Community banking is the largest niche industry in our firm. Responding to your needs, we have developed a team of experienced professionals who provide a full range of audit, tax, technology, risk management and consulting services to the community banking industry. We developed a unique approach to performing internal audits for banks called Internal Audit A La Carte.
Audits
Our audit procedures are customized to your needs. Our services include:
- Meaningful Financial Statements - We provide financial information meaningful to internal management and external users. We design statements that are understandable and in accordance with current accounting standards. Footnotes are written concisely to explain important aspects of the financial position and operational results of your company.
- Supplemental Information – When relevant, we supplement financial statements with additional information.
- Beyond the Audit – During the course of our audit, we search for ways to improve your efficiency and profitability. We outline possible internal control improvements, help you plan for contingencies and offer insight into the ratios and trends of your business.
Tax
We identify possible tax savings for your institution and effectively communicate these and planning strategies to you. The Whitlock Company’s qualified CPAs will prepare your bank’s tax return with the intricacies of your industry in mind.
Due to constant changes in tax laws, businesses and individuals require much more than timely tax return preparation to remain compliant. The Whitlock Company emphasizes the importance of tax planning. Effectively identifying and communicating tax savings strategies to our clients is one of our strengths. Our professionals understand the complexities of taxation and will help you maximize tax savings.
- Compliance – Our tax professionals prepare your return with the intricacies and tax efficiencies of your institution in mind. We can provide audit representation before federal, state and local agencies for inquiries, audits and offers-in-compromise.
- Mergers and Acquisitions – The Whitlock Company’s tax professionals analyze offers and structure an advantageous transaction for you and your shareholders.
- Executive Compensation and Benefits – We analyze deferred compensation plans, stock plans and executive bonus programs to ensure that benefits are tax deductible and appropriately reported.
- Employee Benefits Program – The Whitlock Company’s tax professionals evaluate incentive compensation arrangements, collateral plans, employee stock purchase plans and help you comply with the associated IRS and Department of Labor filings.
- Annual Tax Planning and Budgeting – We help you budget for taxes due over a budget period and assess the benefit of tax credit proposals.
Cost Segregation Studies
We perform cost segregation studies for commercial real estate owners. Cost segregation generates tax benefits by accelerating the depreciation deduction and allocating costs to real or personal property according to the IRS code.
Loan Review
The Whitlock Company will scrutinize your institution’s loan portfolio; assess its overall health and balance, and offer suggestions for improvement. We can help uncover potential problems in your portfolio and prevent losses through early identification.
Our detailed file reviews assess the overall credit quality of your portfolio. We also evaluate compliance with your institution’s loan policy and lending practices, assess risk ratings assigned to individual loans and identify credit and collateral documentation exceptions.
ALLL Methodology Review
The Whitlock Company will review your institution’s calculation of the Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses for compliance with FAS 5 and FAS 114 and regulatory policies. The review also includes the specific review of impaired loans, collateral values and calculation of historical loan loss ratios.
IT Examinations
As technology’s role in commerce continues to expand, ensuring that your networks are secure grows more important. The Whitlock Company offers comprehensive IT examinations designed to exceed industry standards and allow your institution to serve customers confidently.
We examine all aspects of your network from individual workstations to firewalls and report security risks and previous breaches. We perform penetration testing to determine where your network is vulnerable using techniques that do not disrupt your business. Our IT examinations will help you safeguard and strengthen your network.
Our IT specialists determine your network’s security using a comprehensive technology review program that includes:
- Penetration Testing
- IT Examinations (including control and applications reviews and business continuity planning)
- IT Policy Development
- Vulnerability/Risk assessments
We define the scope of these audit procedures then help you choose one or all of them according to your bank’s specific IT needs.
Internal Audit A La Carte
We created our Internal Audit A La Carte product to allow our clients to tailor the internal audit process to their specific needs, creating a more efficient and affordable audit. Some of the services we offer through our Internal Audit A La Carte product include:
- An independent review of bank activities, internal controls and management information systems.
- Reasonable assurance of the accuracy and timeliness with which transactions are recorded and regarding the fitness of financial and regulatory reports.
- Ongoing communication with bank management
- Preparation of timely reports to the audit committee
- Ongoing consultation and training for members of the audit committee
ESOP Formations and Consulting
An Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) allows many businesses to thrive as employee-owned companies. The Whitlock Company lends their expertise to established ESOPs through services such as planning and compliance assistance and plan administration, planning and compliance. For business owners considering changing their business to an ESOP, we conduct in-depth feasibility studies to discern whether your business would benefit from restructuring as an ESOP.
Strategic Business Planning
We offer customized planning and review sessions for executive management and board members to focus on issues that can positively affect performance.
Succession Planning
An effective exit plan is simply good business. The sale or transfer of a privately held business is a significant financial event, and one that unfolds differently for every business owner. The Whitlock Company has guided numerous professionals through this process. With our experience as your guide, transferring ownership of your company is a smooth transition. We will also help you outline and meet your personal financial goals before exiting your business. Let us help you plan your exit strategy.
Employee Benefit Plan Administration and Consulting
We offer employee benefit plan administration services for all types and sizes of Missouri businesses. Our objective is to achieve the financial goals of the plan and the plan sponsor – and to ensure each plan’s qualification and tax-exempt status. Generally, federal law requires employee benefit plans with 100 or more participants to have an audit as part of their obligation to file an annual return/report (Form 5500 Series).
Some exceptions may apply if your business has filed as a small plan in the previous year. Call The Whitlock Company to determine whether federal law requires an audit of your company’s plan. Our employee benefit plan services include:
- Plan design
- Use of The Whitlock Company’s Regional Prototype Retirement Plan when appropriate
- Annual review of plan provisions
- Annual plan administration
- Filing of required forms
Employee Benefit Plan Audits
The Whitlock Company staffs several professionals who focus on audit and consulting services for businesses with employee benefit plans. They receive ongoing compliance training in new developments and strategies, so our clients receive the most current information available.
In addition to auditing clients’ retirement plans, we also work with businesses who use other CPAs for their accounting and tax needs without disrupting that relationship. Additionally, new accounting industry regulations requiring auditor independence have resulted in a trend towards hiring a second CPA firm for benefit plan audits.
Count on us to provide audits that meet the requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the Department of Labor (DOL), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
