The arrival of May means that our audit clients are all the more divided into two groups. The first group includes those whose accounting as of 31 December 2014 has been completed, whose financial statements are done and whose audit reports have been published, meaning that accounting and financial managers are fully able to concentrate on the problems of 2015, and there are plenty of them.
The second group consists of those whose accounting has still to be completed and whose financial statements are still a work-in-progress. This is not necessarily a matter of when they began concluding their accounting and when an audit was conducted. In many cases, certain aspects remain open in this process that could have been dealt with during 2014. In many other cases, however, these are problems that are not so much related to the company's accounting as their financial management and the level of economic management in general.
It is not therefore about when the audit got underway. Starting an audit at an earlier opportunity need not actually mean it will end sooner. It is actually more about dealing with certain problems in time. Early discussion about problems and finding prompt solutions to these and ensuring open communication between the auditor and the client are the decisive factors that could speed up the whole process of closing out accounting and conducting an audit and make it more effective. It is more and more evident that continual and open communication is the decisive factor in determining the quality and effectiveness of the entire process.
Perhaps now is the right time to realise this, because it is possibly right now that the foundations can be laid for quality financial statements for 2015.
Ing. Radomír Stružinský
