Audit Sample Evidence Request Workflow

This concept is a FluidGrids workflow for collecting audit evidence, for external audit teams and internal auditors alike. Once the senior has selected a sample, each item needs its own supporting documents from whoever at the client holds them, and nothing should count as complete until the tester has looked at it. The design envisions the request cycle as one run: one request per sample item, routed to the right owner, chased on a set cadence and signed off by the tester.

In accounting, tax and audit work, sample requests are usually a spreadsheet and a string of emails. The client's accounts payable, receiving and treasury teams each get a share of the list, the audit team loses track of which items are still outstanding, and missing pieces surface late in fieldwork.

The illustration shows the Sample Evidence Requests workflow on the builder canvas, on an active version with Validate and Run controls, for a sample year-end audit. A form trigger receives the submitted sample selection, and a ProServiceWorld step reads the matching item on the engagement's PBC list, here a purchases item. A split step creates one request per sample, and a route-by-owner rule sends each down an accounts payable, receiving or treasury path. Every request is posted to the ProServiceWorld client upload room, with a Botlit step alongside to notify the owner and answer questions. A wait step holds each request for its upload, with reminders on day 3 and day 7, and loops until it arrives. A tester review approval follows; accepted evidence is filed in ProServiceWorld, while an exception branch catches missing pieces such as a missing receiving report. Nodes carry sample counts for requests posted, waiting, awaiting the tester, filed and in exception. A side panel sums up today's run with samples selected, evidence complete, waiting on client, awaiting tester, exceptions and the oldest open sample, and the logs record the selection, the requests posted and a sample routed to the tester because its receiving report was missing.

Two other Burdenoff products take part by design. ProServiceWorld is designed to hold the engagement's PBC list, the client upload room where owners respond and the document register where accepted evidence is filed against the request and sample number. A Botlit assistant is designed to be on hand for client owners who need to know what a request is asking for. FluidGrids holds the split, the routing, the reminders and the pause for the tester. Audit judgments stay with the audit team: the workflow chases the evidence, and the tester decides whether it is sufficient and what an exception means.