How to Choose an Auditor: 5 Factors To Consider

The right auditor will help seamlessly achieve compliance regulation, demonstrate trust to stakeholders, and improve internal controls. So, to avail yourself of these benefits, making the right choice is crucial when selecting an auditor. In this article, we'll explore factors to consider when choosing an ideal auditor for your organization.

Before we dive into the key factors to consider while choosing an auditor for your organization, let's first understand what auditors do and don't. It will help you know what to expect from an auditor to perform, which will further help in the selection process.

What Does An Auditor Do?

Many security and privacy compliance initiatives, such as ISO 27001 and SOC 2, necessitate an external audit by an information security auditor. These specialists evaluate the effectiveness of your security program and determine if it aligns with your chosen framework's specific industry standards and requirements.

Following the evaluation, the auditor generates an audit report outlining their findings. This report includes a description of the assessed system, a summary of any issues identified during the audit, and recommendations to improve the security system's effectiveness.

This was about what auditors are authorized to do. However, it's also important to understand what an auditor doesn't do. This will help you avoid confusion while choosing an auditor and prevent you from expecting services they are not supposed to provide.

What An Auditor Doesn’t Do?

Auditors have specific restrictions on the services they can offer. Due to rules set by the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and GAO (U.S. Government Accountability Office), they are generally not allowed to provide tax advice or other non-audit services. Additionally, auditors cannot perform managerial tasks during the audit, such as preparing or modifying company documents.

Also, external auditors must remain impartial for the companies they are auditing, and any actions that could compromise their decision (being unbiased) are prohibited.

Now that you are familiar with what an auditor can and cannot do, let's understand what factors to consider when selecting an ideal auditor for your organization.

7 Key Factors To Keep In Mind While Choosing An Auditor

Below are 7 key considerations you need to remember while choosing an auditor for your organization.

1: Accreditation

While choosing an auditor, verify that they possess the appropriate qualifications and certifications required to conduct the audit. For instance, SOC 2 audits must be conducted by a qualified CPA or CPA firm accredited by the AICPA.

If you're considering a firm that isn't accredited in the specific framework you are interested in, determine whether their experience matches your organization's goals.

For example, if you need an ISO 27001 certification and the firm is new to ISO practices, decide if you're comfortable with their learning curve or would prefer a more experienced firm.

2: Reputation

Reputation is a crucial factor when selecting an audit partner. Opt for a reputable firm/audit partner so that you can be confident in the quality of their work and your clients can trust the compliance reports or certifications they issue.

Here are some considerations regarding reputation:

• New or Rapidly Growing Firms

Pros: They are eager to build a strong reputation and will likely work hard to impress you.

Cons: There's a higher chance that the compliance audit process won't go smoothly, which might make your client, partners, and stakeholders doubt the final results.

• Well-Established Firms

Pros: They have a recognized name and significant expertise, often having helped set auditing standards.

Cons: Long-standing firms might rely on routine, box-checking methodologies.

3: Experience & Expertise

While reputation is important, examining the audit firm's experience and expertise is crucial.

Audit firms provide their services through their staff, so the team assigned to you needs to have the right knowledge and skills for the specific audit you need.

Depending on your priorities, experience, and expertise can mean different things to you; it can be:

• Years in the industry
• Number of relevant audits completed per assessor
• Certifications held
• Future of their service lines, as many assessments recur

Based on this, you can determine which auditor's experience and expertise best meet your needs.

Apart from that, while choosing an auditor, you can also ask for proof of their training and qualifications to ensure they can perform the necessary assessments. For instance, an ideal auditor will have the following qualifications:

• An active CPA license. Verify their status by contacting your state's Board of Accountancy or using the CPAverify tool.
• A clean record, free of suspensions or other disciplinary actions, which can be checked via CPAverify and the state Board of Accountancy.
• An active external auditor certification from the AICPA. Auditors with specializations may hold additional certifications like the CFE (Certified Fraud Examiner).
• The auditing firm's proposal should include a thorough quality assurance (QA) process.
• Positive peer review results. Request a copy of the firm's most recent review from potential candidates.

4: Check For Multiple Certification Frameworks

Most organizations need more than one security compliance certification to satisfy their clients, such as SOC 2, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA, CMMC, and  NIST 800-53.

So, working with the same auditor to obtain multiple certifications can make the audit process more efficient and save time and money.

This is why it's crucial to ask auditors about their process of handling multiple certifications.

• For example, if your organization plans to perform several audits (like SOC 2 and ISO 27001 simultaneously), check if the auditor can deliver these services in one engagement with a single team.

