Audits can be stressful and overly complex. What should be a straightforward process gets bogged down by delays, last-minute scrambles and overtime hours, and frustration for both management and auditors. The good news? Most of the issues encountered are predictable and preventable.
Here are the five most common audit bottlenecks we see — and what you can do to stay ahead of them.
The problem: Every audit starts with a list of “Prepared by Client” (PBC) requests. When those requests come in late or only partially complete, the audit team can’t begin their work — which quickly snowballs into delays.
How to fix it: Don’t wait until your audit is scheduled to start. If you go through an annual audit, use the prior year PBC request list to keep a rolling PBC tracker year-round. Ensure requests have assigned owners and deadlines. For the recurring requests (like trial balances, reconciliations, and contracts), organize them as you go so that they’re ready to deliver on the requested due date. As significant transactions occur throughout the year, keep all the supporting documentation together and organized to provide to your audit team. Better yet – discuss those significant transactions with the audit team as they are occurring in real-time.
The problem: Nothing halts an audit faster than accounts that don’t tie out between the trial balance and the account reconciliation or subledger. Unreconciled balances force your team and the auditors to dig into errors that should have been caught earlier.
How to fix it: Build monthly reconciliations into your closing process. Make sure each reconciliation is reviewed and signed off by someone other than the preparer. This simple discipline prevents last-minute surprises and saves countless hours during the audit.
The problem: Audits require timely answers to questions. But if your CFO, controller, or IT lead is tied up in other priorities, the entire process stalls.
How to fix it: Use calendar appointments to reserve audit fieldwork dates well in advance and make sure key decision-makers are available during that window. If that’s not possible, designate backups who can step in to keep things moving. At Sweeney Conrad, we reach out in August and September to go through the process for determining the dates that work best for your team. This ensures that you have plenty of notice to reserve those dates for key audit participants.
The problem: Auditors often need to review contracts, lease agreements, invoices, or board minutes. If those documents aren’t centralized, valuable time is wasted tracking them down.
How to fix it: Set up a secure shared drive or portal where supporting documentation is stored throughout the year. Organize files by category and date, and make sure staff know to upload important documents as soon as they’re executed.
The problem: Transactions late in the year or early in the subsequent year — like a new loan agreement, a system change, or a complex revenue arrangement — can derail the audit timeline if auditors only learn about it during fieldwork.
How to fix it: Communicate proactively. Let your auditors know about major transactions, policy changes, or new systems as they happen. At Sweeney Conrad, we want to be your trusted partner through these changes and involving your audit team early in the process will allow us to adjust our procedures and prevent those frustrating last-minute delays.
An efficient audit benefits everyone: your accounting and finance team spends less time scrambling, leadership gets timely financial information, and your auditors can focus on providing insights instead of chasing documents. By addressing these five common bottlenecks in advance, you’ll set your next audit up for success.
👉 Want help streamlining your audit process? Our audit team at Sweeney Conrad works with businesses like yours to identify pain points and create a plan for a smoother, faster audit. Contact us today to get started.