Internal audit services background

Licensed CPA Firm

Internal Audit Services

An internal audit function your board, customers, and investors can rely on, without building a department to get it. Co-sourced and outsourced internal audit for technology companies, delivered by Big Four-trained CPAs, led by a partner from risk assessment through reporting.

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Most technology companies do not need a ten-person internal audit department. They need a right-sized function that assesses the risks that actually matter, tests the controls behind them, and reports findings management can act on. Sage Audits is an internal audit firm built for exactly that: we work as an extension of your team or serve as your entire internal audit function, at a fixed fee you approve before work begins.

Co-Sourced Internal Audit

Extend your existing internal audit team with specialized IT audit skills, for individual audits or full coverage of the technology portions of your plan.

Outsourced Internal Audit

We serve as your internal audit function: risk assessment, annual audit plan, fieldwork, and reporting to management and the board.

SOX 404 ITGC Support

IT general control and application control scoping, testing, and remediation support for Section 404 compliance at public and pre-IPO companies.

Internal Controls Assessments

Independent assessments of internal controls, IT risks, and key processes, with prioritized, practical remediation recommendations.

Sage Audits LLP is a Colorado-licensed CPA firm (FRM.5000785) headquartered in Westminster, serving the Denver metro and companies nationwide. The same audit discipline we bring to SOC examinations under AICPA attestation standards shapes every internal audit we perform.

Why Sage Audits

Big Four discipline, without the Big Four overhead

Our team trained at Big Four firms and has audited environments from startups to global enterprises. What we kept is the rigor. What we left behind is the leverage model: layers of first-year staff, hourly billing, and a partner you meet twice a year.

Partner-Led, Start to Finish

The partner who scopes your audit plan performs and reviews the work. Your team talks to the person making the judgments, not a project manager relaying messages.

Fixed Fees, Approved Up Front

You approve a fixed fee before the engagement begins. No hourly meters, no surprise change orders because someone asked a question mid-fieldwork.

Right-Sized for Mid-Market

Audit plans scoped to the risks a growing technology company actually faces, not templates built for a Fortune 100 audit committee. We speak SaaS, cloud, and DevOps natively.

Our Services

Internal Audit Consulting Services

Whether you need one specialist audit, a co-sourced partner for your existing team, or a full outsourced function, the engagement is shaped around your risk profile and your calendar. You work directly with the partner throughout. Learn more about our firm

Not sure whether you need internal audit support or an external SOC report? It depends on who is asking for assurance. Reach out and we'll point you in the right direction.

Many internal audit teams are strong on business process coverage but stretched thin on technology. Co-sourcing lets you keep ownership of the audit plan while we take on the audits that need specialized IT depth. We integrate with your methodology, your workpaper standards, and your reporting calendar.

  • Execute individual audits from your plan: ITGCs, application controls, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, and vendor management.
  • Provide surge capacity during busy seasons or coverage during staffing transitions.
  • Share knowledge as we go, so your team builds capability instead of dependency.

For scale-ups that just hit customer or investor governance expectations, this is usually the right first step. Enterprise customers start asking who independently tests your controls. A new board seat expects formal risk oversight. You do not need a department to answer well; you need a function that runs on a defined cadence.

  • Perform an enterprise risk assessment and build a risk-based annual audit plan sized to your organization.
  • Execute the plan: fieldwork, findings, and remediation recommendations your engineers will not roll their eyes at.
  • Report results to management, the audit committee, or the board on your governance calendar.
  • Establish the charter, methodology, and documentation standards you can later bring in-house if you grow into a dedicated team.

Technology is where we live. We audit tech with tech: access management, change management, cloud configurations, and the pipelines in between, evaluated by people who understand how modern engineering teams actually ship software.

  • IT general controls reviews covering access, change management, computer operations, and program development.
  • Targeted internal controls assessments over specific processes, applications, or cloud environments.
  • IT risk assessments that give leadership a prioritized view of exposure, not a hundred-row spreadsheet of equal-weight findings.
  • Remediation guidance that fits your stack, drawn from our IT consulting practice.

For public companies and companies preparing to go public, we support the IT side of SOX 404 compliance. We define scope with your team, design and test ITGCs and application controls, and document the work to the level of rigor your external auditors expect, so their reliance on internal audit testing actually holds up.

  • Define SOX scope and identify the IT risks that affect financial reporting.
  • Design, document, and test ITGCs and application controls, including narratives and control matrices.
  • Support remediation of identified gaps and deficiencies before they become year-end findings.
  • Coordinate with your external audit firm throughout the year to maintain reliance and avoid duplicate testing.

