As a privately owned business, your financial year-end presents you with a valuable opportunity to step back and strengthen the foundations that support your businesses growth. One area where the right decisions can make a meaningful difference is your audit relationship.
An effective audit doesn’t just tick the compliance boxes – it supports better decisions, protects value, and gives owners confidence in the road ahead.
This guide highlights what growing private businesses should expect from their audit and wider year-end planning and why it’s an ideal time to reassess whether you’re getting the value, clarity, and proactive support you need.
Turning the Audit Into a Strategic Advantage
A good audit gives you confidence in your numbers. A great audit gives you confidence in your business.
As you grow, diversify, or increase complexity, the role of your relationship partner becomes more important. Businesses benefit most when their advisor acts as:
- A sounding board, helping you navigate new challenges and opportunities
- An independent, proactive partner, highlighting risks early, offering forward-looking insights and challenging you in a constructive way
- A source of ideas, sharing best practice from other ambitious private companies
- A year-round support, a central point for multiple services
If your audit feels like a “tick-box exercise,” you may be missing out on insights that help you make faster, better decisions.
Predictability & Transparency in Your Audit Fees
Rising fees can create frustration and unpredictability at year-end. For privately owned businesses managing budgets and planning for future investment, fee transparency is essential.
A strong audit relationship should give you:
- Clear expectations about costs over the long term
- Fees that only increase in line with inflation – unless your business changes
- No surprises, no re-pricing battles, and no hidden uplifts
This level of predictability helps business owners plan with greater confidence and avoids the cycle of year-end fee shock.
Key Year-End Actions That Strengthen Your Business
Beyond reviewing your audit relationship, year-end is a strategic moment for private business owners to revisit wider operational and financial priorities.
- Review Internal Controls and Processes: A strong internal control environment not only improves audit efficiency but also reduces risk and supports sustainable growth.
- Assess Cashflow and Investment Plans: Year-end is the time to model your upcoming cash requirements, stress-test assumptions, and ensure you’re maximising available tax reliefs.
- Revisit Group Structure and Ownership Plans: Succession planning, long-term ownership and future exit considerations all benefit from periodic review.
- Improve Year-End Timetables and Audit Readiness: Businesses that grow quickly often find their reporting process hasn’t kept pace. Strengthening your timetable reduces pressure on your finance team and leads to a smoother audit.
- Evaluate Emerging Risks: Cybersecurity, funding conditions, supply chain resilience and inflation pressures are all evolving. A year-end risk review helps ensure your business is prepared.
6 Signs It May Be Time to Reassess Your Audit Partner
Even strong businesses outgrow their auditor. It may be worth exploring alternatives if:
- The audit provides little insight beyond compliance
- Fees rise faster than inflation
- There’s frequent turnover in your audit team
- You don’t get proactive communication, early warnings or a clear audit plan agreed before year end
- Deadlines are missed or pressure on your finance team is increasing
- You get a large number of audit adjustments, and no clear, concise audit findings report
- You’re not benefiting from market knowledge or best practice insights
If any of these resonate, a year-end review of your audit relationship could unlock immediate value.
Year-End Is a Natural Time to Explore Your Options
Whether you’re curious about pricing, looking for a more forward-thinking approach, or simply want to benchmark your existing arrangement, year-end creates the ideal window.
A conversation or review at this stage helps you:
- Understand whether your current fee is still competitive
- Assess whether you’re getting the insight and support you need
- Prepare for a smoother, higher-value audit next year
Again, you don’t need to commit to changing auditors – but the clarity can be a powerful tool for your business.
WANT A SECOND OPINION?
At Cooper Parry, we have an 800-strong Audit team spread across 8 superhubs in key UK & Ireland locations.
We’d be happy to help you explore the value that your current auditor is providing and, where relevant, suggest changes you could make to improve that.
