Auditors, auditing: Auditors of annual accounts, audits of annual accounts

In order to conduct statutory and voluntary audits of annual and consolidated accounts in accordance with the German Commercial Code (HGB) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), we have developed a comprehensive audit approach that is tailored to meeting the needs of the client. Our philosophy is to provide comprehensive support to our clients within the boundaries permitted by law. As auditors of annual accounts, we are tasked with assessing annual accounts to establish whether they contain any misleading or false statements. In other words, our activities contribute to increasing the trustworthiness of the information contained in such annual accounts.

Contact persons at KONLUS for auditing annual accounts: 

• Carl Erik Koehler (auditor, tax consultant, certified valuation analyst (CVA))
• Alexander Neu (auditor, tax consultant)

Fields of activity:

We help you to meet all necessary legal requirements (including those relating to company law) and achieve a better understanding of your asset, financial and profit situation. To this end, we use an audit approach that is tailored to the needs of our clients. 

• Audit approach
  We adopt a risk-oriented approach to our audits. Our approach is based on client-specific and industry-specific requirements and it is tailored to the individual needs of the client. We are extremely competent and we are available, at all times, to address any complex issues that may arise with our clients.
  
  
• Audit planning
  As part of our audit approach, we use our knowledge of the client's business activities and the preliminary risk assessment to plan our approach to auditing accounts, which is the basis for determining the audit strategy and the period in which the audit will be conducted. Therefore, intensive dialogue with the client is a basic prerequisite for structuring audit procedures in an efficient manner. Our staff are then chosen on the basis of the client's specific requirements. We also use specialists from our international network.
  
  
• Control-based audit procedures
  During planning, we identify those audit areas whereby an assessment of the effectiveness of the internal financial reporting-related control system can reduce the degree of substantive audit procedures. Here, we assess the set-up, implementation, and effectiveness of the chosen financial reporting-related control measures and use the expertise of our specialists when assessing the IT environment. Thanks to our short communication channels, any potential areas for improvement identified by us are communicated to the client and discussed in a timely manner.
  
  
• Substantive audit procedures
  If we cannot obtain sufficient audit assurance through control-based audit procedures, we must rely on case-by-case audit procedures. We therefore involve our client in the audit results so that it is possible to respond, in good time, to any significant implications that these results may have in terms of the annual accounts and financial report.
  
  
• Quality
  We are dedicated to continuously improving our services and aligning them with the specific needs of our clients. Here, creativity plays a crucial role when dealing with the client. We achieve this goal through a distinct awareness of quality, along with quality assurance measures, both during and after an audit.
  
  
• Auditing the IT environment
  Information technology (IT) has witnessed rapid changes in recent years. Consequently, the requirements for effective accounting have changed considerably. Today, it is no longer possible to imagine the world of accounting without information technology. Information technology makes a significant contribution towards ensuring effective accounting. Moreover, it has become a control and monitoring tool for companies. Therefore, the risks associated with using IT infrastructures must not be ignored.
  
  Our subsidiary company, IT AUDIT , focuses primarily on the risk and process-oriented analysis, design and monitoring of manual and IT-based controls within business processes and IT systems. During an audit, we use this expertise to check the effectiveness of the IT environment and to identify potential areas for improvement.
  
  
• Reporting
  Our reporting is tailored to the needs of the client. We go beyond the minimum requirement and endeavour to gain an analytical insight into key issues for the client and provide commentary in the form of an audit report. In addition, we report significant audit findings to the supervisory body and summarise, in a management letter, key issues identified during the audit. For example, we comment on high-risk systems and processes, suggest potential areas for improvement (from a legal and tax structuring perspective) and highlight weaknesses in financial reporting and general reporting requirements.
  
  Our audit approach aims to contribute to your company's success and to not limit itself to an audit of individual balance sheet items.

We provide the majority of our auditing and tax consultancy services to clients in Bergisch Gladbach, Cologne, Leverkusen, Gummersbach, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Remscheid, Solingen, Wuppertal and neighbouring regions. However, we also operate throughout Germany. Our branch office is located in Berlin.