How We Price PCAOB Audits

Our fixed-fee philosophy

Audit committees and CFOs need to budget. Hourly billing makes that hard and rewards inefficiency. We price every engagement as a fixed fee agreed in writing before fieldwork, based on a documented scope and a week-by-week timeline included in the proposal.

That places the risk of our own planning on us. If an area takes longer than we expected, that is our problem, not an invoice surprise. The fee changes only when the scope changes, and then only through a signed change order.

A fixed fee also fits the way public-company governance works. Under Rule 2-01(c)(7) of Regulation S-X, the audit committee must pre-approve the auditor's services. A defined scope with a defined price gives the committee a clear decision to approve, and a clear record if the scope later changes.

What the fixed fee includes

• Planning, risk assessment and the audit strategy, led by the signing partner
• Fieldwork on the entities and periods listed in the engagement letter
• The engagement quality review required by PCAOB AS 1220 (see our quality control system)
• The auditor's report, required audit committee communications and Form AP filing
• Reasonable consultation on accounting questions that arise during the engagement
• Support with SEC staff comment letters relating to our audit work, as defined in your proposal
• Quarterly Form 10-Q reviews under AS 4105, when bundled in the proposal
• Bilingual English/Spanish communication with your team throughout

Anything not listed in your engagement letter, such as consents for new registration statements, comfort letters or tax work, is quoted separately and in advance.

Factors that move the price

Two companies with the same revenue can have very different audits. These are the factors we assess when scoping:

• Number of entities and countries. Each subsidiary, jurisdiction and currency adds planning, testing and consolidation work.
• Revenue streams. Multiple contract types, principal-versus-agent questions or variable consideration add procedures.
• Complex accounting areas. Business combinations, convertible notes and derivatives, share-based payments, impairment, digital assets and going-concern evaluations require specialized work.
• First-year audit. Opening balances, predecessor-auditor communications and learning the business all fall into year one.
• Internal control over financial reporting. An integrated audit under AS 2201, required when Section 404(b) applies, is a separate scope. See SOX 404 and ICFR.
• Re-audits. Prior periods that must be re-audited, for example after a predecessor's registration was revoked, are quoted separately.
• Deadlines. Compressed timelines, such as a Super 8-K after a reverse merger or a financing window, require more concurrent staff.
• Quality of records. Clean, reconciled ledgers cost less to audit than records that need significant adjustment.
• Language of source documents. Our bilingual teams read Spanish contracts and records directly, without a separate translation layer.

Main fee drivers by engagement type

What can change the fee: written change orders only

Once the engagement letter is signed, the fee moves only if the work moves. Typical triggers include:

• A new acquisition, subsidiary or business line added during the year
• A restatement of previously issued financial statements
• A new registration statement, or a filing not contemplated in the proposal
• Requested schedules (PBC items) that arrive materially late or incomplete and require significant additional work
• A change in filer status that brings ICFR attestation into scope

In each case we explain the additional work, give you a price and wait for your written approval before starting it.

Why we don't publish fee ranges

No two public companies need the same audit, so a published range would mislead more than it helps. Instead, we start with a short meeting to understand your company — structure, filings, deadlines and open accounting matters. After that evaluation we present a formal written proposal with a fixed fee, the scope, the timeline and the payment terms.

Email info@sesglo.com or use the proposal form to schedule the meeting. For context on what drives audit cost in the OTC market, read how much a PCAOB audit costs for an OTC company.

Audit fees are public

Your investors will see what you pay us. Item 14 of Form 10-K requires the disclosures in Item 9(e) of Schedule 14A: audit fees, audit-related fees, tax fees and all other fees billed for each of the last two fiscal years, and the audit committee's pre-approval policies. A predictable fixed fee makes that disclosure easier to explain.

How to get a proposal

Send us the following and we will reply within one business day with next steps. Scope, fixed fee and a week-by-week timeline are then set out in your written proposal.

• Your most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q (or Form 20-F, Form 1-A or draft S-1)
• Organizational chart showing all legal entities and countries
• Current trial balance, by entity if consolidated
• List of entities with functional currency and accounting system
• Your timeline: fiscal year-end, filing deadlines and any planned transaction or listing
• The name of your current or predecessor auditor, if any

Email info@sesglo.com, or see all our services. Unfamiliar terms are explained in the glossary.