How to select the right auditor for your business

Key Screening Questions for Selecting the Right Audit Firm

Not every audit firm will be a suitable fit for your business. Choosing an auditor can feel akin to hiring a new team member, so it’s important to ensure they are qualified, trustworthy, and possess the necessary experience and technical expertise to complete the job effectively. To assist in this process, it’s essential to prepare relevant screening questions when evaluating different audit firms.

Selecting the right audit firm for your organization can greatly impact your overall audit experience. Maintaining open and frequent communication with your auditor from the beginning is vital to ensuring a smooth and successful audit.

The Importance of Vetting Your Auditor

Achieving and maintaining compliance can be a challenging task. From drafting your policies to implementing controls, preparing for an audit can take months of dedicated effort. Unfortunately, a poorly executed audit does not contribute to establishing a security-first culture or building trust with your customers.

Therefore, when it’s time to select an external auditor, it’s essential to ensure that they are a good fit for your organization.

Asking your auditor the following five questions can significantly enhance your audit preparation and help you understand what to expect:

1. How Do You Approach Scoping With Clients?

This question can provide valuable insight into the structure of your audit. Collaborating with your auditor to determine the audit’s scope—including which departments will be included and the main controls to be evaluated—can help your team prioritize effectively.

2. What Does a Typical Audit Engagement Look Like for Your Firm?

Understanding how auditors typically structure their audits can inform you of key milestones to watch for throughout the process. This clarity will also help define what success looks like as the audit progresses.

3. How Will This Year’s Audit Differ From Last Year?

If you’ve had prior audits, especially with the same auditor, it’s beneficial to use those experiences as a reference. Your auditor can highlight any changes in the audit team, their auditing methodology, or updates to auditing standards.

4. How Can You Ensure Independence?

Professional auditors adhere to a code of ethics that ensures their objectivity and independence. Asking your auditor about the safeguards they have in place to maintain independence can help ensure a fair audit without conflicts of interest.

5. Are You Familiar With Our Compliance Automation Service Provider?

If you use a compliance automation service provider like RT to collect evidence, identify risks, and streamline the audit process, having an auditor familiar with the provider can foster a more effective partnership. This familiarity allows auditors to leverage the automation tools for evaluating controls, generating reports, and communicating with you in real time.

6. How much will the audit cost?

Understanding cost drivers is essential. The components of costs must be clearly defined, with both fixed and variable aspects made entirely transparent—opacity is never beneficial. It’s crucial to grasp how your business objectives influence costs. Compliance should support the achievement of these objectives; it is not an end in itself. If this distinction is not made clear, organizations risk investing excessive time and money on initiatives that do not yield a justifiable return on investment.

How to Find the Right Auditor

You know what questions to ask your auditor, but how do you find a reputable audit firm in the first place? We can help with that. Our auditor directory features pre-vetted, trustworthy audit firms. You can browse the directory to find the firm that suits your needs.

If you’re in the process of vetting audit firms, here are some additional topics to consider discussing:

1. Understanding Your Industry

Different industries have unique requirements. For example, fintech companies working with large financial institutions will have different needs than healthcare tech companies working with major hospital systems. It’s wise to start your auditor interviews by asking about their experience in your industry and requesting industry-specific references.

2. Familiarity with Your Tech Stack

Ensure your auditor is knowledgeable about the technologies you use. If you mention terms like Google Storage or CI/CD and they don’t seem to understand, it’s worth going into more detail. You want an audit firm that can hold an informed conversation about your tools and practices.

3. Collaboration Skills

A good auditor should communicate clearly and explain their processes along the way. They should ask you numerous questions to fully understand your program setup. If they identify a potential issue, look for someone who will raise it with you and ask probing questions to help resolve it.

4. Strong References

Look for an audit firm with extensive, consistent experience. Ask for references that are relevant to your industry and recent. If the last audit they conducted was nine months ago, they may be somewhat out of practice. Additionally, if they only provide one reference in your specific industry, they might not be the right fit for you.

Audits can be stressful, especially for those doing it for the first time. Conducting thorough research and carefully selecting your auditors will enhance the chances of experiencing a smooth and communicative audit process.