Planning for your audit helps your auditor get their job done more quickly, and also means there’s minimal disruption to your staff and business during the process.

Let’s take a look at five key ways to be ready for an audit.

Carrying out an audit of your business finances is a mandatory requirement for many organisations. The rules and regulations will vary depending on the territory you trade in, but once you’re over a certain threshold for turnover or number of employees, an audit is likely to become a legal requirement. So, what can you do to make this process less of a hassle?

In advance of the audit date, be sure to:

• Gather all the relevant documentation – this documentation will include financial statements, bank statements, expenses, management information and any other documentation that your auditor is likely to ask you for.
• Organise your documentation in a logical way – the whole audit will be far easier to complete if your financial data and documentation is well-organised. Make it simple for the auditors to find what they need, and ensure there’s easy access to all information.
• Identify any potential financial issues – the last thing you want is a giant problem coming up in the middle of your audit. So, it’s a good idea to check for any financial issues or irregularities that the auditor may flag. Doing this well in advance gives you enough time to address any issues and resolve them before the audit begins.
• Be prepared to answer questions – it’s likely your auditor will want to ask some probing questions about your business and financial records. Make sure you’re up to speed with your accounts and be prepared to answer these questions honestly.
• Cooperate with your auditor – the auditor’s job is to ensure that your financial statements are accurate and that your business is in compliance with all applicable regulations. This will be much easier to do if you cooperate with them, answer their questions with good grace and quickly provide them with any information they need.

Talk to us about getting audit-ready

If you’re thinking that your finances might not be quite ‘audit-ready’, you’re definitely not alone. Many businesses are not quite as organised with their financial management as they’d like to be. But don’t worry, help is at hand!

If you’d like some assistance with reviewing the health and organisation of your financial processes, we can help you get in control of your finances

Get in touch to review your financial management.

The post How to prepare your business for an audit appeared first on DFK Gray Perry Adelaide.

For example, in a restaurant, every order will be recorded. However, a restaurant won’t learn much by looking at each one in isolation. However, analysis of the orders will reveal trends and patterns, such as peak dining days or biggest- selling menu or bar items. Knowledge of the business comes from the relationship between the singular pieces of information. That restaurant owner may know to do their biggest stock order on a Wednesday by analysing their covers and establishing that sales increase by 38% on Thursdays.

The pace of business in today’s technological times requires businesses to be able to react quickly to changing demands from customers and environmental conditions. The ability to be able to compile, analyse and act on data is increasingly important. In some instances, a high volume of data may need to be accumulated and analysed before trends and patterns emerge.

When you aren’t compiling accurate business data, you can only rely on gut feel and assumptions about past performance to inform your future business decisions.

If your business is already using cloud software for accountancy, project management system or CRM, it’s likely that you’re sitting on a goldmine of data. If properly utilised, this data can greatly aid running a successful business. You’ll have valuable insight into your sales, expenses, profit and staff efficiencies that can help you answer critical questions and drive smart business decisions.

Every business is unique, but here are three quick tips to help you drive data in your business.

Data is only powerful if there is context – can you stop to answer these questions?

• What is your primary objective (business or personal)? 
• What is happening in the business? 
• What isn’t happening? 
• How can you influence what happens?

Figure out what you’re currently trying to achieve before anything else. It’s important to periodically go back and ask yourself these questions and what goals develop from the answers, as answers evolve over time. You may have started out with your primary objective as running the best restaurant in your area. However as time has passed, your primary objective might now be to take time away from the business to spend more time with your children.

The only way your data can help you drive your business is if it’s accurate and organised appropriately – ask yourself:

• Are your financials up-to-date? 
• Do you have any unreconciled transactions? 
• Are you tax compliant? 
• Are your staff trained on what systems and processes to use for different parts of your business? 
• Are your cloud systems being correctly utilised? 

The worst thing you can do is to attempt to analyse incorrect data and attempt to make decisions for the business based on it! Tools like Spotlight Reporting can help you with the reports you need for business decisions.

Understand what the data necessities are and what the niceties are.

• What would you most like to understand about your business? 
• What figures pinpoint success for you? 
• What are your objectives over the next six to twelve 

Get in touch today and we’ll help you make your data meaningful.

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