A Company’s financial statements constitute an important management tool that contributes to the ability to analyze and evaluate the organization's performance, both in the operational field and in the financial field.

Our firm operates in accordance with this approach and integrates global capabilities, a broad business vision and the high involvement of the partner handling the specific client.

The audit departments in our firm include accountants and economists who possess both high levels of know-how and reputations in their chosen fields. When outside the firm, our partners and employees can be found on the academic staffs of Israel's leading universities and colleges, where in addition to teaching activities, they are very involved in accounting research in Israel, authoring professional literature and articles appearing in professional periodicals and in the daily press. Our team combines broad sector experience and deep technical capability to make our clients feel supported.

In collaborating with a variety of companies, we have a broad understanding of how financial reporting can go wrong. These practical insights, combined with broad technical knowledge of IFRS, UK GAAP and US GAAP, means that our clients gain access to an expert that is ready to help them balance demands and challenges within their teams.  

Our team benefits from the complete support of our tax department and technical department which provide a range of consulting services and accounting information.

Our team works with both private and public bodies and has a sector agnostic focus. Typically, clients have included large corporates, medium-sized businesses and not-for-profit organisations.

Our audit approach – auditing services with added value

Our audit approach is practical from the standpoint of quality and efficiency and it distinguishes Fahn Kanne & Co. – Grant Thornton Israel from the other Israeli accounting firms. We believe that it is of paramount importance to address the entire range of activities that stand behind the accounting values. Understanding these activities provides insights regarding the financial statements and facilitates a better audit performance. In order to operate in accordance with this approach, we must have an in-depth understanding of the nature of the company, including its information systems, work processes, internal controls and the quality of its human capital.

Audit characteristics:

  • Conducted in accordance with very high professional standards
  • Includes tests that focus on the Organization's critical activities
  • Maintains the same audit team from year to year whenever possible
  • Minimizes impact on day-to-day activities of the organization during the audit period
  • Reduction in costs through use of advanced technologies

Planning

Planning is the most crucial part of an effective and efficient audit, without surprises. As part of the planning of the audit process, every year prior to the conclusion of the audit, we meet with management in order to assess the strategic goals, targets and risks. These meetings are designed to facilitate the following goals:

  • Strengthening the communications and mutual understanding on relevant issues
  • Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the client's organization, including discussions with the internal auditor and reading his/hers reports
  • Setting timetables for the performance of the audit – in order to ensure that we meet your expectations
  • Discussions regarding specific risks, including risks of fraud, embezzlement and irregularities
  • Utilization of internal resources to minimize audit costs and increase efficiency

These meetings are held together with the relevant parties in the organization and with the Grant Thornton Israel team, with a goal of streamlining the audit program. In addition to these meetings, we will meet throughout the year in order to ensure that we are operating in a proper manner that is in line with the needs of the organization, that we have open lines of communications and that we perform preventative measures when necessary.

Audit methodology that is risk-based

The audit methodology used by our firm, known as "Horizon", focuses on significant risks and guarantees that the audit will be completed quickly and efficiently. The internal planning meetings facilitate consistency and up-to-datedness in accordance with changes occurring in the business. Our audit methodology analyzes the information in the environment in which the organization operates – commencing with events and decisions and culminating with business information, accounting activities and generating information for use by executives.

Evaluation of the design of the internal control environment will determine the fundamentals of the audit procedures

During the process of evaluating the controls and the designing of the detailed audit plan, we will evaluate the controls pertaining to corporate governance, key accounting processes, operation of the information systems, information security and the overall management system.

Communications

  • Communications between our firm and the organization is imperative for creating satisfaction with our services. Our communication does not include only direct communications with management, rather also our sharing know-how.
  • Communications with the internal auditor – during the year, we will read the reports of the internal auditor and we will hold discussions with him, in order to enable us to better understand in which areas we can rely on his work and which areas are risky from the internal control standpoint.