A first-year audit feels heavier than later years because opening balances, accounting policies, and related-party maps all arrive at once. Management can make the year survivable by deciding early who owns each request list.
Opening balances need a story
Even if prior periods were not audited, auditors must understand how equity, inventory costing, and fixed-asset registers began. Gather legacy spreadsheets and board minutes now — not during final fieldwork.
Related parties are not a formality
List shareholders, key managers, sister companies, and any loans or guarantees. Incomplete lists surface later as journal entries and awkward board questions. Completeness here is a management responsibility; auditors test it, they do not invent it.
Estimates deserve owners
Allowances for doubtful accounts, inventory obsolescence, and warranty provisions need named owners who can explain the method. “We used last year’s percentage” is a starting point, not a finish line, when the business has changed.
Expect two calendars
Your close calendar and the audit calendar must be drawn on the same page. If draft statements arrive after inventory observation, someone will be working weekends. Plan the sequence deliberately.
North Quay often pairs a short control readiness review with first-year statutory work so surprises about approvals and cut-off appear before the opinion clock starts.