Field Notes
What belongs in a first readiness note before year-end
A readiness note should name bottleneck owners and chronic late request types — not repeat the entire audit plan.
An audit readiness review earns its fee when the written note is short and uncomfortable in the right places.
Keep these sections
- Last year’s late request categories (with counts, not anecdotes only)
- Owners without deputies
- Third parties that historically ignored first chase letters
- New entities or systems since the prior audit
- Proposed internal due-date ladder for the coming season
Leave these out
- Full accounting policy manuals
- Generic reminders to “cooperate with auditors”
- Software product comparisons unrelated to how your team exchanges evidence
The readiness note feeds directly into document request tracking when the PBC letter arrives. Without it, tracking starts blind.