Everything You Need to Know About Broker Dealer Audits
When you receive a medical diagnosis, as well as a recommendation on how to proceed with the diagnosis, you should seek a second opinion from a trusted healthcare source before you move forward. As a nonprofit organization, you should receive a second opinion on your organization’s finances in the form of receiving broker dealer audit services. At Ernest Winnter & Associates (EWA), our team of Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) deliver several different types of broker dealer audit services to help your business or nonprofit remain financially healthy, as well as comply with the regulations established by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).
Here are a few of the audit services provided by Ernst Winnter & Associates:
Verify Revenue Sources
The SEC wants to know where nonprofit organizations receive their donations for two important reasons. First, the confirmation of revenue sources ensures your nonprofit remains a financially viable organization. Second, the federal government wants to match every donation with every tax donation taken by businesses and individuals. We perform a comprehensive audit of your books to verify every source of revenue as part of our broker dealer audit services. You can expect our team of CPAs to examine bank-deposited checks, as well as monthly bank statements.
Review Accounts Payable
Nonprofit organizations share one major financial mistake: They do not account for every bill. EWA offers broker dealer audit services that reveal every bill to prevent your organization from falling into the red. We ask questions to determine who your regular creditors are in addition to accounting for one-time bills such as the fee paid to form a nonprofit organization. Since most nonprofit organizations operate on razor-thin budgets, just forgetting to pay one bill on the accounts payable ledger can lead to financial losses.
Examine Financial Statements
Nonprofit organizations are required by law to submit accurate financial disclosure statements for state and federal government agencies to conduct reviews. If your nonprofit submits inaccurate financial disclosure statements or you fail to meet the deadline for filing various financial disclosure statements, your nonprofit organization runs the risk of losing its non-exempt status. EWA examines your financial disclosure statements by following Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
Regulation Compliance
Because of their tax-exempt status, nonprofit organizations receive plenty of scrutiny from state and federal regulators. Part of our broker dealer audit services involves ensuring our clients comply with all government regulations. Our CPAs help your nonprofit meet every deadline, as well as strictly follow the requirements established by the appropriate monitoring agencies. Penalties for regulatory noncompliance range from minor fines to the stripping of a nonprofit organization’s charter.
Broker Dealer Audit Services Help Your Organization Stay in Business
Hiring a company that provides broker dealer audit services is much more than a necessary expense. Broker dealer audit services help your organization remain financially healthy and comply with every type of government regulation. However, do not just take our word for it. We encourage businesses and nonprofits to review every financial review document signed by our team of CPAs.
What Do Broker Dealer Audit Services Look For During Audits?
After the financial meltdown towards the end of 2007, the United States Congress passed a series of laws to tighten regulations on banks and other financial institutions that sold securities. As the most influential piece of legislation, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 imposed several rules and regulations to prevent future acts of securities fraud.
As the organization responsible for overseeing broker dealers, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) applied several additional standards for broker dealers to follow. One of the most important standards concerns how often broker dealers must complete broker dealer audit services. Another important standard applied by the PCAOB involves describing what the companies that provide broker dealer audit services must look for during audits.
Here are four critical areas that Ernst Wintter & Associates look at during audits.
Verify Revenue Sources
In addition to complying with government regulations, as well as the standards applied by the PCAOB, companies that provide broker dealer audit services also look for certain accounting areas to help investors decide where to invest their money. One accounting area that is especially helpful for investors is revenue sources. Investors want to know whether a nonprofit organization is generating enough money to remain financially viable.
One of the most important types of broker dealer audit services that we offer is to perform a comprehensive audit that confirms every source of revenue generated by a nonprofit organization.
Ensure Bills Get Paid On Time
Most organizations focus on generating the revenue they need to fulfill their missions. What many organizations fail to do is stay on top of paying bills. Our team of accountants ensures every bill gets paid on time by examining the accounts payable ledger. We also go through every current bill to ensure our clients do not fall behind on fulfilling debt obligations. Since nonprofits operate on razor-thin budgets, failing to pay just one bill can send them into the red.
