February 16, 2022
By Luis Rivera, Client Success Advocate, Accounting Technology Services
With the ever-changing digitization of the world bleeding into companies opting for work at home opportunities over the traditional in-office 9-5; it is no surprise that this has led to audits going paperless. Below are three tips to help improve your audits.
1. Utilize Dashboards
Dashboards are great tools for reporting and analyzing data, and we all know planning ahead is vital in an audit, so why not create custom dashboards? A great dashboard gets the primary information needed, organized into one place. A dashboard I recommend creating is a “Compliance Dashboard”. This dashboard should contain your “Statement of Activities”, “Statement of Operations” along with “Statements of Revenue” and “Statements of Functional Expenses”.
2. Conduct Quarterly Audits:
The worst part of most individuals’ year is tax season. The time when people fumble through boxes of receipts trying to find deductions. When it comes to an audit for companies, we are grateful digitization now requires these files to be uploaded to a database. Despite these efforts though, audit season still becomes a headache and demands an excruciating amount of time. For this reason, companies should make the investment in having audits performed throughout the year. Continuous auditing delivers extreme advantages for companies, reduces errors, and can minimize the amount of time needed to complete an audit at tax season.
3. Use Project Management Tools:
With juggling the task of your job demands along with the requirements of an audit, it is easy to trip and skip a step. You do not want to miss deadlines or show up empty-handed to a meeting with your auditor. Utilize electronic project tools to assist with keeping you on track. Use a digital checklist, link them with your online calendar, and sync the notifications to your cellphone in order to stay up to date on audit deadlines. In addition to this ensure your team is doing the same. These days with so many working from home, the need for managers to use digital platforms will only continue to grow. Schedule zoom calls for check-ins and use zoom messaging to stay on top of your teams’ deadlines. You will find faster responses through this platform versus sending messages only through traditional e-mails. Lastly use a project management tool like Mavenlink so you can securely send and receive information with your auditor. If you follow these tips you are bound to begin creating a smoother audit process.
Contact
GRF’s Accounting Technology Services (ATS) team offers clients only the best software products on the market today combined with our superior service and expertise. Our experienced team provides complete solutions for clients based on their unique needs. When your organization has outgrown QuickBooks and other software products, you can be assured that GRF will match your organization with the right tools to get the job done. Our partnerships with solutions like Sage Intacct and Martus Solutions allow GRF to offer world-class solutions to support the business goals of our clients.
We pride ourselves on collaborating with clients, working side-by-side to help them reach their goals. To discuss how you can improve your organization’s budgeting and planning process, contact Jim Norton, CPA, Senior Manager, Accounting Technology Services.
Jim Norton, CPA
Principal, Accounting Technology Services
GRF CPAs & Advisors