Preparing Documents for an Audit Sample

Engagements stall less often on disagreement than on missing files. Coordinators who prepare early keep the sampling clock honest.

Gather, for the agreed books and period:

1. Investment policy statements and any amendments in force during the period
2. Discretionary authority letters and product restriction lists
3. Fee schedules and client fee letters applicable to those dates
4. Trade extracts with enough detail to test boundaries
5. Client reporting packs actually delivered — not draft templates
6. A list of known exceptions or waivers with dates and approvers

Agree redaction rules before transfer. Partial masking of names is fine when identifiers still allow us to join fee letters to statements. Changing account numbers mid-pack without a mapping table is not.

Nominate one person to answer questions within two business days. When answers bounce between three inboxes, findings workshops arrive late and tempers rise. Preparation is unglamorous; it is also how a financial audit of wealth management applications stays proportional to the question you asked.