SAS No. 70 Services

If your organisation provides services to an entity that have an effect on the entity's financial statements, then you may be asked to provide a report on internal control for the benefit of the entity's management and their financial statement auditors. A SAS No. 70 audit will be your solution. SAS No. 70 is a formal report on the design, implementation, and operating effectiveness of controls at a service organisation.

Conversely, if your company outsources some or all of its business operations to a service organisation, and these operations have an affect on your financial statements, then a SAS No. 70 audit report may provide you and your independent auditors information about the service organisation’s control environment, their related control objectives, and their affect on your financial statements.

A SAS No. 70 report:

• Is a formal report on the design, implementation, and effectiveness of controls at a service organisation, usually covering a period of not less than six months
• Is primarily used to support the financial audit process of entities that use outside service organisations
• Contains an independent accountant’s opinion on the design, implementation, and effectiveness of controls at a service organisation for the audit period
• Contains a description of the service organisation’s control environment, its control objectives, and the key controls that are in place to achieve those control objectives
• Contains tests of operating effectiveness performed by the independent accountant, and the results of those tests
• Contains control considerations that should be employed at entities that use the service organisation
• Is intended for use by the service organisation, its customers, and the independent accountants of its customers