Ameris Bancorp

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Shareholders and Board of Directors

Ameris Bancorp:

Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Ameris Bancorp and subsidiaries (the Company) as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2024, and the related notes (collectively, 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, 2024 and 2023, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2024, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, and our report dated February 28, 2025 expressed an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

Basis for Opinion

These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the 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 consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. 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 Matter

The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relates 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 a critical audit matter 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 matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.

Quantitative component of the allowance for credit losses on loans evaluated on a collective basis

As discussed in Notes 1 and 3 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company’s total allowance for credit losses on loans as of December 31, 2024 was $338.1 million, a portion of which related to the quantitative component of the allowance for credit losses on loans evaluated on a collective (pool) basis for the commercial and industrial, consumer, real estate - construction and development, real estate - commercial and farmland and real estate - residential loan segments (the quantitative collective ACL). The Company estimated the quantitative collective ACL utilizing a discounted cash flow (DCF) methodology applied to their loan pools segregated by similar risk characteristics. The Company’s DCF methodology generates cash flow projections at the loan level wherein payment expectations are adjusted for estimated prepayment speeds, curtailments, time to recovery, probability of default (PD), and loss given default (LGD). The modeling of expected prepayment speeds and curtailment rates are based on historical internal data, and consider current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts of future economic conditions. The Company uses regression analysis of historical internal and peer loss data to determine suitable macroeconomic variables to utilize when modeling lifetime PD and LGD. This analysis also determines how expected PD and LGD will react to forecasted levels of the macroeconomic variables over a reasonable and supportable forecast period. At the end of the four-quarter reasonable and supportable forecast period, the Company reverts to a historical loss rate on a straight-line basis over four quarters. Management leverages economic projections comprising multiple weighted scenarios from an independent third party to inform its macroeconomic variable forecasts over the reasonable and supportable forecast period. A portion of the allowance for credit losses is comprised of qualitative factors for model limitations and risk uncertainty as well as for loan segment specific risks that cannot be addressed in the quantitative methods.

We identified the assessment of the quantitative collective ACL as a critical audit matter. A high degree of audit effort, including specialized skills and knowledge, and subjective and complex auditor judgment was involved in the assessment of the quantitative collective ACL due to significant measurement uncertainty. Specifically, the assessment encompassed the evaluation of the methodology, including the models used to estimate the PDs and LGDs as well as the selection and weighting of the economic projections and selection of macroeconomic variables. The assessment also included an evaluation of the conceptual soundness and performance of the PD and LGD models.

The following are the primary procedures we performed to address this critical audit matter. We evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of certain internal controls related to the Company’s measurement of the quantitative collective ACL estimate, including controls over the:

•development of the quantitative collective ACL methodology

•continued use and appropriateness of changes to the PD and LGD models

•selection and weighting of the economic projections and selection of macroeconomic variables

•conceptual soundness and performance of PD and LGD models and

•analysis of the allowance for credit losses results, trends, and ratios.

We evaluated the Company’s process to develop the quantitative collective ACL estimate by testing certain sources of data, factors, and assumptions that the Company used, and considered the relevance and reliability of such data, factors, and assumptions. In addition, we involved credit risk professionals with specialized skills and knowledge, who assisted in:

•evaluating the Company’s quantitative collective ACL methodology for compliance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles

•evaluating the selection of the economic projections, including weighting of the economic projections, and selection of macroeconomic variables used in the PD and LGD models by comparing them to relevant Company-specific metrics and trends and relevant industry practices and

•assessing the conceptual soundness and performance of the PD and LGD models by inspecting model documentation to determine whether the models are suitable for their intended use.

/s/ KPMG LLP

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2021.

Atlanta, Georgia

February 28, 2025

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Shareholders and Board of Directors

Ameris Bancorp:

Opinion on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

We have audited Ameris Bancorp and subsidiaries' (the Company) internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated balance sheets of the Company as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2024, and the related notes (collectively, the consolidated financial statements), and our report dated February 28, 2025 expressed an unqualified opinion on those consolidated financial statements.

Basis for Opinion

The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management's Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the 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 audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audit also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

/s/ KPMG LLP

Atlanta, Georgia

February 28, 2025