What are the most common audit issues?

The audit process is a difficult and time-consuming task, but it’s also a critical tool to help ensure your school, academy or MAT is running as efficiently as possible. However, it can be easy to overlook some of the most common problems that can arise and result in poor results.

Communication Issues

A good project management methodology will include daily stand-up meetings, sprint reviews and other forms of communication between the audit team members and business stakeholders. This will ultimately help convert auditing challenges into resolutions more quickly and easily.

Out-of-Scope Items

Scope creep costs auditors, clients and their audit team alike a great deal of time and money. Once an audit is underway, it’s very easy for discussions to go off-track and it can take a long time to refocus conversations back on the audit scope.

Documentation Failures

Whether it’s a single-line email or a complicated spreadsheet, lack of documentation can cause many audit issues. It’s important to document how audit procedures are performed in writing, train staff on the proper process, and create a paper trail of results.

Audit Evidence

Auditors rely on a variety of types of evidence to support their opinion. These include physical examination, interviews, confirmations, and documents.

Deficient Revenue Recognition Conclusion: One of the most common challenges that audit teams face is determining if claimed revenue is valid or not. This can be a difficult task due to the fact that clients often don’t operate with the same rigor as the accountant.