Each year, the City of Parkville contracts with an independent firm to conduct an audit of its accounting procedures, in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. Those standards require that the firms obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement.

An audit includes examining evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. It also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation.