Timing Your First Independent Audit

First-year audits take longer because there is no prior-year working paper trail. If your licence requires audited accounts within a fixed window after year-end, begin auditor selection at least four months before the reporting date.

Use the early months for a readiness review: chart of accounts mapping, safeguarding policy, and a dry run of month-end close. Fixing cut-off errors before fieldwork is cheaper than extending fieldwork.

Decide who owns the auditor relationship. In smaller fintechs the CFO wears every hat; still appoint a single point of contact so document requests do not scatter across product, compliance, and operations.

Budget for bilingual workpapers if your parent company reports in another language. Translation of key policies and contracts should finish before we start sampling, not during the last week of fieldwork.

Treat the first engagement letter as a scoping exercise. Tell us about new products launched mid-year, overseas processors, and any soft launches that never reached the ledger — each can change sample sizes and fee estimates.