Evaluating Your External Auditors Part of the audit committee's responsibility is to evaluate the qualities of your external auditors. The audit committee should look for a variety of qualities when evaluating the auditors. Consulting capabilities Many organizations rely on the firm that conducts their audits for financial, systems, or operational consulting advice. In fact, insights gained during an audit are often valuable in these efforts. If your organization may require consulting help, consider the consulting capabilities that many audit firms offer.
Insufficient staff can lead to delays or poor performance.
If your audit will be staffed from out of town, travel expenses may add to your bill. While price should not be the sole determining factor in your auditor choice, it is certainly a valid consideration. Be sure to evaluate both what you are being asked to pay and what the auditors propose to do for their fee. Information technology plays an increasingly important role in the accounting profession. Your auditors will have to work with electronic data from your systems.