Developing an Effective Audit Strategy to Support Business Objectives

Episode 143: Financial integrity isn't optional—it's essential. That's why developing a structured, effective audit plan stands as one of the most critical responsibilities for finance leaders today. 

This episode unveils a nine-step framework for creating audit plans that deliver genuine value. From understanding your business environment and conducting thorough risk assessments to defining clear audit scopes and establishing communication protocols, each element works together to create a process that leadership can trust. We explore how to effectively present technical findings to leadership teams in ways that drive action, not confusion. Most importantly, we examine why leadership commitment fundamentally determines whether an audit becomes a transformative tool or merely a compliance exercise.

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Episode outline:

1. How to structure an effective audit plan,
2. Presenting the findings to the leadership team, and
3. Why leadership is essential for the auditing function.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Importance of Effective Audit Planning
• 4:16 Nine-Step Audit Plan Structure
• 8:02 Presenting Findings to Leadership
• 9:02 Leadership's Essential Role in Auditing
• 10:15 Call to Action and Next Episode

Transcript

Stephen McLain: 0:05

We audit our books and our processes to ensure the financial health of the organization is sound. To develop an effective audit plan, you need a structure that considers the industry and markets, a proper risk assessment, a well defined scope, a way to evaluate internal controls, a process to collect data, working communication protocols and a coordinated and aligned schedule, a well planned and executed annual audit gives confidence to leadership and to stakeholders that the organizational financial risk is low. Please enjoy the episode. Welcome to the finance leader podcast where leadership is bigger than the numbers. I am your host. Stephen McLain, this is the podcast for developing leaders in finance and accounting. Please consider following me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. My usernames and the links are in this episode's show notes. You can also follow finance leader Academy on LinkedIn. Thank you. This is episode number 143, and I'll be talking about developing an effective audit plan that helps to ensure the accurate financial health of the organization. And I will highlight the following topics, number one, how to structure an effective audit plan. Number two, presenting the findings to the leadership team. And three, why leadership is essential for the auditing function. Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg said auditors are the guardians of financial integrity. I hope everyone is enjoying this audit series. We still have more to discuss. Developing the annual audit plan should never be something we haphazardly put together. It requires meticulous planning, plus an emphasis from the leadership to be built, scheduled, resourced and then executed. I have said this many times in this series, the audit plan should never be an afterthought, but is an essential part of the annual operations calendar. Our level of audit helps us to identify areas of weakness that could be exploited and to ensure our financial records are accurate, which then leads to better governance and then on to more confidence in the organization as a whole. By the way, did you listen to episode number 142? Protecting financial health through strategic risk analysis? I focused on the importance of conducting a thorough risk analysis to help identify areas that may have weaker internal controls. This, in turn, can help with identifying the topics for inclusion on the annual audit plan, if they have high residual risk, if you did not listen, please do when you get the chance again. Why do we audit organizations? Conduct an annual internal audit to ensure that their operations, finances and compliance practices are functioning effectively and aligned with strategic goals. The process serves several important purposes, ensure the accuracy of financial reporting, strengthen internal controls, support compliance requirements, help to reduce risk, improve efficiency and provide independent assurance to leadership for an audit to be successful, we need for the leadership to be committed to the process and to apply the findings within any areas responsibility they oversee. This is basic leadership. I want the leaders to fully embrace this process so they work hard to ensure better financial accuracy and better controls. This is what makes an organization great, instead of just good. I'm not sure if you realize, but through finance leader Academy, we offer an amazing conflict management course that is conducted by a former Army colleague of mine, Mark McMillian of McMillion leadership associates, professional and even personal relationships continue to be strained by the pressures we all face. Mark presents a process to overcome tense situations, to de escalate hostile encounters. You can find more information at finance leader academy.com we have several ways to support organizations of all sizes to bring this critical training to their teams. A link is in the show notes and Mark and I are here to help you move forward in getting this training to your team. Now. Team alignment is essential for the conduct of a successful audit. A requirement of the audit plan that I will mention in a few minutes is to communicate with those involved about the expectation for the process. It's essential to understand your role and your responsibilities. Now let's talk about developing an effective audit plan. Now, number one, how to structure an effective audit plan? The objectives? Of an effective audit strategy are, and I've shared these several times, ensure financial accuracy, assess internal controls, identify and mitigate risk and to support the business objectives I want to present here right now, one way to develop your audit plan The following is a nine step process, beginning with knowing the business environment and the markets, all the way to conducting follow ups on any audit findings. Now the first is to understand the business and industry. You must know the