SOX co-sourcing sits alongside our broader consulting practice. See our IT consulting services →

Know the Difference

Internal Audit vs. External Attestation

The two are often confused, and the distinction matters when you are deciding what to buy. Internal audit serves your own management and board. The scope comes from your risk assessment, the findings are yours, and the goal is a stronger organization. External attestation, like a SOC 2 examination, serves your customers: an independent CPA firm examines your controls under AICPA SSAE No. 18 attestation standards and issues a report you hand to third parties. SOC 2 is a framework for showing customers how you protect their data; internal audit is how you satisfy yourself, your board, and your investors that the whole control environment holds together.

At Sage Audits, both practices run on the same discipline: risk-based scoping, evidence-driven testing, and findings written in plain language. If what your customers are asking for is a SOC report, start with our SOC reporting services. If what your board is asking for is independent assurance over your own operations, you are on the right page.

Independence and Professional Standards

To maintain independence and comply with professional standards, we are unable to provide internal audit services for any organization where we also perform external audit or attest services. This ensures the objectivity and integrity of every engagement we deliver.

Internal Audit Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about internal audit firms, co-sourcing, pricing, and when to stand up your first internal audit function.

An internal audit firm provides independent assessments of an organization's risks, internal controls, and processes on behalf of management and the board. In practice that means building a risk-based audit plan, performing individual audits over areas like IT general controls, security, vendor management, and key business processes, and reporting findings with practical remediation recommendations. An internal audit consulting firm like Sage Audits delivers this either as a supplement to your existing team (co-sourcing) or as your complete internal audit function (outsourcing), so you get the oversight your governance requires without building a department.

Co-sourcing means we work alongside your existing internal audit team. Your team owns the audit plan and methodology; we take on specific audits or specialized areas, most often the technology-heavy ones like ITGCs, cybersecurity, and cloud infrastructure. Outsourcing means we serve as your internal audit function end to end: we perform the risk assessment, build the annual plan, execute the audits, and report to management and the board. Companies with no internal audit hire typically start with outsourcing; companies with a small team that needs depth or capacity typically co-source. Both are structured as fixed-fee arrangements, and moving between the two as you grow is straightforward.

The difference is who the work is for. Internal audit serves your own management and board: you set the scope through a risk assessment, and the deliverable is an internal report that drives improvement. A SOC 2 examination is external attestation performed for your customers. An independent CPA firm examines your controls against the SOC 2 framework under AICPA SSAE No. 18 attestation standards and issues a report you share with third parties. One important consequence: to preserve independence, the same firm cannot provide both internal audit services and external attest services to the same organization. If you need a SOC report, see our SOC 2 reporting services.

We quote a fixed fee before any work begins, based on the number of audits in the plan, the complexity of your environment, and the level of support your team needs. There are no hourly meters and no change orders because someone asked a question. Ongoing co-sourced and outsourced arrangements are typically structured as an annual fixed fee tied to the agreed audit plan, so budgeting is predictable for you and your finance team. For a custom quote, contact us and we will scope it with you on a call.

Watch for four triggers. First, enterprise customers begin asking who independently tests your controls, often in security questionnaires or contract negotiations. Second, investors or a newly formed board expect formal risk oversight and want someone reporting on it. Third, you are preparing for an IPO, which brings SOX 404 requirements and external auditor scrutiny. Fourth, growth has outpaced your informal processes and leadership no longer has direct visibility into how controls operate. Most mid-market technology companies hitting these triggers do not need a full-time hire; an outsourced internal audit function scoped to their actual risks answers the question credibly at a fraction of the cost, and can be brought in-house later.

Transparent Pricing

Get Your
Custom Quote

Our pricing is structured and fixed-fee. What it costs comes down to your size, your environment, and which Trust Services Categories you put in scope, since those controls are what really drive the work. Share a few details about your situation and we will follow up personally, usually with a quick call, to walk through scope and get you a clear fixed quote you can plan around.

Calculate Your Price

Rethinking the IT Audit Experience

Big Four training. Boutique access. An end-to-end perspective that makes the difference.

Meet the Team
Tasya Novak, Managing Director, Sage Audits
01

Focused on IT Assurance

From SOC 1, 2, and 3 to SOX, our niche is IT audit. We understand risk, controls, and how to make compliance work for you.

02

Real World Expertise

With experience across Big Four firms and in-house internal audit roles, our team understands audits from both sides, with technical certification backed by practical insight. Meet the team →

03

Built for Business

No cookie-cutter compliance. Our audit process is designed around your operations, timelines, and goals because efficient audits begin with alignment. See how it works →

04

Client First Approach

Our assurance services help you gain insight into your security posture and build confidence with stakeholders. We use technology to streamline the process without sacrificing quality.

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