Engagements and tests

An engagement identifies the audit area, organization and audited entity. The Auditor records the planned date and uses the memo to explain the immediate fieldwork context. A draft should give the next person enough information to select the right control and understand why a sample is being collected. Similar entity names need particular attention when a team works across subsidiaries.

The engagement issue action moves a draft to Sent and records an operation receipt. After issuing it, inspect the result before telling colleagues to proceed. The control tests beneath an engagement keep their sample descriptions and sample sizes with that engagement. Each test also points to the control being examined, so a reviewer can follow the work from the engagement into its supporting detail.

• Engagement preparation. The Auditor checks the audit area, planned date and entity references while the engagement is Draft. The memo explains what colleagues need to know before collecting evidence.
• Issue result. The issue action records the operation outcome as the engagement moves to Sent. The Auditor checks both the engagement and its receipt when the action needs investigation.
• Control sample. A test describes the work performed and records the sample size. Its parent engagement and control links give the Audit Manager a route back to the context of that work.

Agree which role may issue an engagement and what the draft must contain before that action. Decide how the team records the planned date and decision date; a report is easier to interpret when those dates have a consistent business meaning. Establish the reviewed control list before importing sample detail.

Agree what belongs in a test description. A useful description explains the population examined and the check performed without asking the next Auditor to reconstruct the test from a short label. Keep supporting documents in the evidence location agreed for the engagement. If engagement letters must be delivered through another service, include that connection in setup and rehearse delivery separately.

Prepare a supplier access engagement for an active audited entity. The Auditor checks the organization’s identity and sets the audit area to supplier access. Before issue, the Audit Manager reads the memo and asks which control will be tested. Correct the draft if the answer points to a different entity or audit area.

Issue the engagement and inspect its receipt. Then add a test describing a sample of access changes and link the relevant control. Ask a second Auditor to open that test and identify its engagement without searching by free text. Finally, inspect an engagement already marked Overdue and agree what follow-up its recorded dates require. Keep the explanation tied to the engagement’s actual state.

• Draft Engagements — Check engagements before the issue action.
• Engagements Overdue — Inspect engagements carrying an Overdue state and their recorded dates.

Use assessment and engagement preparation, then move evidence into finding review.