With the amount of work professionals face daily, it is no wonder why stress is becoming a constant challenge in the workplace.
In fact, findings from a 2024 survey of 1,500 full-time employees in the United States highlighted the growing mental and emotional toll that economic and global factors are having on workers.
Fifty-one percent of the respondents from the same survey reported experiencing burnout in the past year, which marked a 15-point increase compared to the previous year’s results. The leading causes of burnout were identified as mental and emotional stress (63%) and long working hours (54%).
For accounting firms and finance teams, the pressure is even higher as they deal with different reporting requirements, compliance standards, and client demands that all come with strict deadlines.
On top of everyday responsibilities, one of the unavoidable parts of running an organization is undergoing audits. Whether mandated by regulatory authorities, requested by investors, or required for internal governance, audits are essential but often overwhelming.
In fact, a survey conducted by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) found that 71% of finance professionals at Big Four firms say their mental health suffers due to work pressures during the busy season.
This statistic shows the significant stress that audit preparation brings, especially when teams are already stretched with client work and daily financial operations. Even the most experienced professionals can feel overwhelmed during audit season. Without adequate support, the pressure can quickly lead to burnout, mistakes, and missed deadlines—turning what should be a routine process into one of the most stressful times of the year.
As audit seasons grow more demanding, many firms are beginning to recognize how ongoing stress affects not only their employees’ well-being but also the overall quality of their work. Tight deadlines, complex client requirements, and staffing shortages all add to the pressure.
To address these issues, forward-thinking firms are now exploring ways to ease their team’s heavy workload without compromising accuracy or efficiency. One practical and increasingly popular solution is outsourcing audit support services.
Audit support services refer to outsourced external support provided to accounting firms and businesses during the audit process. These services may include:
By allowing a third service provider or an accounting outsourcing company to handle such things, your in- house teams will be able to focus on strategic priorities while reducing the stress associated with the audit season.
After knowing what audit support is all about, it’s equally important to understand the value it delivers to both your team and overall operations.
As mentioned above, audit season might be the most stressful time of the year for your finance team. This is why, in order to keep your retention rate high and ensure your team stays engaged, it’s important to find ways to ease their workload.
One practical solution is to partner with a third-party provider that offers audit support services. That way, it will reduce the pressure on your already busy staff.
Mistakes are more likely to happen when employees are under pressure, and the risk becomes even greater during audit season. As teams manage multiple responsibilities and tight deadlines, errors in reconciliations, documentation, or compliance can easily occur.
This is why having an additional layer of review and specialized expertise can be valuable. Careful checks, verification of records, and structured processes help catch errors early on. Having this approach supports a more efficient audit process and maintains confidence in the organization’s financial reporting.
One of the biggest challenges during audits is maintaining clear communication with external auditors. Misunderstandings or missing information can cause delays and frustration for both sides.
Good thing, a third-party service provider can help you handle tasks such as organizing files, preparing clear responses, and ensuring that auditor queries are addressed quickly. This not only streamlines the processes but also makes collaboration with auditors more efficient and less disruptive for your team.
Another thing to keep in mind is that hiring additional in-house staff during busy audit seasons can be expensive and impractical. A more sustainable approach to managing audit preparation is by aligning resources with actual workload needs.
Instead of committing to permanent hires or relying heavily on overtime, firms can look at flexible arrangements that provide the right level of support when demand peaks.
This approach helps control labor costs, reduces the pressure on existing staff, and ensures that audit tasks are handled efficiently without sacrificing accuracy. Over time, it creates a balance between maintaining operational quality and keeping expenses under control.
Now that we’ve seen the value of audit support, it’s important to understand when it might be the right time for a firm to consider implementing it.
Below are some of the key indicators that additional support could be beneficial:
The first sign you should watch out for is if you see your team struggling to meet scheduled deadlines or if they are consistently overwhelmed during audits. A few indicators to look out for include:
Another indicator is when mistakes in reconciliations, documentation, or compliance reports occur more often than usual, for example:
It could also be a sign to outsource audit support whenf you notice that your team lacks the manpower or expertise needed to efficiently handle audit demands, such as:
Keeping up with different requirements can become a major challenge during audits, especially if your organization operates across multiple industries or regions. Signs of this include:
And lastly, if your team is caught up in day-to-day audit requirements instead of concentrating on your organization’s strategic priorities, that’s a clear signal to get additional support. Examples of this includes:
After determining when audit support becomes necessary, the next step is understanding how technology makes the process more manageable, especially when your team is working alongside a third-party provider or an accounting outsourcing company.
