Evidence timing
Timing evidence requests before week one
Fieldwork idle time is often planned into existence. Requests leave the audit planning workflow app on Friday afternoon for a Monday start. Finance teams are polite; they are also busy. Schedules arrive on Wednesday. The first two days dissolve.
Split asks into three waves
Wave one: items that take days to extract—system reports, inventory listings, related-party schedules. Send these as soon as scope is locked. Wave two: items that need draft numbers after month-end. Wave three: items that only matter after you see wave-one results.
Put due dates next to the ask
A request without a date is a suggestion. Use the app’s due-date field and mirror it in the client email. If the client cannot meet the date, renegotiate before fieldwork—not during it.
Protect a buffer day
Build one non-client day between the last critical due date and the fieldwork start. Use it for completeness checks. Teams that skip the buffer spend Monday reconstructing what should have arrived.
Track blockers in the same place as the plan
When an ask slips, log the blocker on the related procedure. Do not hide it in an email thread only the senior sees. Visibility is how managers reassign work before the team is on site.