Audit Engagement Guide.

Run the audit as a well-managed relationship with an independent professional: choose the right auditor, keep the engagement reporting to the board, give the auditor what they need, and have the board receive the result.

In Get Ready for and Survive an Audit, once your file is ready.

Engage the right auditor. An independent auditor experienced with nonprofits, not someone who does your bookkeeping, with scope, timing, and fee agreed in an engagement letter

Keep it independent. The engagement reports to the board, through its treasurer or an audit committee, not only to the staff being examined

Support the examination. Give the auditor what they ask for promptly and honestly, answer straight, and note anything they flag for the findings response

Receive the result. The board formally receives the completed audit, which becomes a document you can give funders and lenders who require it

An audit that reports only to the staff it examines is not truly independent. Having the board engage and receive it is what makes the result trustworthy to funders and regulators, and it is a core part of the board’s oversight duty.

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