Our Services
Audit
Financial Statement Audits
The Company performs financial statement audits of FINRA-registered broker-dealers in accordance with PCAOB auditing standards. The Company’s President worked as a PCAOB inspector for more than a dozen years, including eight years in the broker-dealer inspection program and has been a trusted advisor to many other firms that audit broker-dealers since leaving the PCAOB in 2018. As a result, the Company knows PCAOB standards, broker-dealer operations, and regulatory compliance matters. The Firm also audits privately held companies, mostly in the financial services sector such as investment funds.
Engagement Quality Reviews
The Company’s President has been performing engagement quality reviews (“EQR”) for broker-dealer audits since leaving the PCAOB in 2018. The President is well-versed in the requirements of AS 1220, Engagement Quality Review, and many other PCAOB standards applicable to performing a thorough and detailed review. The President provides timely, meaningful feedback to firms in performing EQR that leads to improved audit quality through compliance with PCAOB standards. The President also performs EQR for privately held company audits under AICPA standards.
Surprise Custody Exams
The Company performs annual surprise custody exams of assets held by registered investment advisors as required by SEC Rule 206(4)-(2).
Advisory
Practice Monitoring Reviews
Audit or Engagement Level
The Company performs reviews of completed audits (PCAOB and AICPA) and provides the firm with meaningful feedback on its compliance with applicable standards, including identifying deficiencies and recommending how best to comply with standards on a go-forward basis. Detailed feedback is provided in both written and oral format. The Company will debrief with the firm its findings and address any questions the firm might have to reach a complete understanding of the deficiency and how best to avoid in the future.
Firm Level
A public accounting firm is required under both AICPA and PCAOB standards to establish written policies and procedures to ensure it complies with professional standards, rules, and regulations as it plans for and executes its client engagements. These firm level requirements also include the need to annually evaluate those policies and procedures for operating effectiveness. Byrne & Company performs these annual reviews of a firm’s system of quality management/control. Our review of a firm's system of quality management consists of an in-depth examination of the firm’s policies and procedures for compliance with applicable requirements and detailed feedback on where those policies might be falling short of what’s required and recommendations on how to enhance those policies and procedures to best comply with standards.
Inspection Preparation and Guidance
If your firm has been selected for PCAOB inspection, Byrne & Company can review those files selected before the PCAOB inspection week and provide you with meaningful feedback on where potential audit deficiency concerns may lie and how best to respond to those inquiries. We can also provide you with important coaching notes (i.e. dos and don’ts) to set you up for success in preparing for and interacting with the inspection team. We are available during the inspection to assist with responding to challenging questions and can provide guidance on how best to respond to any written comment forms the firm might receive.
New Standards Implementation
Byrne & Company can assist your firm with the implementation of new auditing standards. Both the AICPA and PCAOB have issued new firm level, system of quality management standards – SQMS1 and QC1000. SQMS1, the new AICPA standard, becomes effective December 15, 2025, while the PCAOB standard, QC1000 is effective December 15, 2026. These new standards are significant upgrades to the existing quality control standards and require an extensive firm investment to evaluate your existing policies and procedures for compliance with these new standards.
Byrne & Company has evaluated these new standards and is ready to help a firm evaluate its policies and procedures to determine where the gaps may exist and how best to fill those gaps. The Company is also ready to assist a firm in documenting and reporting to the PCAOB on its compliance with these standards on an annual basis.
Training
The Company’s President has extensive experience in preparing and facilitating audit training to public accounting firms since leaving the PCAOB. The Company’s President has developed and delivered courses covering such material as: Planning for a Broker-Dealer Audit, Fraud Procedures, Auditing Revenue, Net Capital Compuation, AT2 – Reviewing the Exemption, AT1 – Auditing a Non-Exempt Broker-Dealer, Supervision and Review, Engagement Quality Review, etc. Though the Company specializes in broker-dealer audits, we can develop any audit training (PCAOB or AICPA) to meet your firm’s needs that includes issuing earned continuing education credits. Give us a call to discuss.
