Compare/Remote contractors

CORAA vs hiring remote contractors directly.

Both options add capacity from outside your office. They differ in who carries the hiring, the training, the file access and the supervision record.

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Side by side

Criterion	Fulfilled by CORAA	The alternative
Who does the work	CORAA AI drafts the file and CORAA Network reviewers clear every flag. Your firm contracts with CORAA.	Your firm, as employer or as the contracting party for each individual.
Hiring and training	Done by CORAA: reviewers work under confidentiality agreements and confirm independence of the client for each engagement.	Done by your firm: sourcing, onboarding, standards training.
Where client files sit	Inside CORAA, encrypted at rest and in transit. Reviewers work there.	Where your firm sets up access for the individual. Your firm writes and enforces the access rules.
Disclosure and consent	CORAA supplies client-notice wording for your engagement letter, and a security and data-handling pack before any upload.	Your firm drafts and sends client disclosures for each arrangement.
Who supervises	CORAA reviewers clear every flag with a logged reason. Then your manager and partner review.	Your senior or manager supervises the individual directly.
Continuity	The same format of file each time, whichever reviewer worked on it.	Continuity follows the individual you hired.
Cost structure	A flat fee per audit, set by entity size. First audit free.	Compensation and overhead set by your firm.
Hiring the person later	Firms can hire CORAA reviewers who work on their files, with no fee.	Not applicable.

When hiring directly is the better fit

If you want a dedicated team member who learns your clients over years, trains to your house style and sits in your meetings, hiring is the way to get that. A direct hire is also the right path when the work needs ongoing client contact, which CORAA does not do.

The two can also be combined: a direct hire for the steady base and CORAA for the files that arrive in a surge.

What your firm does either way

Whether you use CORAA or hire directly, these responsibilities do not move.

Accepting the client

Client acceptance, the engagement letter and the independence evaluation are your firm’s.

Reviewing the work

Your manager and partner review the file as they would any staff-prepared file, and document that review.

Signing the report

Your firm issues the report. CORAA never signs, issues or reports on anything.

Free resources for this work

Guides, templates and calculators on this site that cover the same ground. All free to use.

GuideSupervision and Review of Outsourced Audit Work Under AU-C 220 as Revised by SAS 146 GuideDocumenting Outsourced Workpaper Review: What AU-C 230 and SAS 146 Require the File to Show GuideET 1.150.040 and Third-Party Service Providers: What a CPA Firm Must Disclose and Oversee Before Outsourcing GuideOutsourced Audit Support for CPA Firms: Using Offshore Accounting and Audit Staffing Responsibly GuideOffshore Consent and Engagement Letter Language for Outsourced Audit and Tax Prep: The Elements to Include GuideOffshore Workpaper Preparation and the AICPA Code: A Map of the Ethics Rules

Questions firms ask

Your firm is responsible for the engagement either way. With CORAA, reviewers clear every flag with a logged reason before your manager and partner review. The supervision and documentation guides on this site set out what to record.

CORAA gives you client-notice wording for your engagement letter. Your firm sends it, because the engagement is yours.

Yes. There is no fee to you or to the reviewer.

Reviewers are contractors. Only people with an active US license are called CPAs. Each engagement carries an independence confirmation.

Your first audit is free. After that, a flat fee per audit, set by the size of the entity: revenue, transactions and number of entities. Messy books are included, never a surcharge.

Sources: AICPA quality management standards · AICPA Statements on Auditing Standards, currently effective

More in compare

CompareCORAA vs staffing agenciesA placed temporary worker supervised by your team, compared with a finished file.CompareCORAA vs building an in-house prep teamA permanent team your firm builds, compared with a flat fee per file.CompareCORAA vs overtime in busy seasonMore hours from the same people, compared with added capacity from outside.

For US CPA firms

Join the CORAA waitlist

CORAA AI drafts audit working papers from your client’s QuickBooks books and does the first pass: lead schedules, tie-out, memos, draft notes and letters. CORAA Network reviewers clear every finding. Your firm reviews and signs.

First audit free, so you can judge the quality on a real file
Flat fee by entity size; messy books included
We work only with CPA firms, never their clients

See how it works →

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