Orange County NC Website
FEE <br />Financial Audit -Our fees for these services will be based upon our customary billing practices at the time <br />of the engagement. Bills for services will be rendered as work progresses and are due within 15 days from <br />invoice date. A service charge will be added to past due accounts equal to 1 1 /2% per month (18% annual <br />rate) on the previous month's balance less payments received during the month, with a minimum charge of <br />$2.00 per month. <br />The fee for our audit as described in this letter will not exceed $71,000. This fee is based on anticipated <br />cooperation from your personnel and the assumption that unexpected circumstances will not be <br />encountered during the audit. If significant additional time is necessary, we will discuss it with you and <br />arrive at a new fee estimate before we incur the additional costs. Any modification to the fee shall be in <br />writing and signed by both parties. You agree to pay all costs of collection (including reasonable attorneys' <br />fees) that we may incur in connection with the collection of unpaid invoices. <br />The fees are based on auditing standards effective as of the date of this engagement letter. If new auditing <br />standards are issued and are effective for the period under audit described in this engagement letter that <br />require additional audit procedures that were not known at the date of this engagement letter, we will <br />estimate the impact of any new such standard on the nature, timing and extent of our planned audit <br />procedures and will communicate with you concerning the scope of the additional procedures and the <br />estimated fees. <br />LIMITATIONS OF THE AUDITING PROCESS <br />Our audit will include procedures designed to obtain reasonable assurance of detecting misstatements due <br />to errors or fraud that are material to the financial statements. Absolute assurance is not attainable <br />because of the nature of audit evidence and the characteristics of fraud. For example, audits performed in <br />accordance with GAAS are based on the concept of selective testing of the data being examined and are, <br />therefore, subject to the limitation that material misstatements due to errors or fraud, if they exist, may not <br />be detected. Also, an audit is not designed to detect matters that are immaterial to the financial statements. <br />In addition, an audit conducted in accordance with GARS does not include procedures specifically <br />designed to detect illegal acts having an indirect effect (e.g., violations of fraud and abuse statutes that <br />result in fines or penalties being imposed on the entity) on the financial statements. <br />As required by the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996 and OMB Circular A-133, and the State Single <br />Audit Implementation Act our audit will include tests of transactions related to major federal and State <br />award programs for compliance with applicable laws and regulations and the provisions of contracts and <br />grant agreements. Because an audit is designed to provide reasonable, but not absolute assurance and <br />because we will not perform a detailed examination of all transactions, there is a risk that material errors, <br />fraud, other illegal acts, or noncompliance may exist and not be detected by us. In addition, an audit is not <br />designed to detect immaterial errors, fraud, or other illegal acts or illegal acts that do not have a direct <br />effect on the basic financial statements or to major programs. It should be recognized that our audit <br />generally provides no assurance that illegal acts will be detected, and only reasonable assurance that <br />illegal acts having a direct and material effect on the determination of financial statement amounts will be <br />detected. However, we will inform you with respect to material errors and fraud, or illegal acts that come to <br />our attention during the course of our audit. We will include such matters in the reports as required for a <br />Single Audit. <br />If, for any reason, we are unable to complete the audit, or are unable to form or have not formed an opinion <br />on the basic financial statements, we may decline to express an opinion or decline to issue a report as a <br />result of the engagement. <br />