Special Audit Reports and Attestation Services
Integrity, Independence & Objectivity
When your assurance needs do not require audited financial statements, we can provide special reports, including agreed-upon procedures, which help you apply better procedures to your financial reporting processes and controls. We can also assist in providing these reports to your vendors or acquisition targets.
All of our engagements are conducted in accordance with standards set by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). With a philosophy based on integrity, independence, and objectivity, you will receive personalized service, experienced advice, and clear analysis of specific areas within your company.
Windes provides special audit reports and attestation services for organizations that need independent CPA reporting beyond a standard financial statement audit. Our team performs agreed-upon procedures engagements, attestation engagements, special purpose reports, and compliance audits tailored to specific stakeholder requirements.
Special purpose reporting is often requested by lenders, investors, government agencies, grantors, or regulators who need assurance on a specific aspect of an organization’s finances, operations, or compliance status. Windes helps clients understand what type of engagement is appropriate and delivers a report that meets the requesting party’s requirements.
Common examples include agreed-upon procedures reports on loan covenants, grant compliance attestation, internal control reports, royalty audits, and special reports required under specific contractual or regulatory agreements.
Frequently Asked Questions
An agreed-upon procedures engagement is a service where your CPA runs specific, predefined tests you and your stakeholders have agreed on in advance, then reports exactly what was found, without offering an opinion or overall conclusion. It’s a good fit when a lender, grantor, or other party wants verification on one particular thing rather than a full audit of your entire financial picture.
Attestation services cover engagements where your CPA reviews a specific matter and issues a formal conclusion about it, based on criteria you and the requesting party have agreed to upfront. This is broader than a standard audit report and can apply to things like internal controls, compliance with a specific requirement, or other subject matter your stakeholders need independently verified.
You’d typically need one of these reports when someone outside your organization, a lender, investor, grantor, or regulator, requires independent verification of something specific: a loan covenant, a grant compliance requirement, or a contractual obligation, for example. If you’re facing one of these requests for the first time, it’s worth talking through what’s actually being asked for before assuming you need a full audit, since a more targeted engagement is often what’s really required.