Review Financial Disclosure Statements
According to federal law, nonprofit organizations must submit accurate financial disclosure statements before specified deadlines for state and federal regulatory agencies to examine. If your nonprofit sends inaccurate financial disclosure statements, your organization might lose its nonprofit status. You can expect to lose your nonprofit status if your organization fails to send in the proper documents. EWA helps clients meet the deadlines for filing accurate financial disclosure statements.
Follow State and Federal Regulations
The flurry of rules and regulations imposed by state and federal government agencies can overwhelm an understaffed nonprofit organization. With the administrative support provided by EWA, your nonprofit organization complies with every rule and regulation applied at the state and federal levels. If you do not comply with government regulations, you face penalties that run from as light as a small fine to as heavy as having to close your nonprofit organization permanently.
Broker Dealer Audit Services Keeps Your Nonprofit Financially Healthy
At EWA, our team of accountants understands you have to juggle several responsibilities at the same time, which include recruiting volunteers and attracting the interest of potential donors. Remove one important responsibility from your long list of things to do by hiring EWA to provide professional broker dealer audit services.
Am I Required By Law to Use Broker Dealer Audit Services Regularly?
Broker dealers represent businesses that buy and sell securities either for themselves or on behalf of clients. To follow the guidelines established by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), broker dealers must have their financial statements examined by an independent accounting firm. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 grants management of the auditors of broker dealers to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).
The question is not should firms that buy and sell securities use broker dealer audit services. The answer clearly is yes as mandated by the SEC and closely monitored by the PCAOB. The question becomes how often do broker dealers have to undergo independent audits by firms such as Ernst Wintter & Associates? To comply with SEC regulations, broker dealers should use broker dealer audit services every one to four years. However, receiving an independent audit at least one time a year ensures compliance with PCAOB inspection and registration guidelines, as well as SEC regulations.
What Does the Law Require From Broker Dealers?
When broker dealers file their reports with the SEC, they are required by federal law to include financial statements and every supporting schedule. They also must submit the audit reports compiled by an independent accounting firm that is registered with the PCAOB. Broker dealers use broker dealer audit services to file exemption and compliance reports, along with review and examination documents prepared by the same independent accounting firm that prepared the audit reports.
The Dodd-Frank Act authorizes the PCAOB to create an inspection program for the independent accountants that provide broker dealer audit services. Most of the federal law regulating broker dealer audit services gives the PCAOB flexibility in determining the scope of inspections, as well as how often they must occur. Every audit conducted by accountants that provide broker dealer audit services must comply with PCAOB standards.
What Are the Standards for Providing Broker Dealer Audit Services?
One standard required by the PCAOB concerns the requirements broker dealers must follow when adding statements to their financial reports. According to the PCAOB, broker dealers must gather sufficient evidence based on empirical data to comply with the examination standards established by the PCAOB. Independent accounting firms that provide broker dealer audit services must follow all examination standards during the most recent fiscal year. The examination standards monitored by the PCAOB also should consider the risk of fraud, which includes the abuse of consumer financial assets.
Every examination standard created and monitored by the PCAOB should be implemented based on the size and organizational structure of an audited broker dealer. The PCAOB defines what qualifies exemptions of certain information to ensure broker dealers do not omit critical financial data and information. According to SEC Rule 17a-5, independent accounting firms that provide broker dealer audit services must obtain assurance from broker dealers that the audit broker dealers meet the exemption requirements set forth by the PCAOB.
The goal of the standards created and implemented by the PCAOB is to persuade broker dealers to maintain and present accurate financial records.
The Bottom Line: Broker Dealers Should Use Broker Dealer Audit Services Regularly
Federal law requires broker dealers to undergo financial inspections conducted by an independent accounting firm. Although broker dealers have up to four years to complete independent audits, they should consider completing audits at least one time a year to comply fully with SEC and PCAOB guidelines and standards.