Audit Services for Small Community Organisations

An audit provides a higher level of assurance and involves detailed testing of financial transactions and internal controls. A review is more limited in scope. We can help determine which option is appropriate for your organisation.

Yes. We offer secure, fully online audits for clients across Queensland and throughout Australia.

Absolutely. We regularly assist organisations with grant acquittals alongside their annual audits, ensuring compliance with funding body requirements.

Your financial statements, bank records, cash book or accounting software data, minutes of meetings, and key governance documents. We’ll provide a simple checklist to help you prepare.

As Chartered Accountants, we must comply with the APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including Independence Standards).

These professional and legal requirements prohibit auditors and reviewers from providing bookkeeping, payroll, or taxation services to the same client they audit or review. Doing so could compromise our independence and objectivity.

However, this separation of duties is actually a safeguard for your organisation. It ensures that your financial statements are independently verified, providing confidence to your committee, funding bodies, and members.

If your organisation needs help maintaining its records or lodging Business Activity Statements, we can recommend specialist not-for-profit bookkeepers who understand community-based reporting and can work with us independently.

The APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants requires all auditors and reviewers to remain independent and free from conflicts of interest.

This means we cannot prepare or lodge your Business Activity Statements, tax returns, or payroll information for the same financial period we audit or review.

Doing so would breach our ethical and legal obligations and undermine the independence of your report.

We understand it may feel inconvenient, but this separation actually protects your committee. It ensures your reports are transparent, compliant, and trusted by members, funding bodies, and regulators.

If you need help maintaining your records, we can recommend qualified, independent bookkeepers who specialise in not-for-profit accounting.

Yes. Some audit firms that specialise in not-for-profit and community organisations offer fixed-fee audit and review services. Fixed fees help committees and treasurers budget with certainty and avoid unexpected costs.

Whether a fixed fee is appropriate depends on the size of the organisation, the quality of records, and the assurance required.

For small incorporated associations with organised records, an audit or review is commonly completed within two to four weeks.

Timeframes may be longer where records are incomplete, complex grant reporting is involved, or additional information is required from the committee.

A review provides limited assurance and is generally lower cost than a full audit.

It may be suitable for small charities where legislation, funders, or governing documents do not require an audit. A review still involves an independent practitioner but uses more enquiry and analytical procedures rather than detailed testing.

No. An audit is a formal, independent assurance engagement. The auditor must remain objective and cannot act in an advisory, coaching, or problem-solving role. Management is responsible for the accounting records and financial statements; the auditor’s role is to independently examine and assess them.

Audits provide a higher level of assurance and are conducted under mandatory auditing and ethical standards. Audit opinions are commonly relied upon by regulators, members, funding bodies, and other third parties, which places a greater professional and legal responsibility on the auditor compared to a review.

Generally, no. Under the independence requirements in APES 110, auditors are prohibited from providing valuation services to audit and review clients where the valuation could create a self-review threat. This includes situations where the valuation would affect amounts recorded in the financial statements that the auditor is required to audit or review. As a result, valuation services must be performed by an independent party, separate from the auditor, to maintain objectivity and compliance with ethical standards.