Achieve audit readiness: Outsourced support for your finance team

What is audit readiness?

Audit readiness will support you in ensuring that your financial records, internal controls and key processes are well-documented, accurate and compliant with applicable reporting standards before your audit commences.

How to prepare for audit success

Achieving audit readiness starts with early planning. If you have been audited before, we will carefully analyse previous findings and address the recommendations to enhance your audit readiness. If it’s your first time, our team can help you establish the right systems and processes to get ahead.

Key steps to help you get audit-ready

1. Evaluate risks and recent changes. Identify areas that may affect your audit, such as operational changes, key transactions, new systems or evolving standards. Early risk recognition helps you avoid last-minute surprises.
2. Strengthen your financial and operational controls. Review your internal controls, ensuring they are well-documented, robust and up-to-date. Weaknesses here can be a red flag for auditors.
3. Prepare documentation early. Ensure your accounting policies, reconciliations and procedural documents are current, accurate and easily accessible. Supporting documentation for closing balances should be clear and comprehensive.
4. Allocate resources and assign ownership. We can act as audit liaise to ensure clear lines of responsibility and reduce the risk of duplicated efforts or missed deliverables.
5. Prepare your strategic business plan and forecasts. Auditors increasingly assess your business as a going concern. Be prepared to demonstrate your business strategy and financial outlook with clarity.

Common audit readiness challenges and how to avoid them

Even the most experienced teams can face audit hurdles. The most frequent issues we see include:

• Technical accounting complexity – New standards or transactions can require specialist knowledge.
• Data extraction issues – Inconsistent or inaccessible data slows down the process.
• Lack of central ownership – Without a designated audit lead, key tasks may fall between the cracks.
• Underdeveloped forecasts – Weak financial models can compromise audit readiness and undermine going concern assessments.
• Internal control gaps – Poor documentation or a lack of cut-off testing can lead to errors and hinder your audit readiness.
• Accounting policy misalignment – Misalignment with accepted standards can complicate audit readiness, affecting decision-making and financial credibility.
• Unreconciled accounts – Missing or outdated reconciliations lead to discrepancies and delays in sign-off.
• Complex consolidations – Errors in group accounts can trigger extensive audit queries.
•  Poor communication – Lack of regular communication with your audit team can lead to misunderstandings, extending the audit process and impacting audit readiness.

Building a culture of continuous audit readiness

Preparing for an audit should not start when the auditors arrive. Embedding a culture of audit readiness into your finance function throughout the year helps reduce stress, supports compliance and improves financial clarity year-round. Consider:

• Monthly or quarterly reviews to identify issues in a timely fashion.
• Maintaining a strong internal control framework, clearly documented and regularly tested.
• Training your finance team on audit expectations and key documentation requirements.
• Pre-year-end engagement with auditors to clarify requirements and timelines.
• Post-audit reviews to address findings and identify improvements for next year.

How Forvis Mazars can support your audit readiness

We work closely with local and international businesses of all sizes to help ensure audit success. Our team understands both sides of the process and is uniquely positioned to guide you in aligning your finance function with audit requirements. Whether you are preparing for your first statutory audit or improving on prior year feedback, we can support you plan, prepare and deliver a seamless audit.