Transparency Report 2023 - Working with the organisations we audit transcript

Ruth Preedy:
Every aspect of our audit is designed to deliver high quality, providing assurance over a company’s reporting that builds trust with stakeholders. And the organisations we audit play a vital role in facilitating high quality.

Having an open and transparent conversation clearly outlining and agreeing expectations around what information we need and when we need it is fundamental to quality. That’s why we encourage everyone on our audit teams to be having these conversations and to contract with their clients.

Successful client contracting is as simple as following these three principles;

• Agreeing a plan
  
• Confirming evidence required; and
  
• Taking action

Or ‘ACT’ as we call it!

For the organisations we audit, following these three steps means they’re clear on what we, as the auditors, require to complete our work and perform a high quality audit. They can also make the best use of the PwC tools available to them, such as Client Connect, our workflow tool for efficient and secure information sharing.

Let’s hear what this means to some of our teams…

Luke Jones:
On our engagement we used a Client Connect demo to make sure that everyone knew how to use all the functionalities on Connect. We also made sure that our clients could run their own reports, it kept everyone on the same page and accountable. We also held regular touchpoints, which I think everyone really appreciated.

Nthabiseng Sepato:
The organisations that we audit play a vital role in ensuring that we deliver high quality audits. On my team, we have agreed a plan upfront to ensure that we receive higher quality deliverables. Agreeing this evidence upfront made for a much smoother audit process all around.

Ruth Preedy:
We know that good communication between all parties and agreeing a plan upfront leads to a smoother audit for everyone involved. Applying the ACT principles and maintaining an open and transparent conversation throughout the process means we can deliver a robust and high quality audit.