Good preparation is the single biggest factor in how smoothly a financial audit goes. Auditors don’t penalize businesses for having questions — they slow down when records are disorganized or incomplete. Here’s how to get ready.
Reconcile before you’re asked to
Make sure bank statements, credit card statements, and your general ledger are reconciled for the full period under review, not just the most recent month.
Organize supporting documentation
Invoices, receipts, contracts, and payroll records should be easy to locate and matched to the transactions they support. Scattered paper trails are the most common cause of audit delays.
Review prior-year adjustments
If last year’s audit resulted in adjusting entries, confirm those changes were properly reflected in this year’s opening balances.
Prepare a schedule of significant transactions
Large, unusual, or one-off transactions attract auditor attention. Having an explanation ready in advance speeds up the review considerably.
Designate a single point of contact
Auditors work faster when they have one person to route questions to, rather than chasing down answers from multiple departments.
Want a second set of eyes before the real audit begins? Our financial audit team can run a readiness check well ahead of time.