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The adoption of new audit technology can be a game-changer for businesses looking to modernize their processes, improve efficiency, and deliver audits of the highest quality.
With advanced audit tools, like Inflo Workpapers, firms can transform their auditing workflows, reduce manual effort, and focus on more valuable tasks. However having amazing features and intuitive ease of use is rarely enough, in itself, to ensure the success of these technologies. The change management and implementation process is equally significant to make or break the transformation.
It is commonplace for leaders of audit firms to be experts in their field of audit and have experienced various platforms already established at different firms through their career, but to have far less lived experience in managing a fundamental change of core platforms within a firm, and less experience still moving from desktop to cloud based tools.
It's therefore important the implementation project includes the right people to provide a combination of expertise in audit AND change management, or look to support from vendors or consultants to support if the expertise is not there in-house.
This guide will explore the five best practices for businesses implementing new audit technology to ensure a smooth and successful transition.
Successfully integrating new audit technology requires thoughtful planning and execution. Here is how firms can ensure a smoother transition and fully take advantage of the benefits that these tools can provide.
Planning ahead and being realistic about the time required for implementation is key. Audit teams are often at full capacity with their usual workloads, or often overwhelmed, especially during busy seasons. It’s important to recognize that integrating new technology is a significant task which deserves focused time and attention and can’t be carried out effectively in any time remaining after reporting and client facing deadlines are met which instead can cause a delayed or rushed implementation process.
Often, firms rely too heavily on certain roles, such as only senior colleagues, to lead these implementations but all roles who will use the technology daily need to be equally involved. Establishing key persons or “champions” in each role, who will best understand the practical aspects of the audit process they carry out, will offer the best insights into their day-to-day application of the technology. Furthermore, a wider team reduces pressure and single points of failure.
While it may be tempting to rely on volunteers, the implementation of a new audit tool requires specific skills and dedication. Not all volunteers will be right for the job. Therefore, firms should try to encourage, or ‘volun-tell’, those with the strongest skills and commitment to join the project and contribute to a more efficient process.
Many firms do not consider the full cost of implementing new technology. It’s easy to measure SaaS license costs and support packages, perhaps also the people cost for designated project time. However, it quickly gets difficult to quantify added people costs of inefficiencies from things like excessive learning curve time or rectifying wrong turns in your journey. Therefore, firms should be open to the support and advice of product experts who know the technology inside and out, who’s value in ensuring an efficient learning curve and smooth roll out process of their products should far outweigh the potential cost of not utilizing the support.
Firms, or specific colleagues, can sometimes get stuck in old habits and favor familiar traditional methods over trying new approaches. This resistance can slow down the implementation process and prevent businesses from realizing the full potential of new audit technology. By formalizing and clearly communicating the optionality of each component of change (e.g. opt in/out required, mandatory with/without consequence, recommended, etc.), there is no room for ambiguity or reluctance against these clear expectations.
Too often, firms rush into the adoption of new tools without fully considering the complexity of the implementation process. But when done correctly, integrating new audit technology can streamline operations and provide a significant competitive advantage.
Implementing tools like Inflo Workpapers presents an opportunity to enhance the quality, efficiency, and value of audits. Allocating the right time and resources ensures a smoother transition and avoids common pitfalls.
If you’re ready to transform your audit processes, explore how adopting these best practices, leveraging Inflo Workpapers and our expert support can set your team up for success in the audit industry!