In the summer of 2019, I was invited to a wedding that I immediately knew was going to be chaos.
The groom was a great guy. Funny, generous, the kind who’d give you his last Malteser, but chronically allergic to punctuality. To him, start times weren’t deadlines, they were polite suggestions.
The bride? She was super-organised. Her life was governed by project plans, spreadsheets, labelled box files, and a colour-coded calendar.
What followed was the most stressful group chat of my life.
The groom didn’t book a suit fitting until two days before. He forgot to confirm the band. At one point, he asked the bride’s mum to “just grab a cake on the way.”
By the time the big day rolled around, the bride had staged a full-scale intervention.
She sat everyone down in a room, thrashed out responsibilities, and agreed who was doing what, by when, and how.
The wedding? It was a beautiful day and everything went off without the slightest hitch. The groom even showed up early.
What saved it?
Not luck. Not love. A single meeting and a fiercely organised bride who got everyone on the same page.
Which, in a seamless join that you won’t see however hard you look, brings us to audit season.
When clients turn up to their audit with half their documents missing, no idea what “prepared by client” actually means, and a three-week delay on simple queries, it’s not that they’re being awkward or uncooperative.
It’s that no one told them how to be ready.
This week’s tip from the Modern Auditor’s Survival Kit is this:
And that starts with a proper pre-audit planning meeting.
Not a polite “let me know if you have any questions”.
Not a recycled list from last year of what you want the client to have ready (spoiler alert. They’ll ignore it).
A real meeting.
Here’s what you’re going to cover:
Investing in this one 30-minute meeting will save you hours of clean-up later.
It’s the meeting that prevents the constant back and forth that turns a two-week audit into a five-week slog.
It’s a clear statement from you that this isn’t a “just grab a cake on the way” affair. You’re professionals and this is you saying, “Let’s start as we mean to go on”.
It sets the tone, the expectations, and the boundaries.
You wouldn’t show up to your wedding without knowing what time it starts and what you’re supposed to wear.
Why should an audit be any different?
Have a great week.
Regards,
Christiaan
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