The audit season can be the most frantic time for business owners. But with a little remote audit preparation and organization, you can ensure a successful audit, reduce your audit fees in the future, minimize audit adjustments, and get the most out of the audit process. To that end, we have compiled a list of some of our time-tested remote audit preparation tips and insights to help you save time and money.
Get a “Prepared By Client” (PBC) Request List
Request a PBC or audit request list from your auditor at least 30 days prior to the beginning of remote audit preparation. Whether you have worked with this auditor in the past or not, you don’t want to be surprised by what is being asked.
All the requests should be clarified before you start working. If you are unsure about why something is being requested, ask your auditor to explain it. Never make assumptions about what is being requested and why. This will save both sides a lot of time.
Make Sure Everyone is Clear on Their Roles
Any supporting schedules, roll-forwards, or reconciliations should be owned by people that know they are responsible for that group of accounts. Ideally, the majority of supporting items should be completed as part of your year-end closing process. You don’t want any work to be overlooked or duplicated.
Create & Review The Calendar
A successful project begins with buy-in from the team responsible for completing the work. And a calendar is a great way to track due dates for all the items to guarantee more accountability from your team. You should review the calendar with each team member before starting the remote audit preparation, and add some additional days/weeks into the schedule in case a task takes longer than expected.
Use a Virtual Data Room
By starting a virtual data room, you can share the PBC files, or leverage the ones created by your auditor. Also, make sure there is a fixed naming convention for files so everyone can find them easily. Too many back and forth emails can sometimes result in files getting missed or lost in the daily shuffle.
Communicate Diligently
Unless other requests become mission-critical, your entire organization needs to understand that remote audit preparation is the top priority for accounting professionals during this time of the year.
Outside time-sensitive diligence and regulatory requests, board and internal requests are a few things that could take precedence. Also, note that closing the year and the consequent audit take a lot of time. Keep other commitments during this time to a minimum to help manage expectations and set everyone up for success.
How Remote Accounting Online Can Help With Remote Audit Preparation
Auditing is a specialized and complex process that requires deep domain expertise. If you have more important things to focus on in order to increase your market share and compete successfully in a challenging business environment, consider working with our expert team of CFOs and CPAs at Remote Accounting Online.With 25+ years of experience, we provide dependable remote audit preparation services to help you protect your business and increase its valuation while you can work on priority projects. Call us at 541-772-5555 or get in touch with us online to get started.