Annual financial statements preparation

​

 

Whole cycle of preparation of financial statements from reconciliations to submission for audit. We prepare General Purpose Financial Statements, Special Purpose Financial Statements, Special Schedules and Financial Data Return (FDR).

We are not just preparing the financial statements – we look into the accounts and advise on proper accounting treatment of transactions. All financial statements prepared by Vanguard and submitted to auditors have little or no audit adjustments in the end. 

 

​

Grants reconciliation

​

​

We design and implement a fully integrated grant reconciliation template tailored to the council's specific needs. Once in place, the template provides up-to-date information on key financial reporting aspects, including:

​

​        √  Restricted cash

         √  Contract assets/ liabilities

         √  Unspent grants 

​​

Asset accounting

​

​​

We provide all aspects of asset accounting and reporting:

​

           √  Implementation of asset accounting system MAG

√  Setting up asset registers

√  Completeness and accuracy check of existing asset registers

√  Project management of revaluation process for financial reporting purposes

√  Transition of asset data to new systems

√  Setting up accounting policies for renewals, capitalisations, etc

√  Acting as an asset accountant for councils

√ Preparation Special Schedule 7 “Report on Infrastructure Assets” using specifically developed methodology which complies with the Code of Accounting Practice and Financial Reporting (NSW).

​​

We can perform full scope asset accounting on a council's asset system or on our system called MAG (see details on this page).

​​

 

​

Coordination of external audit 

​

​

If you want smooth and painless audit for your council; if you want to meet all the audit deadlines for submission documents to audit without much disruption to your day-to-day work, we can help. In fact, we can take care of the whole audit cycle for you. Some of the main features we do here is as follows:

 

√  Preparation of work papers to audit requirements

√  Preparation of position papers for audit

√  Coordination of the audit process from planning meeting till final audit report

 

All work papers prepared by us meet requirements of the audit standards and always get positive feedbacks from auditors of our clients.

 

 

Outsourcing of statutory and asset accounting functions

​

 

All of the above services plus much more can be grouped under one agreement where we take all the statutory and asset accounting functions under our control. Councils which experience lack of staff and resources on an ongoing basis may be interested in this option. There are a lot of benefits to a council which can be summarised as follows:

​

       √  Fixed annual fee which provides for stability and transparency for a council's budgeting purposes.

       √  The market rate for the similar function/s on the employment market is significantly higher. As a result, having a                    chartered  accountant public practice acting in a statutory accountant role provides for significant savings.

       √  Significantly lower rate compared to an hourly-based engagement if translated into hourly rate.

       √  Ensuring business continuity by having an expert public practice chartered accountant backing you up in the                         statutory compliance function.

 

Other technical accounting services

​

​

√  Technical accounting advice and position papers

√  Accounting policies set-up

√  Setting up other reconciliation processes and procedures

​