An audit runs to time when the auditors’ questions can be answered from the file on the day they ask. That means reconciliations cleared, schedules built and documents in one place before the year closes, not during the audit.
What does that look like in practice?
One client, an international marketing business working in crypto, had a UK company and a Maltese one, both facing audits. The historic records were incomplete, crypto transactions and balances had never been reconciled, and nobody could say with confidence what the two companies owed each other.
The work ran in order. First the historic profit and loss and balance sheet accounts were remediated, so there was a position we could stand behind. Then the crypto transactions and balances were reconciled, and the intercompany positions between the UK and Malta rebuilt and agreed on both sides. Only then did the audits start. The UK audits for 2023 and 2024 and the Maltese entity’s audit were delivered on schedule.
The slow part was not the audit. It was everything that had to be true before it could begin.
What goes wrong at year end?
The same four things, across sectors:
- Reconciliations not fully cleared
- Missing schedules for debtors, creditors or accruals
- Documents scattered across systems and folders
- Auditor queries arriving late and taking up the finance team’s time
Each is manageable on its own. Together, they turn the audit into weeks of chasing.
What should you prepare, and when?
Eight areas, each ready before the year closes:
| Area | What the auditors will want |
|---|---|
| Core financials | Trial balance, profit and loss and balance sheet that agree with each other |
| Budgets and forecasts | The budget and how the year compared with it |
| Revenue and debtors | An aged debtors list that agrees with the ledger, and support for anything doubtful |
| Expenses and creditors | An aged creditors list, accruals and prepayments with workings |
| Fixed assets and financing | An asset register, additions with invoices, and loan statements |
| Tax and compliance | VAT returns agreed to the ledger, payroll filings, corporation tax workings |
| Banking | Every bank account reconciled to the statement at the year-end date |
| Governance and approvals | Board minutes, dividend paperwork and approved policies |
Start three months before the year end: clear the reconciliations first, then build the schedules, then file the documents where the auditors can find them.
What do you get from preparing early?
- A shorter audit: Fewer queries, and the ones that come can be answered the same day.
- Numbers leaders trust: Decisions and board reporting rest on reconciled figures.
- Lower fees: Auditors spend less time chasing, and their time is what you pay for.
- A record of good governance: It matters when you raise money, borrow or sell.
If your next audit is less than three months away, our Audit Readiness Review finds the gaps and puts them in order, so you know what to fix first.
Ozria Consulting runs the outsourced finance function for ambitious businesses. If your last year-end took longer than it should have, book a discovery call.
