In our latest FAQ, we set out the key questions Advancetrack gets asked about our audit support services – with answers.
The very short answer to the feasibility question is ‘yes’. However, feasibility is really a catch-all term covering a number of aspects that potential and existing practice clients ask Advancetrack about in terms of audit, and how we do it. It’s probably easiest to split the main areas of interest into:
Our people/their work
First-off, we have a number of trained audit staff, and generally they’re delivering audit field work – the testing of financial information. But increasingly, as the team becomes more experienced, their work is developing.
They are being given opportunities to undertake audit planning and testing reviews. As the team continues to develop, alongside building relationships and working patterns with practices’ own audit team, that work will evolve further.
And that last point, on building relationships, is crucial to any work we undertake alongside practices. There must be investment from both sides to ensure that work will be undertaken as smoothly as possible.
Our security
And, so with audit, there are questions that we face around data security and GDPR. For those of you that have read our other blogs, or work with us already, you will know that security is our number one consideration.
There are links below for you to read in more detail how we manage security. Suffice to say that our standards are held globally, and our security and data protection protocols also translate to our audit services.
Audit ‘responsibility’
A key question we get asked a lot by practitioners is: ‘are we allowed to outsource audit?’ We are registered as a member firm of the ICAEW, and our staff are assigned to the audit firm. We will help manage their CPD and other training requirements, but their work is very much directed by the firm, which brings us to the point of responsibility.
In terms of responsibility for the work itself, our practice partners retain responsibility for review and signoff – they still have ownership of the process.
Further reading:
FAQ: Does outsourcing to India mean ‘GDPR compliance’?
FAQ: How secure would my client data be if I worked with Advancetrack?
FAQ: Do Advancetrack’s data and security standards matter to me as a client?
If you’d like to talk to us about our audit offering, then please contact us by clicking here
