Transform Your Audit Process: The Best Tool for Faster, Smoother, and Secure Engagements

Audit teams today are under more pressure than ever. Clients expect faster turnaround. Regulators expect accuracy. Firms expect teams to do more without adding hours.

That’s where audit automation comes in. When Implemented correctly, audit automation helps firms streamline engagement workflows, reduce manual effort, and improve collaboration, without disrupting how teams already work.

But not all automation delivers on that promise.

Why Audit Engagements Still Slow Down

Even with modern tools, many audit engagements struggle to move efficiently.

Common issues include:

• Teams chasing clients for missing support
• Reviewing outdated or incorrect files
• Delays in review cycles and sign-offs
• No visibility into task status or accountability
• Disorganized or incomplete audit trails

Automation doesn't fix these problems unless it's embedded directly into the engagement workflow. 

How Audit Automation Improves Engagement Workflows

Effective audit automation focuses on reducing friction where work actually happens.

Firms using the right tools are able to:

• Automate repetitive setup and organization tasks
• Keep requests, documents, and workpapers connected
• Improve collaboration between engagement teams and clients
• Gain real-time visibility into engagement progress

The result is faster fieldwork, smoother reviews, and fewer delays caused by missing information. 

Why Firms Are Turning to Automation

The shift toward automation isn’t just about keeping up with the times—it’s about solving real, painful challenges.

Key drivers of audit automation adoption:

• Tighter deadlines: Clients expect faster turnaround times without sacrificing quality.
• Staffing shortages: Automation reduces the burden on lean teams, preventing burnout.
• Remote collaboration: Teams need tools that support real-time access and communication from anywhere.
• Compliance pressure: Standardized workflows and digital audit trails reduce risk and ensure documentation is airtight.

Automation enables scale without chaos.

Key Tools for Audit Engagements

Suralink provides a set of purpose-built tools that work together to automate and streamline audit engagements:

Request List Management

Automates client requests, tracking, and follow-up so engagement teams always know what’s been received, what’s outstanding, and what needs clarification. Reducing unnecessary back-and-forth with clients.

→ Learn more about Request List Management

Workpaper Suite

Brings automation and collaboration directly into Excel, allowing teams to link support documents, sync files, and prepare workpapers without switching tools or disrupting existing workflows.

Smarter preparation

Suralink’s Workpaper Suite lets teams automate sample testing and match client support docs directly to Excel-based workpapers.

• Reduce manual input
• Eliminate support document version confusion
• Speed up testing and data matching
• Improve accuracy

Review with confidence

Workpaper Suite makes review cycles cleaner and faster for managers and partners. With linked support files, reviewers don’t have to dig through unorganized folders ever again.

• Automatic syncing of updated files
• Preview support docs directly from Excel
• Ensure everything is in the right place, the first time

Secure Client Collaboration

Keeps communication, documents, and requests in one place, giving both audit teams and clients a clearer, more organized engagement experience. 

Real Use Cases: Where Audit Automation Has Impact

Automation isn’t one-size-fits-all. But there are clear high-impact use cases across engagements:

• Request list automation: Auto-generate and update PBCs, reducing manual follow-up
• Workpaper prep automation: Extract, match, and tag support docs to speed up testing
• Linked collaboration: Share comments across systems to resolve issues faster
• Internal review optimization: Automatically sync and organize support documents in Excel for smoother partner reviews
• Digital audit trails: Maintain compliance with a log of every interaction
• Secure document approval: Get client sign-offs in seconds with integrated e-signatures

Real-World Example: How One Firm Transformed Audit Efficiency

When the team at Boyum Barenscheer relied on Excel and email to manage audit requests, their workflow was chaotic—duplicated asks, scattered docs, endless check-ins.

After switching to Suralink:

• Saved 2–5 hours per audit
• Fewer internal meetings
• Reduced email clutter and confusion
• Faster planning with roll-forward templates
• More transparency for clients and staff

As Senior Accountant Jasmin McKenzie put it:

“Having everything in a centralized location has made our team more effective. And our clients think it’s easier and less cumbersome. It’s been a win-win.”

The Future of Audit Is Connected and Automated

Firms can’t afford to operate like it’s 2015. Client expectations have changed. Manual workflows aren’t just slow, they’re a liability. They drain time, introduce risk, and erode client trust.

But when you embed automation into both client-facing tasks and internal workpaper processes, everything changes.

• Less back-and-forth
• Less rework
• Faster reviews
• Happier clients
• More confident teams

And Suralink gives you all of that in one connected platform. Purpose-built for the audit lifecycle.  Schedule a demo to learn more!

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the benefits of using audit automation?

Audit automation helps firms reduce manual work, speed up engagement timelines, improve accuracy, and gain better visibility into engagement progress—without sacrificing quality.

What tools are used for audit automation?

Audit automation tools often include request management software, document management systems, and workpaper automation tools that streamline collaboration between teams and clients.

How does Suralink improve audit workflows?

Suralink improves audit workflows by automating client requests, centralizing document collaboration, and embedding workpaper automation directly into Excel, helping teams work faster with fewer disruptions.