New

[2026 Templates] Identified risks now appear on the workpaper you're testing

Targeted workpapers carry an "Identified [workpaper name] Risks" section directly under Referenced Items, covering both financial statement and assertion level risks.

It collapses and expands, remembers which way you left it as you move between workpapers, and stays hidden on workpapers with no risks targeted to them.

[2026 Templates] Financial statement level risks on Z1

The Z1 page now includes financial statement level risks alongside the assertion level summary, with its own sign-off, and expands to show the aim or conclusion of each targeted workpaper, the risk description, the detail and the sign-off.

New Keyboard Shortcuts for navigating items (+ more)

Alt with the left and right arrows now steps through every step and item on a page, not just unanswered ones. With an item selected, the space bar opens its menu, and the common actions have single key shortcuts: e to edit, m to mark as reviewed, d to delete, b to bring forward. Editors focus automatically, so you can start typing straight away.

Other New Features

• Open split screen from the command centre. Cmd or Ctrl K now includes split screen.
• Recent jobs in the job selector, so switching back to a job you had open takes one click.
• Drag to reorder annotations in the analytical review sub-pages.
• Last rollover date on the Job Usage Report, on the actual usage table, for account owners checking what has rolled and when.

Improved

• The save footer on tables stays put rather than scrolling out of reach on long tables.
• Cmd or Ctrl and Enter closes text boxes that previously ignored it.
• Date fields on pre-filled table rows open a date picker when you edit them inline, matching the picker you already got when editing the whole row.
• Single page prints are tidier.

Fixed

• Improved Pasting from Word, plus a batch of rendering problems in documents and markdown
• Items left behind when the table row they belonged to was deleted
• Sub-pages not locking correctly
• An unconcluded lead schedule still blocking Add Risk, because stale conclusion text was read as concluded
• Wonky icons in the sidebar
• A trial balance row showing green on the summary page when it hadn't been addressed
• Review notes and follow ups not creating properly, and their ordering
• Replies on review notes below a page conclusion couldn't be edited or deleted
• Split view getting stuck as though you were still dragging it
• Risk Library not showing lead schedule procedures
• A download button on hard copy and link attachments that never did anything has been removed

New Features

Rollover

Rollover is now labeled as Finalisation. Finalisation now creates a export archive and keeps the original job as a read only copy and creates a new job for the new rolled over job. Previously, Audit Assistant would destructively rollover the job and edit the year end to next year end without keeping a separate copy relying entirely on zip/pdf archives. Some UI Changes have occurred such as the action bar now displaying this job is ready to Finalise (instead of rollover) with a new finalisation screen.

To view finalised jobs, we have added a new filter in the status filter on the jobs page - this will show read-only prior year jobs in your job search results.

Quick job selector

Now,when you are within a job you select the job selector on the top right of the main blue toolbar, and the drop down menu contains a in-built job selector for easy switching of the past 5 jobs you last accessed - or search all jobs with search results appearing right inside the drop-down area.

Other New Features

• Reply to review notes from the summary page, instead of going back to the workpaper.
• Sharing icon on the page index for pages designed for sharing.
• Sub-pages on the All Pages index, listed alongside their parents, clickable through to where they sit.
• Drag attachments and links straight from the sidebar onto another page; sorts itself into a cross reference or linked attachment.
• Cross referencing on Yes/No answers that require further information.

Improved

• Trial balance reordering is quicker, and legacy template TB rows drag by holding, no selecting first.
• Adjusted balances link through to the journal entry on lead schedules and analytical review. Green posted, amber pending, matching the trial balance.
• Final analytical review shows comments and attachments in full.
• Unconcluding a page keeps the previous conclusion in the box.
• Recent jobs on the dashboard default to your assigned jobs.

• TB page can't be concluded with uncategorised rows.
• "Internal controls" is now "Systems and Controls".
• Last viewed on shared items. You can tell the difference between "not read" and "read and ignored".

