Compilation
Compilation reports involve a CPA gathering a company’s financial statements consisting of income statements and balance sheets. This report provides no assurance and therefore no opinion is expressed on the financials or other documents.
Review
A review involves the CPA in performing analytical procedures on the financial statements to gain an understanding of the company’s finances. Review has limited assurance and differs from an audit in the sense that a review does not express an opinion.
Audit
Audits require a CPA’s opinion on the company’s financial statements in accordance with GAAP. Audits evaluate the company’s internal accounting system as well as its financial records. The result will have the CPA issue a report on their audit findings.