First-Year Audit Readiness for a PE-Backed Platform Company
How Assurance Dimensions supported a newly acquired portfolio company through its first-year audit and helped establish the reporting foundation needed for future growth.
Case Study
Audit for Private Equity
The Situation
A private equity firm acquired a middle-market company in the insurance claims sector as its first platform investment in the space. The business had never been audited, lacked GAAP-compliant records, and had an accounting team without experience preparing the financial statements required by institutional investors or lenders.
Our Approach
Assurance Dimensions approached the engagement in four stages.
Debrief with the QoE Team
Assurance Dimensions (AD) had already introduced the PE firm to a Quality of Earnings provider before the deal closed. When the acquisition was completed, AD obtained a direct debrief from the QoE team to assess data quality and surface gaps before audit planning began.
Introduce an Accounting Services Partner
Based on the QoE findings, AD introduced a Client Accounting Services partner from its network to build GAAP-compliant records, prepare audit schedules, and implement a monthly reporting process using systems already integrated with AD's audit workflows ahead of the first audit.
Execute an Experienced Team-Led Audit
The engagement was partner led from the outset, with experienced team member involvement throughout planning, fieldwork, and final reporting. The team worked directly through revenue recognition questions specific to claims adjusting, maintained a consistent team in place year after year, and communicated regularly with the PE sponsor throughout.
Proactive Audit Planning
The Client Accounting Services group handled the accounting functions while the PE firm identified a permanent hire. AD maintained year-round communication with the PE firm through planning meetings, closing discussions, and annual updates, to address issues before audit season began.
The Results
The PE firm gained financial visibility into this investment and moved forward with a bolt-on acquisition with greater confidence. The portfolio company progressed from having no audit-ready financials to producing clean monthly reporting and completing its first audit. Over time, Assurance Dimensions’ private equity auditing services now cover the full consolidated group, having grown with the platform from the start.
The Sponsor gained:
- An audit on time and within budget. A clean audit was delivered by the lender’s deadline with no overruns or late-stage surprises, despite the company never having been audited before.
- Big-firm experience with direct partner access. Partners were involved from the first call through final delivery, giving the client direct access to the senior professionals who knew the engagement.
- Meaningful financial visibility. GAAP-compliant monthly reporting gave the sponsor reliable financial information to evaluate performance and plan next steps.
- A stronger platform for growth. The reporting foundation supported future expansion, including a bolt-on acquisition.
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