The questions people ask before the first call.

Good. MOR isn’t a bookkeeper and doesn’t replace one. Your bookkeeper keeps doing the day-to-day work. MOR is the senior review layer between that work and your auditor: someone watching the year against what an auditor will look for, so issues surface in the month they happen instead of during fieldwork.

Your auditor looks back at the year after it’s over, and independence rules limit how much they can help you build or fix things along the way. MOR works with you during the year, so your auditor finds a year that’s already in order. The audit itself stays entirely theirs.

No. MOR’s work is advisory. It isn’t an audit, review, or compilation, and it provides no assurance. Findings come to your management in writing, framed as recommendations. What to do about them is your decision.

MOR is a separate firm from your auditor, and management keeps every decision and approves anything MOR prepares. That division is what keeps your auditor’s independence supported. We’re glad to introduce ourselves to your auditor at the start so everyone knows who does what.

No. A smoother audit is one result, but most of the value shows up every month: reviewed books, a clear picture of cash and restricted funds, grants tracked against budget, a board package people can read, and a senior person your team can call. The audit gets easier because the whole year is in better shape.

No. MOR is a separate firm with its own flat fee, and it doesn’t change how your auditor bills. The work is designed to make fieldwork smoother, which tends to mean fewer delays and late adjustments, though your auditor sets their own fees.

Compare it with the alternative: a full-time controller or CFO, or a stretched team making decisions on late numbers. It’s also worth weighing what problems already cost: staff overtime every year-end, audit delays, findings your funders read. The first conversation is free, the Assessment is one fixed fee, and half of it credits toward a retainer if you continue within 60 days.

Every engagement is a fixed fee or a flat monthly rate, set by your organization’s size and complexity. There’s no hourly meter on the retainer, and anything outside scope gets a written estimate and cap first. You’ll have a firm number in writing after the diagnostic call, before any work begins.

No. Your bookkeeper or finance staff handle day-to-day transactions. In the Always Audit-Ready Plus and Fractional CFO packages, we prepare monthly financial statements for management’s review and record proposed adjusting entries subject to your monthly approval. If you don’t have anyone doing the books right now, interim controller coverage may be the right starting point.

Jacob McKiddie, CPA, leads every engagement and is your main contact from the first call on. Everything we set up lives in your systems, not ours: the checklists, schedules, and request list stay with your team, so nothing depends on any one person’s memory.

No. MOR doesn’t prepare tax returns. In the Fractional CFO package, we coordinate the 990 with your tax preparer.

Mostly nonprofits with roughly $1M to $15M in annual revenue, usually with a bookkeeper or small finance staff in place. Smaller organizations are often a good fit for the Assessment and project work.

Yes. Confidentiality is part of every engagement letter, and it applies to the diagnostic call too.

We talk through how your finances are running, your last audit, what’s coming up, and what’s worrying you. You’ll get an honest answer on whether MOR is a fit. There’s nothing to prepare beyond the two quick questions on the booking page, and no obligation afterward.