Audit Services

We want you to focus on what matters most – making a difference in your community. That’s why we offer lower-cost audit services and expert financial advice. Our team of skilled Chartered Professional Accountants are superstars at helping non-profits like yours. They’re experts in non-profit accounting and understand the unique challenges you face. They don’t just do your financial audit. They provide you with valuable insights into your finances, and help you make the most of your resources. We work with you to understand your organization, and provide you with recommendations specific to your organization. 

Asking your members to look at your finances is like asking two friends to check your homework. They might not understand the subject, follow audit standards or be able to confirm that your finances accurate.  

Using a professional auditor is like having your teacher grade your homework. Qualified auditors are experts, who follow audit standards and complete a lot of paperwork. They gather evidence (like receipts and bank statements) to form an opinion on whether your finances are accurate. They gather proof before they give their professional opinion on your finances.

Our team of Chartered Professional Accountants and audit technicians will provide your audit and tax services. 

For each organization, we create a personalized price estimate that will include GST. We do our best to adhere to the estimated audit fee. Some reasons your estimated audit fee may increase, or decrease are:

• Your organization has had significant changes to its operations, like a capital build;

• Increased restricted grants;

• New programs or services;

• Delays in getting the appropriate documentation to the audit team.

 Your auditor will notify you if there will be additional costs as they work through the file.

On average, we estimate that groups save between 10-50% on audit services through our program. Additionally, certain organizations may be eligible for a further subsidy.

Audits are expensive for a few reasons:

• Expertise: Auditors are highly trained Chartered Professional Accountants, who need to understand complex financial rules and be good investigators. 
• Thoroughness: A good audit isn’t a quick skim. Auditors need to examine a lot of evidence (receipts, bank statements, etc.) to feel confident about your finances. This takes time and effort.
• Following the rules: There are strict guidelines auditors must follow to ensure a quality audit. This can involve a lot of documentation for both the auditor and the organization being audited.
• Risk and size: Audits consider the risk of errors in your finances. Higher risk means that your auditor needs to dig a little deeper, which will increase the cost of your audit. Larger organizations with more complex finances will also typically have a higher audit cost.

Here are a few ideas:

• Increase your financial literacy. Take our financial literacy workshops on bookkeeping and audit preparation.
• Reconcile your accounts. Reconcile all accounts before scheduling an audit.
• Provide all requested information. Include requested documents at the start of your audit. If your auditor requests more information, provide those documents within 24 hours.
• Hire a competent professional bookkeeper. Non-profit accounting is different than regular accounting. It’s important for you to hire a bookkeeper who knows non-profit accounting standards. Hiring a competent accountant helps reduce your risk of errors in your financials.
• Be honest and transparent. Do you suspect financial mishandling? Did you recently hire a new accountant or board treasurer? Tell your auditor any concerns you may have, and be up-front with your answers.
• Implement the auditor’s recommendations from the pervious year’s audit. In last year’s audit letter, your auditor likely made recommendations on how you could improve your bookkeeping. By implementing their recommendations, you can decrease the cost of next year’s audit.
• Keep all your source documents organized. Help the audit team find the documents they need by organizing your documents. Cloud-based accounting software, like Quickbooks, can help with this, if used correctly.

We offer a subsidy to Social Recreation Groups and Community Associations in The City of Calgary to help reduce the cost of an audit. Reach out to us to see if your organization qualifies.  

We ask that you allow 6 – 8 weeks to complete your audit. We schedule audits to meet your board meeting and AGM deadlines. 

Please note that an audit may take more or less time depending on the time of year. Some months are busier than others (particularly March, June, August, and December), and because non-profit auditing is a specialized field, we are unable to hire temporary staff during these busy periods. 

Do not worry, we will give you a complete list!

The list includes things like meeting minutes, receipts, invoices, cheques, paystubs, deposit slips, hall rental or registration forms, payment vouchers, bank statements, grant agreements, and so on! If you are using an online accounting software, you likely have most of the items already available.

All professional auditors follow the same rules set by the Canadian Professional Accountants’ Association (CPA). These rules are like a recipe for a good audit, making sure everything is checked properly. CPA can add criteria to the standard process, which increases the amount of information an auditor must document.

Additionally, auditors may also do extra testing based on risk. Auditors need to be confident about your financial statements, not only so that your organization can make informed financial decisions, but also because auditors are also audited by CPA based on the current standards and regulations.

Yes. All audit clients MUST be a member of the Federation of Calgary Communities. If you are not a member and decide to proceed with an audit, our membership fee will be added to the cost of your audit.

BONUS: Your membership unlocks FREE services and workshops to help your organization thrive! Check out all our member benefits HERE.