- mes matter most?
- Boil them down to a manageable number (Charlie’s team identified nine), agreeing on clear definitions.
- Link each observation to no more than three themes.
The themes also help Charlie’s team sharpen their messaging. He explained, “When you read through the themes, it allows you a moment to challenge: Is that theme coming across in my observation?”
5. Lock Down Consistency to Drive Discipline
Agree upon a format and lock it down in a template.
Explained Charlie, “We wanted to streamline our readers’ ability to know exactly where to look for what’s important to them.” Accordingly, all of their audit reports now use the same format.
While their previous Google Docs format made collaboration easy, no two reports looked alike. Their new Google Slides format enables them to:
- Lock in a consistent look, feel, flow, and user experience.
- Dedicate — and limit — spaces highlighting the most important details.
- Instill greater discipline in ensuring concise, clear messaging.
Said Charlie, “It all comes back to your audience. Why do you think your audience needs two pages for you to explain this? Try harder to simplify your message.”
6. Use AI
Lastly, take advantage of Gen AI to improve your content and process.
Want to make your sentence crisper, clearer, or more hard-hitting? Ensure alignment with framework X or Y? Articulate a risk using terms/context they’ll understand? Write a first draft? Review for bias?
Try asking AI. And download these 20 ready-to-deploy use cases, authored and quality-checked by the Internal Audit Collective.
THE LAST WORD: Small Changes Can Deliver Big Results
Auditors often talk about the importance of “no surprises.”
Charlie’s revamped reports make the platitude real, ensuring that key messages make it across and all parties are aligned on what’s at stake, why, and what happens next.
The new reports are also accelerating conversations with the business — and not just around reporting.
In other words: Audit reporting doesn’t have to be painful. As Charlie’s success story proves, small changes in your process can make a massive difference in the value your reporting provides.
Want more ideas for improving audit reporting? Learn how Jan Murry and Matt Kohls’ team used the Kaizen process to reduce their reporting lag from 99 to 40 days, explore these strategies for handling last-minute changes to the audit plan, and see how teams avoid common challenges in planning audits from scratch.
