Are you audit-ready? A checklist for a smoother year-end

That’s not surprising. Finance teams are leaner and increasingly focused on automation and strategic reporting, leaving less room for the audit cycle - just as FCA scrutiny is pushing audit firms, and the companies they audit, to raise the quality and depth of their documentation.

Leaving preparation late has real consequences: poorly prepared documents, more year-end adjustments, and more time spent resolving data queries before the audit can progress. Delays can push reporting past deadlines your stakeholders are relying on, and every hour spent responding to audit queries is an hour not spent supporting the business.

A well-prepared audit isn't just faster for you; it's a better experience for both sides, because it frees your audit team to spend time on judgement rather than chasing missing data or queries.

We’ve set out a checklist to help your audit run smoothly, and three ways our CFO Solutions team can support you if you need extra capacity.

Where the pressure points are

Our recent client work points to a consistent pattern: limited capacity in lean teams during peak periods, historic backlogs and unreconciled positions, inconsistent accounting policies following growth or acquisition, and no single owner for audit preparation across functions.

The Barometer data bears this out. Among CFOs who find their close challenging or just manageable, the leading pressure points are:

• Late or incomplete information from the wider business (27%)
• Complex accounting judgements or a lack of technical expertise (26%)
• Significant manual adjustments (25%)
• Fragmented systems that don’t integrate (24%)
• Data quality or reliability issues (24%)
• Auditor relationship and planning challenges (23%)
• Insufficient finance team capacity (22%)
• Under-investment in automation or AI (20%)
• Inefficient or non-standardised processes (20%)

FRS 102 adds another layer. A third of CFOs (34%) haven’t yet fully understood its impact on their business, and 30% specifically flag year-end close and audit readiness as an area still to address. Only 3% consider themselves fully aligned with the revised standard.

Checklist: are you ready for your audit?

Our CFO Solutions team has collated the following steps to help you complete your statutory audit on time.

1. Meet with your auditors early to set the timeline and expectations
2. Make sure you have enough resource across all three stages of the audit: planning, fieldwork and reporting
3. Identify who will project-manage the audit. This doesn’t need to be your most senior person - it needs someone organised, with the mandate to direct junior and senior staff, and a collaborative communication style
4. Agree upfront how queries and requests will be communicated - email, cloud folder or a dedicated document portal
5. Gather your accounting policies and process notes in advance, and check they’re accurate and up to date
6. Flag any operational changes and new accounting standards you’ve applied to your auditors
7. Run regular reconciliations and investigate any differences well ahead of year-end - this is a key area of auditor focus
8. Review closing balances internally, with evidence to support them, before they go to your auditors - this keeps the audit moving without delay
9. Factor in recent Financial Reporting Council (FRC) guidance and market trends in your sector to anticipate where auditors are likely to focus
10. Agree management representation letters and clear any audit adjustments promptly once fieldwork ends
11. Brief your audit committee or board on progress and timeline, particularly where reporting deadlines are tight
12. Note what worked well and what you'd do differently in a debrief with your team and your auditors, so next year's preparation starts from a stronger position

How we can help

Whatever the scale of this year’s audit, our CFO Solutions team can take the pressure off. We expand your finance function temporarily with on-demand resource and technical reporting expertise, working alongside your existing team rather than around it.

In recent engagements we’ve helped finance functions clear historic balance-sheet backlogs, standardise policies after acquisition-led growth, and strengthen the auditor relationship during periods of change - setting your team up for a faster, smoother, predictable year-end.

Better documentation and more bandwidth mean fewer delays keeping the audit on time and on budget. Take these steps now, and your next audit will be less about catching up and more about staying ahead - so your audit adds insight, not just assurance.