Beyond statutory audit: standing out from the crowd with assurance audit services

Nowadays there are a plethora of choices when a business owner is looking for an accountant. So how are you positioning your practice in order to make sure it’s yours that they pick?

Some practices are focusing their efforts on a great website with testimonials. Some are all over social media. Some rely on word-of-mouth to get new clients.

For example, many of the accountants who use very own Funding Options in order to help source finance quotes and advice for their clients have discovered it’s also a great way to differentiate their services from their competitors. You can use the Funding Options Trained Advisor badge on your website, social media profiles and marketing assets if you’ve trained with us online, and it’ll let all your prospects know that you can provide quality finance advice.

In recent years another service being used by practices to differentiate from competitors has emerged; alternative assurance reporting.

As ICAEW Member Rewards partner we’ve been following their work on alternative assurance reporting with interest. It’s an area that has become more and more important as the audit threshold has risen from £1m turnover in 2000 to £6.5m today.

While the government keeps increasing the threshold under the pretense of ‘cutting red tape’, lots of businesses that previously would have been audited are no longer doing so, and are worse off as a consequence. SMEs that want to reassure stakeholders, keep their accounts up-to-date or raise finance often need quality information, but perhaps they don’t want to pay for a full audit if it’s not required.

That’s where alternative assurance services can come in. International Standards on Auditing (or ISAs) and the International Standard on Review Engagements (ISRE 2400) are just two industry-recognised standards that can rubberstamp the processes and procedures of any medium-sized UK business.

Accountants can offer these reporting services as part of their suite of business advisory services. Getting confirmation of compliance can be a useful way for a business to keep on track, reassure investors and sow the seeds of assurance for when their turnover grows beyond the audit threshold.

If you’re interested in finding out more about alternative audit assurance services, or in other potential ideas to help develop a niche for your practice, why not join our webinar on Tuesday 30th July, 2pm? We’re delighted to be joined by Ruth Ward of the ICAEW who’ll be answering your questions and filling us in on assurance reporting.

/ Posted by Bailey