A practical guide to audit readiness

Start with the agreed scope

An organised audit starts with a shared understanding of the period, entities and information to be reviewed. Use the engagement team's request list as your working reference and identify a person to coordinate questions.

• Confirm the reporting period and entities in scope.
• Agree how records will be shared with the engagement team.
• Keep a single list of requests, owners and outstanding items.

Prepare the core financial records

Keep the trial balance, general ledger and financial statements clearly labelled and consistent with one another. If records change during preparation, retain a clear version history so the team can understand which figures are current.

• Label files with the entity, period and version.
• Keep prior-period comparatives readily available.
• Record explanations for significant adjustments.

Work through reconciliations

Review key balances before the audit begins. A reconciliation is most useful when differences have an explanation, supporting evidence and an identified owner. Keep unresolved items visible instead of allowing them to disappear into email threads.

• Gather relevant bank reconciliations and statements.
• Review customer and supplier balances.
• Connect schedules for inventory and fixed assets to the ledger.

Connect transactions to evidence

Make it easy to trace selected entries to invoices, agreements, approvals and other relevant documents. Keep records in a consistent structure and use a clear file-naming approach. Ask the engagement team about the appropriate sharing channel for confidential information.

Prepare for a useful discussion

Let the engagement team know about significant changes in operations, systems or accounting processes. A short list of unusual transactions and unresolved questions can make the review more focused. This guide provides general preparation ideas; the exact information needed depends on the engagement.