| Comfort letter | A letter issued by the independent auditors to the underwriters of securities registered with the SEC under the Securities Act of 1933. Comfort letters deal with such matters as the auditors' independence and the compliance of unaudited data with requirements of the SEC.
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| Compilation | An accounting service that involves the preparation of information from client records. No assurance is provided in a compilation.
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| Limited assurance (negative assurance) | The level of assurance provided by CPAs who review historical financial statements.
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| Negative assurance | An assertion by CPAs that after applying limited investigative techniques to certain information, they are not aware of the need to modify the presentation of the information. Equivalent to limited or moderate assurance.
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| Nonpublic company | A company other than one whose securities are traded on a public market or one that makes a filing with a regulatory agency in preparation for the sale of securities on a public market.
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| Public company | A company whose stock is traded on a public market or a company in the process of registering its stock for public sale.
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| Review of financial statements | A form of attestation based on inquiry and analytical procedures applied for the purpose of expressing limited assurance that historical financial statements are presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles or some other appropriate bases.
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| Special report | An auditors' report issued on any of the following: (a) financial statements prepared on a comprehensive basis of accounting other than GAAP, (b) elements of financial statements, (c) compliance with regulatory or contractual requirements, (d ) financial presentations to comply with contractual agreements or regulatory provisions, or (e) audited information presented in prescribed forms.
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