Moreover, even if you're starting with a single compliance framework, you may need multiple certifications as your business expands. So, look for an audit partner that can grow with you. As your compliance needs change, maintaining the same audit partner helps avoid the added burden of onboarding a new team.

But this doesn't mean you should choose the firm that offers the most certification frameworks. Instead, consider what your organization currently needs or will need soon. A firm offering those services won't add value if you don't plan to pursue CMMC or PCI audits. So make the right choice accordingly.

5: Technology Used For Auditing

In today's world, technology helps streamline various processes, including audits. So, the auditor you choose should use modern tools to streamline the audit process.

The audit process previously consumed a significant amount of time and effort. One needed to do detailed process walk-throughs, collect evidence, and answer additional questions. While these steps are unavoidable, technology can help accelerate and organize tasks like evidence gathering and data analysis.

So, to ensure you choose the right firm, request a demonstration of their technology. This will give you a firsthand look at the user experience and help you select a firm whose technology simplifies your audit process.

6: Provides Ongoing Support Or Not

It's important that you don't hear from your auditor only once a year. They should act as your business advisor, maintaining consistent contact throughout the year.

A good audit firm will set up an open communication channel between you and your auditor. This is crucial because you'll need to involve them in discussions about:

• Changes to your environment
• Adding new business lines
• New regulatory requirements that might expand the audit scope or necessitate a separate assessment

So, ask audit firms about their planning methodology and how they will contact you. These discussions help build trust early on, which is vital for your ongoing relationship. If an auditor doesn't prioritize open communication, it raises concerns about how you'll handle emerging risks and technologies, protect your data, and improve your processes.

7: Charges

Meeting compliance can be costly, not just in time and effort but also financially. You need to consider the price, which is influenced by several factors:

• Time requirements
• Scope complexity
• Scope size
• Travel requirements
• Risk factors

It might be tempting to choose the lowest price, but remember the saying: \"You get what you pay for.\" Opting for the cheapest option can lead to unsatisfactory services, potentially requiring a more qualified (and expensive) team later.

While budget constraints are real, they aim to balance competitive pricing and value. While evaluating an audit firm, look for those transparent about their total costs (audit fees) and check for any savings for multiple assessments.

Now that you know what factors to consider, let's explore where and how you can find a trustworthy audit partner.

How To Find A Trustworthy Audit Partner?

Finding a reliable and qualified audit partner involves thorough research. However, by following these below simple yet effective ways, you will be able to get the right audit partner for your organization:

• Referrals

Start with referrals from industry peers or professional contacts. Ask about their experiences with the audit firms they've used, focusing on the firm's technical expertise and the value they provided.

• Request for Proposal (RFP)

Issuing an RFP to several auditing firms can help narrow down your options. Clearly outline your company's needs, size, industry, and financial status. Review the responses to create a shortlist of firms, and then speak with their audit teams to decide based on qualifications, industry experience, and compatibility with your management team.

But what exactly to ask these audit firms?

What to Ask?

During consultations with potential audit partners, ask about their accounting expertise, industry knowledge, integrity, availability, and overall experience. Specific questions might include:

• How many professionals are available for your audit, and what is their turnover rate?
• What is the firm's industry experience and the background of its partners?
• What are their policies on conflicts of interest?

Note: You can also check for non-compliance or disciplinary actions through state boards of accountancy, the AICPA, or the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).

These steps will help ensure you find an audit partner that is a good fit for your company and can provide reliable, high-quality services.

Further, to simplify your search, we've compiled a list of top firms that you can consider working with.

List Of Some Trusted Audit Firms

To help you begin your search for an experienced auditor that suits your business, we’ve compiled a list of pre-screened audit partners:

1: 360 Advanced

360 Advanced offers guidance, consulting, and customized solutions for your business’s security and compliance needs, whether you’re new to security programs or need third-party evaluations.

2: Aprio

Aprio is a full-service CPA and business advisory firm that helps clients meet compliance requirements, grow their organizations, and plan for the future.

3: Barr Advisory

Barr Advisory assists technology and cloud service providers with compliance for multiple frameworks, including SOC 2, HIPAA, ISO 27001, PCI, HITRUST, FedRAMP, and NIST 800-53.

4: Boulay

Based in Minneapolis, Boulay is a top 100 CPA and advisory firm that provides SOC 2 services across the U.S. and globally.

5: British Assessment Bureau

This bureau offers a range of UKAS-accredited certifications and ISO software solutions to help businesses demonstrate their commitment to excellence.