It is also understable that with multiple people involved in preparing for an audit, gaps in communication, document sharing, or timing can easily occur. This is why putting the right technology or tools is necessary to make the process less complicated.
Below are some of the ways technology helps bridge those gaps:
One of the biggest challenges during audits is locating supporting documents quickly. Good thing, most modern tools now feature cloud-based systems that can act as a single source of truth.
Instead of searching across multiple folders and emails, your internal team and third-party provider can upload, organize, and retrieve supporting documents instantly, making it easier to respond to the auditor faster.
Another thing you can get from employing the right tool within your processes is that it will be easier to collaborate with your internal finance team and outsourcing partner.
By working within a shared platform, both parties can access the same data, track progress, and manage tasks in real time.
This level of transparency not only streamlines communication but also helps prevent duplicated work or overlooked requests, making the audit preparation process much more efficient.
Another advantage of leveraging the right technology is the ability to keep financial information up to date. And with the help of automated tools and an integrated system, it will reduce the need for manual data entry, lowering the chances of errors that can cause delays during audits.
On top of that, with real-time updates, both your finance team and outsourcing partner will be able to rely on consistent, accurate figures, which helps the auditor to verify if your organization is compliant.
Data security and confidentiality are among the top concerns during an audit. From payroll records to tax filings, your finance team manages highly sensitive information that must be protected at all times.
Good thing, modern audit tools and outsourcing providers address this challenge by using protection such as encryption, role-based access, and secure file-sharing platforms.
Having these features ensure that only authorized individuals can access the information, reducing the risk of data leaks or unauthorized changes.
Another important factor in making audit preparation more efficient is using tools that you can integrate with your existing systems.
That way, you no longer need to work across multiple platforms or manually move data from one system to another, but instead you can connect it directly with your accounting software, ERP, or other finance applications.
Since we’ve talked about technology’s role, the next big step is finding the right partner to work with. Not every outsourcing provider delivers the same level of quality, and the success of your audit preparation will depend heavily on who you choose to collaborate with.
Here are a few things worth keeping an eye on:
If you’re new to outsourcing, one of the first questions you’ll probably ask is, “Do they really know what they’re doing?” And that’s a fair place to start.
You don’t just want accountants or outsourcing partners who understand the basics, you need professionals who know the ins and outs of audit workflows.
That means understanding peak season pressures, tight deadlines, and the level of accuracy required in an audit process.
As we’ve already highlighted, data security is non-negotiable. When you’re evaluating a provider, ask upfront how they handle sensitive client information.
How do they store, access, and transfer files? Their answers will give you a good picture of whether they treat data protection as seriously as you do.
Strong communication is the backbone of any successful partnership, and this becomes even more important with an external team.
Check if they have a structured process for sharing updates, assigning points of contact, and resolving issues. That clarity helps prevent delays and keeps everyone aligned.
Lastly, before committing, it’s a good idea to do your due diligence and request client testimonials, references, or examples of past engagements.
These can give you a better sense of the provider’s track record, the types of clients they’ve supported, and the outcomes they’ve delivered.
To alleviate the stress of your team, it’s time to find practical solutions that will keep the audit process as stress-free as possible.
Audit support plays a key role here — not only by reducing the workload during peak seasons but also by minimizing errors and streamlining the exchange of information with auditors.
When audits are handled with the right mix of preparation, expertise, and tools, your finance team can stay focused, engaged, and confident throughout the process.
Consider D&V Philippines. We offer scalable and cost-effective audit support solutions to help you get the job done without sacrificing the quality of your work. Schedule a free consultation with us today or visit our website to know more about our audit support solutions.
You may also download our case study, How a US based Accounting and Audit Firm Resolve their Talent Shortages Through Accounting Outsourcing to learn how our audit support solutions have helped a US audit firm and can help you at the same time.