers, and a prospective buyer’s diligence team while keeping each party’s responsibilities clear.
Take control before the outside deadline does.
Share the external requirement, expected timing, and where the finance team needs support. We’ll discuss what must be ready and how to organize the work.
Prepare for What’s Ahead