Should I cancel or delay my audit?

18 May 2020

I guess like many other businesses right now, business as usual has become more difficult due to restrictions on others, whether you’re working from the office or from home.

As auditors we usually spend much of our time out at clients’ premises, which at this time is something we can not do. As such some of our clients are asking us if they should delay or cancel their audit.

The simple answer to that is – no.

Why you shouldn’t cancel or delay your audit!

Although Companies House are allowing a three month extension to accounts filing deadlines, we believe this should only be a last resort, so we’re working with our clients to continue to meet planned deadlines, albeit with some added flexibility in timetables.

remote auditing

We’ve been using cloud-based audit technology for a number of years and if your business uses cloud-based accounting and document management systems, then remote auditing should be possible. Whilst it’s not a substitute for face to face visits and meetings, daily team catch ups on Microsoft Teams and regular touch points with clients all help to ensure the flow of information, and are allowing us to still conduct the majority of audits as planned.

So, if your accountant is telling you to cancel or delay an audit or your accounts, find out why.

It might be they don’t have the right systems in place to do remote auditing and accounts, or they’ve furloughed key employees, limiting their ability to resource the work, but that shouldn’t be impacting your ability to get your accounts and audit work carried out.

Here at Fortus, our teams are continuing to work flat out to provide our accounts and audit services and carry on with business as usual for our clients. So, if you’d like to speak to us about your accounts or audit, or any other business advisory needs, contact us.

Need help with your audit?

Contact Emma Jones or call 01604 273782

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