Audit
An independent check of the figures and documents of a business: audit of financial statements, tax and legal due diligence, counterparty checks and internal investigations. A report you can take to a bank, an investor or an owner.
Why businesses choose this PROCTOR practice
An audit is needed when a third party has to believe the figures of a company: a bank before lending, an investor before coming in, a buyer before a deal, or an owner who no longer runs the business day to day.
PROCTOR checks more than the financial statements. Alongside the figures we look at contracts, title to assets, tax positions and litigation risk, because it is these that most often turn a healthy balance sheet into a problem a year after the deal.
The review is carried out by a mixed team: an auditor, a tax lawyer and a specialist from the practice to which the business of the client belongs. The report is written in plain language and ends not with a list of observations but with an answer to the question of whether the deal can be done and on what terms.
For the client this means a decision taken on verified facts rather than on the presentation of the seller.
Audit of financial statements
Checking that the financial statements of the company are reliable and that its accounting complies with the law and with its accounting policy. Production of an auditor's report for a bank, an investor, the founders, or to satisfy a statutory audit obligation.
Tax due diligence
Assessment of the tax positions of the company for the open periods: correctness of calculations, risky transactions, disputed expenses and input VAT credit. The result is a calculation of the possible additional assessments and penalties, which feeds into the price of the deal.
Legal due diligence
Review of the corporate history, title to assets, the contractual base, encumbrances, court cases and enforcement proceedings. It shows what the company actually owns and which obligations will pass to the buyer along with it.
Counterparty checks
Analysis of a partner before a contract is signed: registration data, ownership structure, beneficial owners, sanctions lists, court disputes, signs of a sham entity and the risk that transactions will be treated as unreal. It protects the company against the loss of input VAT credit and against criminal law questions.
Internal investigations
Reviews where abuse inside the company is suspected: procurement at inflated prices, conflicts of interest, stripping of assets, leaks of information. Gathering evidence in a form fit for dismissing those responsible, recovering losses and going to the law enforcement authorities.
How the independent review runs
The review runs from agreeing its scope and access to documents through to a report you can take a decision on.
01
Agreeing the scope
We establish who the report is for and which decision it has to support: a loan, an investor coming in, the purchase of a company. That sets the depth and the periods reviewed.
02
Access to documents
We agree the list of documents and the form of access: statements, accounting registers, contracts, registry data, court cases. A request and a schedule for producing them are drawn up.
03
Work of the team
The auditor checks the figures, the tax lawyer the positions for the open periods, the sector specialist title to assets and the contractual base. The findings are cross-checked between them.
04
Discussion of findings
Disputed points are talked through with the client and with the management of the company before they reach the report. Some of them are closed by an explanation and a document.
05
Report and decision
We produce a report in plain language: the findings with their consequences valued in money, and an answer to whether the deal can be done and on what terms.
Formats of an independent review
The scope is set by the decision the review is ordered for and by the party that needs the report.
Counterparty check
A one-off analysis of a partner before a contract is signed: registration data, beneficial owners, sanctions lists, court disputes, signs of a sham entity. A short note with a conclusion.
Review of one area
Work on a single area: the financial statements, the tax positions for the open periods, or the legal standing of the company. The output is a report with the risks valued in money.
Full pre-deal review
A mixed team checks the company as a whole: figures, tax, title to assets, contracts and court cases. The report carries a calculation of the risks for the price and terms of the deal.
