SURVIVAL GUIDE TO AUDITING DURING A PANDEMIC By COLLEEN CULLARI
CULLARI CARRICO, LLC
It’s a new world out there; a COVID-19 world. While the masses are fighting the virus, accounting professionals are embracing a virtual work environment — and that includes conducting remote audits.
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Most firms were already set up for a “work from home” environment, but although our firm put our resources into technology, we never embraced it for fear of reduced productivity. However, COVID-19 forced us to completely overhaul what our current practices were and put this technology to the test. Our firm has been pleasantly surprised by the results; staff are productive, and most are actually happier in their home settings. Although our firm is embracing the change, it’s not without its setbacks or learning curves, especially when it comes to the audit process. For example, our firm did not want to risk exposing our audit staff to approximately 85 different organizations, offices and people; our clients didn’t want us in-house either. Hence, we were all thrown into the unknown virtual audit environment. We were nervous we would lose the “touch” element of the audit. Clients were apprehensive that they would have increased administrative burdens during already challenging times. We were all very new to this virtual audit process. The following are some techniques that helped our firm and our clients get through this challenging year:
vironment. Clients didn’t want to feel as though they were going through their audits for months on end. Therefore, we had to ensure that our audit was performed in an amenable timeframe, from commencement to completion. We normally hold planning meetings with clients, however this year we did it a little differently by following these three steps:
EFFECTIVE PLANNING TO MANAGE EXPECTATIONS When we initially explained the virtual audit process to clients, they were worried that if they uploaded documents as they were completed, the audit process could seem as if it were going on forever. They envisioned us consistently bombarding them for requests in an open virtual en-
If the turnaround time was too quick, the client could compare it to the mock schedule initially presented and both parties would rework the details. Sticking to the “date of commencement of audit testing date” and the “completion of audit testing” dismissed client anxieties that they would be bombarded with requests over a longer-than-normal timeframe.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | NEW JERSEY CPA
1. We provided each client with a mock schedule of the steps of the audit and the time to complete an audit of their size and type. 2. We asked for the anticipated audit committee meeting date at which we present a clean draft financial statement. 3. We set hard calendar dates for each major step of the process: kick off or when the “provided by client” listing would be available; the final due date for all items on our listing; the date of commencement of audit testing; the anticipated completion of audit testing; and the due date of the draft financial report to management.
