Be ready for your auditors. Have every item completed that was listed in the year end letter. Auditors are so busy that they schedule jobs weeks in advance. When they arrive at the job, they expect the client to be ready. When information is not ready, it delays the audit and sometimes requires extra trips to the job site, costing both time and money.
Related staff should schedule time to be available to the auditors. Auditors always have questions for the financial staff and management. To maximize efficiency please make sure that the CFO, department heads, bookkeepers and other related staff are in the office when the auditor is scheduled.
If there are significant fluctuations from prior year balance sheet and income statement account, examine the differences and prepare an analysis of the causes. Not only can it reduce time required to answer questions; it is also an excellent way to gain further insight into your operations. Provide this to the auditors at the beginning of the audit.