A smooth audit doesn’t start in March. It starts with the systems and habits you build all year.

Audit season shouldn’t feel like a scramble. But for many accounts teams, it does.

The emails start flying. The requests pile up. And suddenly, the same gaps and delays crop up – again.

So what makes one business easy to audit, and another a time-consuming nightmare?

Here’s what the best-run businesses do differently:

1. Keep your accounts audit-ready all year.

If month-end is patchy, invoices go missing, or balance sheet reconciliations are delayed until year-end – your audit will take longer. Great clients close each month cleanly. They treat every period-end like a mini-year-end.

2. Maintain clear audit trails.

Your auditors need evidence. If backups for invoices, approvals, and journals are all stored differently (or not at all), it creates delays. Organised businesses store everything consistently – linked to the transaction and ready to access.

3. Get a pre-year-end review.

Don’t wait for the audit to discover mispostings or gaps. Get your accountant to review the trial balance mid-year – or quarterly. That way, any corrections happen in real time, not retrospectively.

4. Agree the deliverables early.

Before your year-end, ask the auditors to send a PBC (Prepared By Client) list. Then assign ownership internally, and book time to collate it before the audit begins.

Being audit-ready isn’t about being perfect.

It’s about being consistent, proactive, and clear.

Make your audit easy – and your relationship with your auditor stronger.

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