Audit and Assurance

The purpose of assurance is to provide an independent and objective assessment of an organization's financial statements and related records to ensure that they are accurate, reliable, and in compliance with applicable accounting standards and regulations.

Assurance refers to the level of confidence an auditor provides regarding the accuracy and fairness of an entity’s financial statements. The role of assurance in an audit is to increase the reliability of financial information, helping stakeholders (such as investors, regulators, and management) make informed decisions.

Yes, Mercurius is registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and is licensed to audit companies listed in the United States, including broker-dealers. We perform an audit of financial statements of companies registered with the SEC or trading over OTC or intended to get registered with the SEC.

Through robust audit tools, resources, and procedures, MAS delivers high-quality audit services, adhering to the highest standards of independence, ethics, and professional objectivity while applying technical excellence. As part of our strategy, we continuously assess the service performance and delivery to clients for continuous improvement in our audit quality. We provide our clients with effective methods through which they can do their business more easily and enhance legal compliance.

Our fee for an audit of companies in India or the US depends on the complexity of the business, time, and resources involved. Please feel free to reach us for a quote.

Yes, they do. The governing bodies oversee the company’s audits to protect investors and the public interest by promoting informative, accurate, and independent audit reports. They need to ensure proper audit documentation is maintained for every audit.

The three types of assurance services are

Audit Services: Evaluating financial statements for accuracy,

Review Services: Providing limited assurance through inquiry and analysis and

Other Assurance Services: Ensuring compliance or reliability of non-financial information like sustainability reports.

Audit is a more specific and rigorous service, particularly suited for providing an opinion on financial statements.

Assurance is a broader concept that includes audits and other services. It provides varying levels of confidence on a range of subjects.

Audits are better when you require a high level of assurance on financial statements, typically for regulatory compliance or to satisfy external stakeholders (investors, regulators). Assurance is better when you need broader services, covering areas like internal controls, compliance, or performance reviews, with a range of assurance levels.

The Standard Setting Process for Audit and Assurance involves the following key steps:

1. Identify Need: Recognizing the need for new or updated standards.
2. Develop Proposals: Professional bodies (e.g., IAASB, FASB) draft new or revised standards.
3. Public Consultation: Drafts are published for feedback from stakeholders.
4. Revise & Analyze Feedback: Adjustments are made based on the feedback received.
5. Approval & Finalization: The standards are finalized and officially approved.
6. Implementation: Auditors must follow the adopted standards in their work.
7. Ongoing Review: Standards are periodically reviewed and updated as needed.

Independence in auditing is a fundamental principle that ensures the auditor can perform their work objectively and without any bias or conflict of interest. Independence is crucial for maintaining the credibility and reliability of the audit process, as it helps ensure that the auditor’s judgment is not influenced by personal interests or relationships with the client.

Under U.S. GAAP, the financial reporting framework is a comprehensive system of accounting standards that dictates how financial statements should be prepared and presented. It includes rules and guidelines developed by the FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board), a focus on accrual accounting, and specific requirements for the recognition, measurement, and disclosure of financial information. This framework ensures that financial statements are consistent, comparable, and transparent, providing reliable information to users such as investors, creditors, and regulators.

Audit risk is the risk that an auditor may issue an incorrect opinion on the financial statements. Specifically, it refers to the possibility that the auditor may fail to detect material misstatements in the financial statements, either because of errors or fraud, and thereby provide an inappropriate audit opinion (i.e., unqualified opinion when there should be a qualified, adverse, or disclaimer opinion). Audit Risk is a multiplication of the elements discussed in (a) & (b) below:

1. The Risk of Material Misstatement (‘ROMM’), which is (Inherent risk * Control Risk); and
2. Detection Risk (‘DR’).

The auditor’s objective is to reduce audit risk to an acceptably low level by performing appropriate audit procedures.

A QA (Quality Assurance) auditor plays a critical role in evaluating and ensuring that processes, systems, and operations meet defined quality standards and regulatory requirements. While the role can vary depending on the industry, the core responsibilities generally involve assessing and improving the quality of products, services, and operations.

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) sets global standards for auditing, assurance, and related services. These standards are designed to ensure that audits and other assurance engagements are performed consistently, with high quality, and in compliance with international best practices.

The auditor decides the nature, timing, and extent of audit procedures based on the item's materiality, the associated risks, and prior experiences. It relies on the professional judgment of an auditor.

Nature refers to the type of procedures to be selected and used, such as compliance, substantive, inspection, observation, and confirmation.

Timing involves deciding when to perform the above work & the time allocation for each task.

Extent indicates how much work is to be performed, i.e., whether 100% checking, sample selection, or selective basis.

Our audit and assurance services help determine the most effective and efficient audit procedures tailored to your needs based on your industry and company.  We conducted the audit with the utmost independence to ensure unbiased results.