Auditing and Assurance

We run a cost-effective, boutique audit and financial advisory practice.

Founded in 2008/9 as an independent auditing, advisory and accounting boutique and registered with the ICAANZ, today Lattice is a multi-functional practice that supports our clients across audit, accounting, corporate finance and transaction-support processes.

We are located in Brisbane and serve clients nationally across Australia. Because we use experienced staff on all our audits, we are able to provide cost-effective and value-added solutions to your business. These areas work synergistically with the aim of offering our clients a range of solutions to meet their challenges and reporting obligations.

With continuous training, regular technical interaction within our peer-group and professional CPD, a permanent presence of qualified professionals, as well as important internal concurring review and quality assurance processes, we can assure you of an outstanding level of service and communication.

Lattice’s partners have significant international experience, having worked in a number of the Big-4 auditing and consulting firms, as well as a host of dynamic client environments, developing important track-records across professional services and engineering, hospitality & leisure, aviation, industrial products, mining services and mineral extraction, information technology, media and real estate.

Further details of that expertise is highlighted below.

Our Process

Our partners are members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, as is the practice and we operate under the same auditing standards and regulations as the large audit firms.

We carry substantial Professional Indemnity Insurance, as required by the Professional Standards Legislation.

We aim to provide our clients with the same exceptional level of service that we would expect if we were requesting a professional service.

All our engagements start with us gaining a detailed understanding of our client’s business, as we believe that is key to understanding the context of the work we do and it’s also key to us providing you with a cost-effective, efficient audit and building a sustainable, long-term relationship, which will help us to anticipate your needs.

We understand and are familiar with most major accounting software platforms, including Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks and Reckon, and we are equally comfortable working with your internal financial management team, or the outsourced service provider/bookkeeper that you work with.

Where required we also have the deep networks and pedigree to be able to access other specialist expertise and resources from other member firms in Australia, where such is required.

Capabilities

We offer a broad range of services within Audit and Assurance and would be happy to discuss further how we can help your organisation.

Assurance and audits

Our assurance service consist of the following types of engagement:

An audit provides the highest level of assurance, the primary objective of which is to develop an opinion on the fair presentation of the financial statements. Both an audit review and an audit must comply with the independence requirements of the Australian Ethical Standards Board.

We utilise a risk-based audit approach to develop your audit strategy and comply with Australian auditing standards. Audit engagements necessarily include gaining an understanding of your business and the industry or industries across which it operates, including as assessment of the organisation’s internal controls, plus the testing of selected transactions and verifying such through amongst other things: communicating with independent, third parties like your bankers. Based on our detailed findings, we then issue a report on whether the relevant financial report is fairly stated and free of material misstatements or whether a qualification or disclaimer is required. We communicate regularly with both your management team as well as those charged with governance (e.g. your Board of directors) throughout the audit – to keep you aware of progress, immediately address any concerns and importantly disclose any deficiencies in internal controls as well as make appropriate improvement recommendations thereon, and thus improve operational effectiveness.

For smaller and medium-sized organisations, an audit review is a cost-effective way to comply with your financial reporting requirements. A review can be undertaken on small and medium-sized organisations registered under the Associations Incorporated Act 1981 (Qld) and the Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission Act 2012. Why is an audit review cost-effective? The Reviewer only needs to be a Chartered Accountant with a public practice certificate and professional indemnity insurance, that only needs to comply with one standard issued by the Australian Auditing Standards Board [ASRE 2415 Review of a Financial Report]. In contrast, independent audits must comply with a number of complex-auditing standards covering numerous technical aspects and potentially, hundreds of pages of technical content. A review will provide limited assurance that nothing has come to the reviewer’s attention whilst complying with the review standard.

Like an audit, an audit review must have an engagement and client representation letter, obtain evidence that the financial report agrees or reconciles with underlying accounting records, and also a report to your Board detailing going concern matters; internal control weaknesses and/or other mistakes as identified by us.

Lattice’s experience with compliance engagements has predominantly focused on:

• Trust account audits for solicitors in WA and Queensland
• Grant audits.