Auditing

In various situations, you may need to have certain matters verified and confirmed by an external expert – whether it is to comply with statutory or contractual requirements or on a voluntary basis to support or secure your own negotiating or decision-making situation. As experienced auditors, special audits of this kind are part of our core business. In close collaboration with our tax advisors, lawyers and IT consultants, our focus here is primarily – but not exclusively – on the following services:

• Auditing services on company formation, changes of legal form and changes in share capital (including impairment testing)
• Appropriateness assessment of merger squeeze-out cash compensation
• Audit of pro-forma financial information and separate financial statements
• Financial, tax, legal and IT due diligence
• Issuing of comfort letters for corporate actions
• Compliance audits/embezzlement audits
• Certificate in accordance with section 270b of the German Insolvency Code (InsO) in conjunction with protective shield proceedings under the ESUG restructuring legislation
• Audit of the use of funds (ESF/grants from foundations)
• Audit of financial information in connection with EU funding
• Tests of IT control
• IT security audits
• Audit of the proper conduct of management in accordance with section 53 of the Budgetary Principles Act (HGrG)
• Audits in accordance with the Real Estate Agent and Property Developer Ordinance (MaBV)

IT systems are becoming increasingly complex and are involved in almost every operational business process. Constantly growing demands are placed on their performance and reliability. We therefore carry out targeted IT system audits and mass data analyses as part of our financial statement audits and in the course of separate engagements. A special focus is placed on auditing interfaces and IT controls. These audits are carried out in close consultation between our IT-proficient auditors and our IT experts.

Overview of our services:

• IT system audits in accordance with IDW PS 330/IDW FAIT 1 (both in connection with the audit of the financial statements and as a separate audit)
• IT security audits (IT security policies, data security, authorisation policies, etc.)
• Conduct of mass data analyses (both in connection with the audit of the financial statements and as a separate audit)
• Data protection audits
• Data and interface testing to simulate digital tax audits with the tool used by the taxation authorities
• IDW PS 880 on the auditing of software products at the manufacturer and the issuing of software certificates
• Auditing of compliance with German proper accounting principles (GoB) in the case of electronic archiving

The professional designation “Wirtschaftsprüfer” – German Public Auditor – is widely recognised as a hallmark of authoritative professional expertise, and it naturally makes sense to apply that same expertise in areas beyond the traditional audit portfolio. This is the focus of our audit-related consulting services.

With our interdisciplinary approach bringing together auditors, tax advisors, lawyers and IT experts, we are able to provide you with comprehensive advisory services in the following audit-related fields:

• Support for corporate transactions
• Consulting in relation to IFRS
• Provision of second opinions on complex accounting matters
• Consulting on matters of capital market law
• Tax, legal, financial and IT due diligence
• Integrated budget preparation
• Introduction of compliance management systems
• Group structure optimisation
• Business plan preparation and plausibility checking

Our main focus in the municipal and public-sector enterprises sector is on the following services:

• Tax, legal and business management consulting for corporate transactions
• Tax structuring advisory, taking into account the specific circumstances of municipal enterprises (including tax groups comprising municipal enterprises, commercial operations, etc.).
• Introduction of tax compliance systems
• Auditing of annual and consolidated financial statements
• Audit of the proper conduct of management in accordance with section 53 of the Budgetary Principles Act (HGrG)
• Preparation of municipal opening balance sheets
• Grant audits
• IT security consulting
• IT security/data protection/IT system audits
• IT system audits in accordance with IDW standards
• Consulting on the GDPR
• All valuation issues (corporate valuation, asset valuation and purchase price allocation)

A key focus of our consulting services is on the energy sector. Energy providers and municipal utilities are undergoing an unprecedented transformation process due to changes in the underlying conditions faced by the energy sector.

We support companies in the energy sector with our expertise and the following services:

• Audit of separate accounts in accordance with budgetary or EU regulations
• Special audits in accordance with the German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) and Combined Heat and Power Act (KWK-G)
• Grid valuations for grid acquisitions (valuation using the income capitalisation approach)
• Audit of separate activity financial statements in accordance with section 6b of the German Energy Act (EnWG)
• Profitability calculations for decisions on investment in energy-producing assets (such as wind or solar farms)