How Can Accountants Dramatically Expedite the Audit Process?
“We’re being audited.”
Whether those three words elicit a feeling of panic or resignation, they’re an inevitable eventuality for accountants.
Both reactions are legitimate — when an audit starts, as an accountant, everything else is on hold. You have to work longer hours, you’re stuck in more meetings, and you’re not able to do any higher-value work for the company. All your focus is on the audit.
I’ve been on both sides of the coin when it comes to auditing. And if there’s one universal truth, it’s that audits always take more energy and time than anyone wants them to.
But what if one simple tool could change all that?
The Audit Reality
Here’s what audits usually look like.
You’ve spent time creating and double-checking your reconciliations by hand. They make sense in your head. You’ve painstakingly aggregated all your proof, laying it out as methodically as possible. Here’s the dream: you hand everything off to the auditor, they review your work, see how you got from point A to point B. “This makes sense!” they say, and sign off with a flourish.
The reality? It never happens that way. You can be confident in your work, but the biggest time suck is always the process of justifying how you got your values from the supporting documentation. And there goes another ten hour of follow-up calls, emails, questions, and walk-throughs pulling your attention away from other work you could be doing.
In an ideal world, everything would make sense from the start. The auditor could follow your logic because every expense would be trackable, clear, and justified.
And that’s where automation comes in.
Automation Bridges the Gap
Accounting automation is a game-changing tool — both for accountants and auditors. With automated accrual software, companies can host data directly from the sources that accountants are booking expenses for. That means that when an auditor asks a question about a transaction that took place six months ago, accountants don’t have to wrack their brains. All they do is open up the program, explain the what and the why behind that expense, and move on.
This software not only dramatically speeds up the audit process, but it frees up your brain to be able to focus on more high-value work. With automation, there’s no need to exhaust yourself by keeping track of where everything is in your head, because you know exactly where to find everything in the program.
In my opinion, accounting automation software is the future. It allows audits to finish more quickly, with less mental strain on both parties. It ensures accuracy, compliance, and speed.
Ready to incorporate automation into all parts of your accounting process? Book a free demo of Gappify’s powerful accrual automation software today.
Todd Cary
Product Expert
Gappify
About Gappify
Gappify, founded in 2016, is a cloud-based provider of accrual automation solutions for mid-market and enterprise accounting teams. The company is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Berkeley, California, Washington DC, and Manila, Philippines.
Its team consists of accountants and CPA’s from Big Four accounting firms and software innovators. Gappify is also supported by strategic advisors from some of the world’s most recognized technology companies and is affiliated with the top companies & accounting organizations.
