Audit, Assurance & Due Diligence

For some businesses, audit is compulsory – a statutory duty that can’t be avoided. At the same time, it can also identify important risks and opportunities, making it a vital tool for driving improvement. That’s why some businesses, often those on a growth trajectory, choose to undergo a voluntary audit, even if they’re not obliged to do so.

Similarly, the due diligence process that precedes the purchase of another business, or investment in it, isn’t just about paperwork and box ticking. It’s how you ensure total clarity and improve the likelihood of a successful partnership, merger or acquisition.

Audit and assurance

We’re registered auditors with years or experience auditing businesses of all sizes, across a huge range of industries. That gives us the ability to tailor our approach to audit to suit your operating model, business structure and the goods or services you provide.

If your sector has special audit requirements, we can meet those, too. For charities, that means complying with the requirements for a SORP-compliant audit, or providing an independent examination where your charity is audit exempt. And for legal firms, we deliver audits which comply with Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA) standards.

While audits have to be robust, that doesn’t mean they need to be unduly disruptive to the running of your business. Our audit teams are trained to work unobtrusively and discreetly on your premises, planning ahead to gather information before their visit.

In addition to ensuring your business is compliant, Richard Place Dobson’s audit process is designed to help your business thrive and grow. It will identify potential problems and opportunities to improve efficiency, resilience and profitability.

We’ll also keep you informed of changes to financial reporting standards and to legislation, taking the initiative in giving you advice on how you can implement updates to your systems and processes, where necessary.

Due diligence

Due diligence describes the checks you run and questions you ask before entering into an agreement or contract. It’s especially relevant in the context of investment, mergers and acquisitions – is this opportunity as good as it looks?

Richard Place Dobson will undertake a financial investigation on your behalf, verifying the information available to us such as the annual accounts, annual returns, bank records, schedules of revenue and costs as well as any outstanding litigation.

The process will allow you to evaluate the current performance of a target business, as well as its prospects for the future, by identifying specific strengths and any potential areas of concern.