The cost and effort of compliance with financial regulations is an increasing burden on business. At Pitcher Partners, we believe audit and assurance should add value to the organisation by identifying opportunities as well as risks.

Experienced across a broad range of corporate businesses, not for profit organisations, government bodies and professional associations, Pitcher Partners has an industry-wide reputation for our independent reporting. Clients appreciate the fact that we rarely encounter conflict of interest situations, and provide realistic fees for premium levels of service.

Our services include:

• Statutory Audits
• ASX Listed / Reporting Entities
• Non-listed / Non-Reporting companies
• Internal audits / system reviews
• Risk assessment audits

The following Audit and Risk services have been identified specifically for our CPN members:

In recent years the move to harmonise with International Accounting Standards has accelerated the proliferation of new technical reporting requirements. Being aware of the changes and the impacts they have on your clients is almost a full time job. At Pitcher Partners, we have a National Standards Director to ensure that the financial reporting issues relevant to our clients are researched and addressed at the highest level. Unfortunately, the growing complexity of financial reporting now means that very few organisations have the in-house expertise to be able to prepare fully complying statutory financial reports for complex situations such as for Reporting, ASX Listed or other Disclosing Entities. However, utilising Pitcher Partners' purpose built financial reporting software, we are able to download your client's trial balance to produce financial reports for the full spectrum of organisations ranging from simple single companies to complex consolidated groups. This software is fully integrated with our paperless audit file to provide an even more efficient and effective solution in an audit environment but is equally suitable for stand-alone application.

There are many situations clients encounter where a full audit is not warranted but there is a particular aspect of their business that is causing them concern or requires review. In these circumstances Pitcher Partners is able to tailor our services to the client's specific needs and undertake a program of agreed upon procedures to provide the required assurance. Examples include specific purpose audits of inventory or receivables, reviews of internal controls and procedures, IT environment reviews, etc.

We also undertake a full range of Assurance services in relation to Corporate Transactions such as mergers and acquisitions. These include preparation of experts' reports, due diligence assignments etc and these services are explained more fully in the next section.

When something is wrong your clients need someone who knows what they are looking for. Pitcher Partners' broad experience and lack of conflict allows us to investigate and provide not just evidence or results, but a plan of action and risk minimisation for the future. These specialist investigative and forensic assurance services are delivered through our Forensic and Litigation Support Group and are detailed more fully in the Forensic and Valuation section.

At Pitcher Partners we have a strong commitment to an active program of internal peer review. We recognise the value that peer review provides to identify areas that could be improved in our Audit and Assurance practice and to ensure that the policies that we have agreed to apply are being rigorously applied by Partners and staff at all levels.

Many firms recognise the value that an independent review can bring to this process and accordingly we have undertaken a number of peer reviews on a fee for service basis to accounting practices looking for assurance that their audit model, systems and processes are effective.

Pitcher Partners values its independence and our "no poaching" policy with our CPN members means that we can work together on a mutual client basis to deliver premium audit and assurance services to your clients whilst maintaining a truly independent approach.