Audit firms rarely lose time on the hard parts of an audit. They lose it in seven places that rarely show up on a budget report: chasing client documents, re-keying data, hunting for evidence, rebuilding workpapers, review notes that bounce back and forth, tracking status by email, and repeating last year's tests regardless of this year's risk.
When an engagement runs over budget, the usual explanation is a difficult client or a complex area. Sometimes that's true. More often, the hours disappear in small pieces of routine work that nobody plans for and nobody measures.
Answers
Often not because of complex areas, but because of routine work that isn't planned for: chasing client documents, re-keying data, searching for evidence, rebuilding workpapers, repeated review rounds and status tracking.
It varies by firm, but chasing client documents (PBC requests) is one of the most common, because every missing item stalls fieldwork and pulls staff away from testing.
Standardize request lists, templates and review expectations; review in stages; keep evidence in one linked place; and automate repetitive tasks such as reminders, data extraction and evidence matching.
SALY stands for "same as last year": repeating the prior year's procedures and sample sizes without revisiting whether the client's risks have changed.
Yes, for repetitive work such as document follow-ups, data extraction, evidence matching and preliminary workpaper checks. Decisions about risk, scope and conclusions remain with the auditor.
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