business model, which includes the organizational structure and its reporting systems. And you need to know the current regulatory environment review priority results significant changes and known risks. Next is to conduct a risk assessment, identify financial, operational, compliance and fraud risks using a variety of acceptable methods, prioritize high risk areas for inclusion in the audit Next, I want you to define the audit scope and objectives, determine what accounts, processes and controls that will be examined, include key financial cycles, and clarify audit deliverables, such as reports, testing outcomes and recommendations. Now, this is a big one. This is a big part of the audit plan. Next evaluate internal controls and policies, assess the company's internal control framework, like control activities, for example, how do approvals and reconciliations happen? Also design control testing procedures using walkthroughs, sample testing and also observations. Next is to develop the audit plan and the timeline. Now is the time to create the formal audit plan that includes the calendar, team assignments and responsibilities, the material thresholds for financial misstatement and also the testing methods and identify what audit system you will use to track the progress, whether it be online or on paper. Next is to establish communication protocols, define how and when updates findings and concerns will be reported, communicate expectations to key leaders, the audit team and also the audit committee. Next is to integrate data analytics and the technology use data driven auditing techniques, for example, trend analysis versus outlier detection, continuous control monitoring and then full population testing. Next is to present your findings, ensure you report findings per the communications plan and the calendar, and then finally, conduct follow ups as necessary. Now this was quite a rundown. It was brief, but it was to get you thinking, sure, you work to adopt a process that fits your organization, that this was one way to do it. Number two, presenting the findings to the leadership team, presenting audit findings to the company leadership team is a critical step in ensuring transparency, accountability and informed decision making. An effective presentation translates technical audit results into clear, actionable insights that leaders can understand and act upon it, highlights areas of strength, uncovers potential risks and identifies process gaps that could impact financial accuracy, operational efficiency and regulatory compliance. By communicating these findings clearly, auditors not only fulfill their oversight role, but also provide leadership with the knowledge needed to prioritize corrective actions, allocate resources effectively and strengthen internal controls, ultimately safeguarding the organization's integrity and long term success. And three, why leadership is essential for the auditing function. A company's leadership commitment to a successful audit program is essential because it sets the tone for integrity, accountability and operational excellence throughout the organization. When executives and board members actively support the audit process, they signal that accurate reporting, strong internal controls and compliance on non negotiable priorities. This commitment encourages transparency, ensures that resources are allocated to address audit recommendations and fosters a culture where potential issues are identified and corrected before they escalate. Ultimately, leadership's engagement not only strengthens stakeholder trust, but also enhances the organization's resilience, risk management and long term performance. Never forget that accurate findings lead to positive change, and that great leadership ensures we are always improving. You know. How much I love great financial leadership. Auditing requires leadership to ensure we are doing the right things in our organization. Leaders need to ensure the proper procedures are followed, that internal controls are adequate, so that weaknesses can't be exploited by those who want to steal or do harm. And we need to practice good governance so we instill confidence, which means our future is more secure. Never stop leading your organization. Lead with greatness. Always for action. Today, how is your organization's audit strategy? Does it meet the needs of the business? I would recommend that you review your audit process and how you plan the annual audit function, I presented one way to do it today, ensure that you validate your process works and meets all the requirements for continued, successful audit process. Today, I talked about developing an effective audit plan that helps to ensure the accurate financial health of the organization, and I highlighted the following points. Number one, how to structure an effective audit plan. Number two, presenting the findings to the leadership team. And three, why leadership is essential for the auditing function. Again, I love leadership and I love improvement the audit function requires and delivers both when conducted properly. I want leaders at all levels to be committed to developing an audit strategy that works, because the results can help you go to a higher level. It's okay for audit findings to show weaknesses. I would be suspicious of an internal audit that found everything to be okay. There's always room for improvement. You can have areas of improvement and still have the residual risk be rated as low. This all relies on a great attitude focused on improvement and problem solving rather than blame and deniability. Embrace a great audit process to ensure continuous improvement. Next episode, I will be talking about the role and function of forensic accounting, and that should be fun if you ever wanted to find a role that uses detailed data to find discrepancies. This is it. A career in forensic accounting can be incredibly rewarding. I hope you enjoyed the finance leader podcast. You can find this episode wherever you listen to podcasts. If this episode helped you today, please share with a colleague until next time, you can check out more resources at finance leader academy.com and sign up for my weekly updates so you don't miss an episode of the podcast and now go lead your team and I'll see you next time. Thank you. Foreign.