A statutory audit can land on your desk from nowhere. One financial year you sit comfortably inside the exemption thresholds; the next you have crossed a line, picked up a regulator, or taken on funding that changes the rules. Now you need an auditor who will not turn the work into a long disruption.
The objection we hear most often: “Our current accountant could probably do this themselves.” In many cases, independence rules prevent the same firm from both preparing and auditing financial statements. Even where permitted, using a separate practice is cleaner, better-governed, and increasingly expected by funders, regulators, and shareholders.
Using a separate audit practice is a cleaner, better-governed approach. It removes ambiguity, strengthens credibility with external stakeholders, and aligns with what funders, regulators, and shareholders increasingly expect. It also means the audit is carried out with a clear line of independence, rather than being influenced, even unintentionally, by prior involvement in the numbers.
A dedicated auditor brings three things an all-purpose firm struggles to match:
Independence by design, because the team has no other commercial relationship with your company
Deep, current expertise in auditing standards and the evolving regulatory landscape
A streamlined process built around assurance, not squeezed in between tax returns and bookkeeping
For directors signing off on financial statements, and for shareholders and other stakeholders relying on them, this separation is the foundation of the assurance the engagement provides.
Only Audit Limited was established in 2011 and provides independent statutory audits to companies, alongside outsourced services to accounting firms across Ireland. The team focuses exclusively on audit work. No accounts preparation, no tax, no advisory. That singular focus keeps independence clean and methodology sharp.
Only Audit Limited works with organisations across Ireland, including:
Companies that have exceeded the small company exemption thresholds
Financially regulated entities, where assurance is required regardless of size
CDYSB-funded organisations and other grant-funded bodies with assurance obligations
Larger companies and groups that do not qualify for exemption
The firm has invested in secure technology and remote working systems, supporting a paperless process when needed. Continuity of staff on assignments builds client knowledge and makes each engagement smoother than the last.
Where an audit is required, Kinore works alongside Only Audit Limited to support the process. The statutory work is carried out independently, exactly as the regulations require.
What changes for you is the support around it. Your Kinore account manager liaises directly with the auditor throughout the engagement, coordinating information requests and timelines. If your bookkeeping is already with our chartered accountants team, the information flow is in hand. If not, we help you organise what the team needs.
This approach gives you:
An independent statutory engagement delivered by a specialist practice
Continuity of working with the Kinore team you already know if you're already a client
A clear separation between audit and non-audit services, maintained by firm structure
One main point of contact for everything that is not the audit itself
Every engagement covers the work required by Irish company law and international standards on auditing:
Independent statutory review of your financial statements
Planning, risk assessment, and appropriate testing of balances and transactions
Review of financial records, supporting documentation, and internal controls
A formal report providing independent assurance for directors, shareholders, and other stakeholders
The output is an opinion you can stand over, with clear documentation and any observations or valuable feedback passed back at the end.
Hear directly from the businesses we’ve helped grow, adapt, and stay compliant, and see how the right finance partner can give you confidence and time back to focus on what matters most.
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“A pleasure to deal with. Very informative when in the need of help. Removes the stress of carrying out all the bookkeeping and returns and I never need to worry about missing deadlines. Highly recommended.”
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“The team at Kinore are have been great – genuinely lovely to deal with, consistently responsive, and clearly very knowledgeable. From the outset they explained things in a clear, practical way and guided us just the right amount.”
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“Nexus Inclusion has been very happy working with Kinore. Kinore offer a range of accounting services which meant they understood and could meet all our needs. They were also upfront about costs, allowing us to plan our budgets.”
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“After frustrating experiences with slow Xero posting, high fees and poor communication from previous firms, the difference with Kinore has been night and day. APIs run smoothly, support is fast, and we can now make confident decisions and manage cash flow easily.”
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“Kinore has been a trusted partner since we were founded in 2022. As a small limited company without an in-house finance team, their accounting and company secretarial support is invaluable. The team is reliable and allows us to focus fully on growing the business.”
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“Our partnership with Kinore has been excellent. The team are professional and approachable, and they always deliver to a very high standard. We value the relationship and the support they provide to us.”
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Most small Irish companies qualify for exemption. Under the Companies Act 2014, a company can claim the small company exemption if it meets at least two of three criteria in both the current and previous financial year: turnover not exceeding €15 million, balance sheet total not exceeding €7.5 million, and no more than 50 employees on average.
Assurance becomes mandatory where your company exceeds two of those thresholds, operates in a regulated sector, is part of a group that does not qualify for exemption, has lost exemption through late filing under Section 22 of the 2024 Act, or where a funder requires audited financial statements. If you are unsure, we will walk through it with you.
The process runs more smoothly when the foundations are in place before fieldwork begins. The team will typically need:
Access to financial records for the relevant year
Up-to-date bookkeeping, including bank reconciliations, debtors, creditors, and fixed asset registers
A main point of contact within your business
Any system or third-party access relevant to the engagement
If you are unsure whether your business needs a statutory audit, or you want a clear picture of how the process would work in practice, the quickest way forward is a short call. We will walk through your current position, confirm whether an audit is required, and outline exactly what the engagement would involve.
A statutory audit is an independent examination of your company’s financial statements by a registered auditor. They check that the accounts give a true and fair view and comply with the Companies Act 2014 and the relevant accounting standard (FRS 102 for most Irish SMEs). The auditor issues a formal opinion that’s filed with your accounts at the CRO.
Most small companies are exempt (see the thresholds above). You lose that exemption if you exceed two of the three size limits, file your CRO annual return late, or your governing documents require an audit. If you’re near a threshold or filed late, it’s worth checking before your year-end rather than after.
For a straightforward small business with clean, up-to-date records, we typically complete the audit within three weeks of receiving all the information we need. The single biggest factor is the state of your bookkeeping going in; reconciled records shorten it; gaps lengthen it.
Only a registered auditor, regulated by a recognised accountancy body and overseen by IAASA, can sign off on it; it’s not something any accountant can sign off on. We deliver audits through Only Audit Limited, a dedicated registered audit practice, which keeps the audit independent from the accountancy work we do for you.
Yes. You retain Kinore for all other services. Only Audit Limited is engaged purely for the statutory work.
