Auditing – we’re your auditors Melbourne
Billings + Ellis are experienced auditors in Melbourne – talk to us about your auditing requirements.
Billings + Ellis is an experienced audit and advisory firm and can undertake all types of audits across many industries and organisations. Meet the firm’s senior auditors:
Graham Morris, registered company auditor.
Graham Morris is the senior audit partner and is an ASIC Registered Company Auditor. Graham has been involved in the audit of various entities for over 40 years. Graham also undertakes forensic accounting investigations.
Geoff Morris, registered SMSF auditor.
Geoff Morris is a registered Self-Managed Superannuation Fund auditor and manages the majority of the audit engagements within the firm. Geoff’s previous role was in the audit division of KPMG Melbourne for
a number of years and he was involved in the audit of small to medium sized enterprises as well as large industry superannuation funds. Geoff also worked as an auditor at KMPG London on secondment.
Our audit services include:
- Trust account audits for law practices, real estates agencies and accounting firms
- Financial statement audits of NFPs (not-for-profits), legal trust accounts, and foundations
- SMSF (self-managed superannuation fund audits
- Private ancillary fund audits
What is auditing?
Early 19th-century ledger
The word “audit” comes from the Latin word “audire”, which means “to hear”. This is because the auditing process originally involved bookkeepers calling out figures in the accounts for checking. Auditing has come a long way since the medieval times.
In modern accounting, auditing involves the systematic and independent examination of financial accounts, and any documents or electronic records used in the validation of the financial accounts, to confirm that the financial statements of a business or not-for-profit organisation represent a full and fair view of the concern.
When is a financial audit required and which entities need one?
There are a number of reasons why financial audits might be required on a situational or cyclical basis. Let’s have a look at a few examples, including some of those required under Australian federal legislation.
For entities where there is a public interest, such as public companies and registered schemes, financial audits must be undertaken as a matter of course, and the auditor must be a registered company auditor. The financial accounts of large proprietary limited companies – such as those with any two of these three attributes: more than 50 employees, more than $25M in consolidated revenue, and/or more than $12.5M in consolidated assets – must also be audited.
Charities and not-for-profit organisations with turnover of more than $250,000 must be audited.
Of course, superannuation funds and SMSFs must be audited. In the case of the SMSF, the auditor must be a registered SMSF auditor.
These are just some basic examples and outlined requirements. If you’d like to clarify the auditing requirements for a specific entity, talk to us.
Some interesting statistics:
of Australian corporate entities paid no tax in 2013-2014*.
not-for-profit organisations in Australia**.
contributed to GDP by not-for-profit organisations**.
SMSFs in Australia, controlling $600 billion in assets***.
