When auditing Brain Balance, is the purpose to express an opinion on the effectiveness of the company's internal control?

According to Brain Balance's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the purpose of the audit is not to express an opinion on the effectiveness of the company's internal control. The auditor's responsibilities include obtaining an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design appropriate audit procedures. However, the audit is not conducted for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of Brain Balance's internal control, and the auditor's report explicitly states that no such opinion is expressed.

The auditor's objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes their opinion on the financial statements. The auditor identifies and assesses the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, and designs and performs audit procedures responsive to those risks. These procedures include examining evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements.

This means that while the auditors will review Brain Balance's internal controls to help them plan their audit, they are not specifically evaluating whether those controls are effective. A prospective franchisee should be aware that the financial statements have been audited to ensure they are free of material misstatement, but the effectiveness of the internal controls has not been independently verified.