Rising auditing standards puts a lot of pressure on auditing firms to carry out a significant volume of work while staying compliant with the latest guidelines.
As the needs of businesses evolve and finances become more complex, it can seem like there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done that needs doing.
For many auditors, this can result in work spilling out into evenings, weekends, or even holiday time.
Working outside of office hours has steadily become the norm, but is this really the only way to get the work completed on time?
Why are auditors working longer hours?
There are a number of factors that are driving auditors to work longer hours.
Recent research conducted by the University of Sheffield found that auditors face “time budget pressure and time deadline pressure”.
Time budget pressure is the requirement for auditors to complete work within a preassigned number of billable hours while time deadline pressure involves competing work by a certain date.
The research found that “Dysfunctional Auditing Behaviour (DAB)” was highly correlated with these time pressures and included prematurely signing off on audit steps and underreporting chargeable hours.
This would ensure that auditors remained compliant on paper, but in reality, were having to conduct work off the record in order to actually meet these deadlines.
Where auditors are engaging with DAB, there is a risk of standards declining and the auditing firm facing repercussions for their noncompliance.
How can auditors avoid working extra hours?
While working the odd extra hour here or there may not seem like a major problem, auditors can quickly lose track of the work they perform.
The research discovered that “working during personal time can lead to indirect losses for the audit firm in the longer term, as firms will not be aware of the actual hours spent on every assignment.”
Described as a “safety valve”, working extra hours is only a temporary mask that hides a deeper problem.
While it might seem like the solution is to tell auditors to stop working extra hours, the reality is not so simple.
The workloads exceed what can be reasonably conducted within billable hours.
Having to chase information from clients causes unnecessary delays to the process, and the advent of remote work has made it more challenging to gather all the necessary documentation and speak to the relevant people.
When a member of the team is away on holiday or falls ill, their absence can derail an audit, causing more work to be done outside of office hours.
Leveraging a tailor-made software solution designed to make the auditing process more straightforward may be the way to keep work within billable hours and cut back on DAB.
Glasscubes serves as a secure, centralised space where all the important information you need to conduct an audit can be collated.
Automated reminders mean that less time has to be spent chasing up clients, giving you more time to actually get on with the work.
Faster responses from clients means more time to work within deadlines, so that crunch time may be a thing of the past.
Glasscubes works to streamline your workflow and is the vital tool you need to ensure that you can get paid for every hour of work you complete.
Free time is for you, and work should be kept to the office.
Find out how you can get your free time back. Book a demo today!
