Audit readiness, handled by the controller who runs the close.
Not a checklist from a consultant. A CPA who has run the close inside a large company for years, getting your books, reconciliations, documentation, and controls to the point where a first audit, a review, or a lender's reporting requirement is uneventful. Megan VanWinkle, CPA, MBA, treats audit readiness as one part of running finance well.
Audit readiness is rarely the engagement. It is usually one deliverable inside a fractional CFO or interim CFO engagement, because the reconciliations, the documentation, and the controls live in the same close the CFO already owns. If a one-time cleanup is all you need, Megan will say so and scope it that way.
Six parts of audit readiness, owned by one person
Most of the work is accounting and process, not paperwork. That's why it belongs with the person who runs the close rather than a consultant who can't change it.
Scoping
Which standard, which periods, which entities, and whether an audit, a review, or a compilation satisfies whoever is asking for it.
Gap assessment
Two weeks. How the books are kept today versus what the audit requires, ranked by effort, with a real audit date at the end.
Close and reconciliations
Every balance sheet account reconciled, revenue recognized correctly, accruals and cutoff right, and a close that lands on the calendar every month.
Documentation and controls
Accounting policies written down, approvals and access that an auditor can test, and the support behind every significant balance.
Auditor selection
Shortlist, references, scope negotiation, and timing. The right firm for a company your size, not the one with the biggest logo.
The audit itself
The request list managed, questions answered, and someone on your side of the table during fieldwork who knows where every number came from.
From the books you have to an opinion
The readiness work usually takes longer than the audit fieldwork. The gap assessment tells you how long yours will take.
Gap assessment and plan
Scope, current state, the gaps, the clean-up required, and an audit date. Written down and reviewed with leadership.
Reconcile and document
Prior periods reconciled, policies written, controls in the close, and the support filed where the auditor will look for it. Business continues alongside.
The audit
Auditor engaged, request list managed, questions answered. Megan sits on your side of the table.
Keep it audit-ready
The habits that make next year routine: monthly reconciliations, a close calendar, and documentation kept current. Handed to your team, or kept on a fractional cadence.
The controls go into the close, not on top of it
- No scramble. Reconciliations and support become part of the monthly close, so the audit reviews work that is already done.
- Controls that fit the org. Approvals and access sized for a team of five, not a public company.
- Policies people follow. Short, specific to your business, and reviewed with the people who have to apply them.
- The team learns it. By fieldwork, your team can answer the auditor's questions without Megan in the room.
Run by someone who has been audited
Megan has spent years in finance and accounting at Disney, where the close, the controls, and the documentation are built to withstand an audit every year. She brings that discipline to companies facing their first one, sized for where they are.
Meet Megan →Audit readiness questions
What is audit readiness?
The work before the auditor arrives: deciding scope and standard, closing the gaps between how the books are kept and what the audit requires, getting reconciliations and documentation in order, and choosing an auditor. Readiness done well means the audit itself is uneventful.
Audit, review, or compilation?
An audit gives an opinion on the financial statements. A review gives limited assurance and costs less. A compilation gives none. Which one you need depends on who is asking: an investor, a lender, a buyer, or a customer. Megan recommends based on the requirement and the timeline, and helps you push back when a review would do.
How long does a first audit take?
It depends on the state of the books and the size of the company. The gap assessment in the first two weeks gives you a real date, and the readiness work usually takes longer than the audit fieldwork itself.
Will the audit stop the business?
No. The reconciliations, documentation, and controls go into the monthly close the team already runs, so the audit becomes a review of work that is already done rather than a scramble to recreate it.
Do you perform the audit?
No. An independent CPA firm performs the audit. Megan prepares you for it, helps select the firm, manages the request list, and sits on your side of the table during fieldwork.
Can you help with lender and investor reporting too?
Yes. Covenant calculations, monthly lender packages, investor updates, and the questions that come back. Audit readiness and reporting readiness are the same work from different directions.
What does audit readiness cost?
Scoped after a call. Most clients fold this into a fractional or interim CFO engagement rather than buying it on its own. The auditor's fee is a separate cost you contract directly.
Need a CFO who can get you through an audit along the way?
Start with the engagement. The audit comes with it.