You'll often see the side with the money in a divorce hiding behind the fact that the financials are "audited"
Here's why you shouldn't necessarily buy that argument…
Audits are designed to provide "reasonable assurance" that a set of financials are free of "material" misstatement and present fairly under relevant accounting standards.
Audited financial statements DO NOT:
1. Investigate fraud or wrongdoing
2. Assume responsibility for preparation -- that rests with management (often the litigant)
3. Assure completeness - that $10 charge to an undisclosed Swiss bank account, probably not "material".
4. Provide for the nature and purpose of certain transactions -- i.e. travel and entertainment expense may be accurate, but may not reflect the proper level of income to be used in a valuation or support calculations
Here's the kind of things I've found in audited financial statements:
1. Personal expenses
2. Fake assets
3. Undervalued assets
4. Undisclosed bank accounts
5. Non-recurring income and expense
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