Usio Inc

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

The Board of Directors and Stockholders

Usio, Inc. and Subsidiaries

San Antonio, Texas

Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Usio, Inc. and Subsidiaries (collectively referred to as the “Company”) as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, and the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ equity and cash flows, for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2023, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the "consolidated financial statements"). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2023 and 2022 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 31, 2023 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis of Opinion

These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) ("PCAOB") and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As a part of our audits, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.

Intangible Assets – Customer Lists

Description of the Matter

As of December 31, 2023, the Company had intangible assets relating to acquired customer lists which are recorded at their cost basis net of accumulated amortization. On at least an annual basis, the Company performs an analysis of the carrying value of these customer lists to evaluate the assets for impairment. The customer list is amortized over a five-year term and no impairment has been recognized on the customer list portfolios since their acquisition. We identified the customer list valuation as a critical audit matter because of the significant estimates and forward-looking assumptions used which could be affected by future economic and market conditions.

How We Addressed the Matter in Our Audit

To test the fair value of the Company's customer list intangible assets, our audit procedures included, among others, evaluating the Company's valuation model, evaluating the method and significant assumptions used, and testing the completeness and accuracy of the underlying data supporting the significant assumptions and estimates. We also evaluated whether the key factors considered in the evaluation were consistent with evidence obtained in other areas of the audit.

Deferred Tax Assets – Valuation Allowance

Description of the Matter

The Company recognizes deferred tax assets to the extent that it is expected that these assets are more likely than not to be realized. The Company evaluates the realizability of the deferred tax assets, and to the extent that the Company estimates that it is more likely than not that a benefit will not be realized, the carrying amount of the deferred tax assets is reduced with a valuation allowance. We identified the valuation of deferred tax assets as a critical audit matter because of the significant judgments made by management in projecting future taxable income.

How We Addressed the Matter in Our Audit

Our audit procedures related to projected future taxable income and the determination of whether it is more likely than not that the deferred tax assets will be realized included the evaluation of the reasonableness of management’s projected future taxable income. We compared the estimates to historical earnings and evaluated the inputs and assumptions used by management for developing future forecasts.

/s/ ADKF, P.C.

ADKF, P.C.

San Antonio, Texas United States

March 27, 2024

PCAOB ID 297

We have served as the Company's auditor since 2004.