The Right Statement, at the Right Level
Most owners don't arrive asking for a compilation or a review. They arrive with a request from the bank, and a deadline. Our job is to prepare financial statements at the level your lender, bonding company or investor will actually accept.
Because we handle financial statement preparation at every level under one roof, you are never sold more assurance than you need, and never left short of what the bank requires. And when next year's request is bigger than this year's, the work moves up a level without moving to another firm.
The Three Levels of Financial Statements
Compilation, review or audit: the level is set by whoever reads the statements, not by us. Here is what each one gets you, and when your lender will ask for it.
Compilation Engagements (Notice to Reader)
For most owner-managed businesses, this is the one. A compilation engagement is the statement level banks most often accept for smaller lending, and the level your year-end filings are built on. If the paperwork you were handed says Notice to Reader or NTR, this is that engagement. You get compiled financial statements assembled by a CPA from your records, with the compilation report lenders expect attached.
When Your Lender Wants Assurance
Past a certain lending threshold, banks and bonding companies stop accepting a compilation and start asking for assurance. At that point your statements pair with a review engagement: same firm, same records, a deeper level of work behind the numbers. Financial statements typically go out with the review itself, prepared as one package. If that is the request sitting in your inbox, start with our reviewed financial statements service, and we will scope both pieces in one conversation.
Audited Financial Statements
Some businesses outgrow a review: new investors, larger credit facilities, a franchisor or regulator with its own requirements. We prepare audited financial statements on a case-by-case basis for exactly those situations, and we will tell you honestly whether you need one. Most private companies never do. If an audit has already been named, send us the letter and we will build the timeline around it.
Annual and Interim Financial Statements
Year-End, Bundled
Your year-end financial statements and your corporate tax return come out of the same numbers, so we prepare them as one engagement: one set of records, one deadline, one deal. The statements your bank reads and the return the CRA receives always agree, because the same CPA prepared both.
Interim, When the Bank Asks Mid-Year
Draw schedules, covenant reporting and mid-year credit reviews rarely wait for your fiscal year to close. We prepare interim financial statements when your lender asks for them, on the schedule the facility requires, whether that is quarterly or once at the half-year mark.
Some clients need statements once a year. Others need them more often. Both are normal here.
What to Provide for a Compilation
Talk Scope
We meet in person or online, and get clear on what the statements are for and who will be reading them.
Send Your Records
Send the trial balance, your bookkeeping records and anything supporting them. We can connect to your bank feed where that speeds things up.
Statements in About Two Weeks
Most financial statements are delivered inside that window, walked through with you before anything goes to the lender.
How Your Statements Come Together
Compiled financial statements move at the speed of your records. This is the standard request list for a compilation engagement; the scoping conversation trims it to what actually applies to your business.
Prior Period
- Prior-year financial statements (compiled, reviewed, or audited)
- Prior-year tax returns
Current Period
Core Financial Data
- General ledger for the full period
- Trial balance as of period end
- Bank statements for all accounts (full period) and bank reconciliations
- Accounts receivable aging report
- Accounts payable aging report
- Inventory listing, count records, and valuation method used
- Fixed asset additions and disposals, and the depreciation schedule
- Payroll summaries and payroll tax filings
Debt & Liabilities
- Loan agreements, notes payable, and lease agreements
- Current loan and lease balances and amortization schedules
- Credit card statements
Equity & Related Party
- Details of owner draws, contributions, or dividends
- Related-party transaction details (loans to or from owners, intercompany balances)
Other
- Contracts or agreements materially affecting the financials
- Contingencies, pending litigation, or commitments
- Subsequent events (anything significant after period end but before report issuance)
- Description of accounting policies and basis (cash, accrual, or other comprehensive basis)
Missing a few items? Send what you have. We flag the gaps on the first pass and tell you exactly what to chase, so nothing stalls in week two.
Financial Statement Questions
Your bookkeeper can get the records ready, and good bookkeeping makes everything faster. But lenders look at who prepared the statements, and a compilation engagement is a CPA's report. If the books are behind, our bookkeeping service catches them up first, so the statements come from clean numbers.