6: Consilium Labs

Consilium Labs partners with organizations to streamline the ISO 27001 audit process using the latest approaches to security compliance.

7: Control Logics Since 2008

Control Logics has performed security assessments for over 200 companies worldwide, tailoring services to each client’s needs.

8: Daszkal Bolton

Daszkal Bolton, an accounting and advisory firm with 20+ years of experience, serves various industries, including healthcare, technology, and real estate.

9: GRSee Consulting

GRSee Consulting provides PCI audits, SOC 2 and ISO 27001 preparation, and technical services like penetration testing.

10: Hancock Askew & Co, LLP

With highly-trained auditors boasting 15+ years of experience, Hancock Askew delivers high-quality SOC reports within 45 days of the examination period.

Other auditing firms, such as Insight Assurance, Johanson Group, KLR, Linford & Company, MJD Advisors, CAS Assurance LLC, Moss Adams, Oread Risk, Prescient Assurance, Sensiba San Filippo, Sentry Assurance, and Zeroday, also provide teams of expert auditors.

After selecting your audit partner, you create some guidelines to help maintain a good relationship with your potential auditors. What are these guidelines? Let’s find out.

Tips For Working Effectively With Your Audit Partner

When starting the audit process, it's important to establish clear communication and protocols with your audit partner. Here's how to ensure a smooth and productive interaction:

• Set Expectations: Brief your staff on what to expect and establish rules for productive interactions with the auditor.
• Cooperate Fully: Work collaboratively with the auditor to support their efforts.
• Clarify Misconceptions: Understand that the auditor is neither a friend nor an adversary but a professional performing a valuable role.
• Maintain Professionalism: Help auditors maintain their objectivity and ensure clear communication between them and company executives.
• Respond Promptly: Don't view the audit as a threat. Provide timely responses to the auditor's requests.
• Be Transparent: Openly discuss any accounting issues without feeling threatened.
• Respect Their Role: Remember that auditors are doing their job like your company's financial staff.

By following these guidelines, you can create a cooperative and transparent environment that will help streamline your audit process.

In addition to having an auditor to streamline your audit process, you might also consider using an automated solution like Zluri. This can help make your compliance efforts even more efficient and effective.

Opt For An Automated Platform To Expedite Auditing Process

Zluri offers an access review solution that helps accelerate the auditing process by automating access certification. But how?

Zluri’s access review–The perfect solution to automate and streamline access certification

• Enables Your Team To Create Workflows

Zluri's access review helps your team create automated workflows that trigger actions to review users' access within the organization. They can assess who has access to what (SaaS apps, data, system) and what level of permissions they hold.

This further helps detect if any user holds unauthorized or unnecessary access to the organization's resources. Accordingly, your team can run deprovisioning or modification workflows to revoke, restrict, or change access permissions.

But how does this expedite the auditing process?

All these actions take place with just a few clicks and with accuracy; this means there is no scope for errors. Also, your team no longer has to manually go through multiple sheets to collect data (who is holding access to what); all this data is presented in a centralized location for smooth review. This saves a significant amount of productive time, allowing your team to focus on other core areas of the compliance process.

• Documents The Access Certification Process

Zluri's access review records every single action that took place during the auditing process. This thorough documentation shows that your team has taken the necessary steps to protect your organization's critical data. By providing clear evidence of your data security commitment, your organization can more easily meet stringent compliance requirements and secure the necessary compliance certifications.

To learn more about Zluri's access review, book a demo now.

Choose The Right Auditor To Streamline Your Audit

In conclusion, choosing the right auditor is essential for ensuring your organization meets stringent compliance regulations, which further helps gain the trust of clients, partners, and stakeholders. So, ensure the auditor has the proper accreditation, a good reputation, and the right experience and skills for your needs.

Consider how they use technology to make the audit process smoother. Keep communication open, understand the costs involved, and ensure the auditor is a good fit for your team. By following these steps, you can find an ideal auditor and build a strong working relationship with them, leading to a smooth and effective audit that fulfills all your compliance needs.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How Can You Measure The Success Of An Audit?

Success can be measured by the thoroughness of the audit, the clarity and actionability of the findings, timely completion, and the overall impact on your compliance status and internal controls.

What Is A Request For Proposal?

An RFP is a document outlining your company's audit needs. Sending RFPs to multiple firms allows you to compare responses, qualifications, and methodologies, helping you make an informed decision.

How Frequently Should You Engage With Your Auditor?

You should maintain ongoing communication with your auditor throughout the year, not just during the audit period. Regular contact helps address any changes in your environment, new business lines, or additional compliance requirements.