Also: tidier contact role wrapping, spacing restored on the risks print view.

Fixed

• Saving PDF annotations wiped an attachment's other details (hard copy, link, SharePoint)
• The message sent with a share was no longer visible afterwards
• Pasting from Word double spaced text in the workpaper editor
• Opening summary pages reset the page scroll
• Partner sign-off pages can be unconcluded by a non-partner, and a
• A manager's review didn't put blue ticks on the workpaper
• A manager could conclude a partner sign-off page then be locked out of unconcluding it
• Variables not populating, plus odd behaviour in document variables
• Point forward not duplicating
• Prior year answers not auto-deleting when the current year answer differed
• Sorting by date, plus other ordering problems
• Incomplete requests not standing out on testing tables
• Attachments on a posted management point couldn't be marked reviewed
• A share link on another page of the same client didn't redirect to the new v26 version
• Transfer activation text showing on fixed plans

New

• Cross references on Yes/No answers. Answering Yes/No with more information now supports a cross reference, same as a standard comment annotation.
• Drag files from the sidebar onto a page. Drop an attachment or link from the sidebar onto a work-paper step and and it files itself as a cross reference or linked attachment.
• Jump straight to the conclusion. Once a workpaper has nothing outstanding, the action bar gives you a button (and the left/right shortcut) that takes you directly to the conclusion instead of hunting for it.

Improved

• Adjustments now show on lead schedules and analytical review. Adjusted balances appear in green (posted) or amber (pending) and link straight to the journal entry (previously only on the Trial Balance).
• Final Analytical Review shows everything. Comments and attachments now display in full.
• Faster trial balance and bring forward. Reordering TB rows and bring-forward are noticeably quicker for older non 2026 templates.

Fixed

• Firm logo/letterhead missing from printed PDFs; bold text rendering oddly; management points running together with no spacing.
• Review notes and follow-ups changing the wrong user's name when ticked off from the summary.
• A manager could conclude a partner sign-off page but then couldn't unconclude it.
• Point forward duplicating items; prior-year answers not auto-deleting correctly.
• Beneficiary/trustee variables not populating.
• Pasting into rich text adding a stray leading space and line break.
• Contacts duplicating themselves.
• New files opening in the old version by default.

Importing into the sampling tool used to be one step, drop in a file and hope it read the columns correctly. It's now a guided four step wizard, so you can check the heading row and preview your columns before anything gets imported. If the system picks the wrong row, you can just click the right one. Errors are more obvious providing a way forward for the user to fix them.

• Step 1: select your file
• Step 2: confirm the heading row, usually detected for you automatically
• Step 3: set your sampling options, all rows, random sample or cumulative (MUS)
• Step 4: import runs

By pressing Ctrl/Cmd + S, or the icon to the top left of your sidebar (left of the client name), you can now hide the sidebar for when you need to use a smaller screen or a landscape page.

After some feedback and consideration internally, we realised the "pending work" page in the sidebar is not as useful as we initially imagined.

Based on feedback, we have made the following changes:

• Moved links from the 'pending work' page are now directly in the footer bar showing a simple count next to the icon for remaining items. Hovering over the icons will reveal the name/meaning for each icon. Clicking the icon will take you directly to this page.
• Added 'Deadlines' to the quick-link options in the global search box. (Deadlines are still displayed on the summary page)
• We plan to remove the 'pending work' page entirely over the next few weeks in favour of the above options.

We’re excited to introduce a major upgrade to Audit Assistant’s trial balance import tool! Previously, importing a trial balance required exact column names for recognition, making the process rigid and sometimes frustrating. With our new tool, you can now upload trial balances with any column names and easily map them to the required fields, streamlining the process for a more seamless experience.

The new import tool offers multiple ways to upload your files, including selecting from your computer, dragging and dropping, or pulling directly from SharePoint. It intelligently detects common trial balance formats and suggests mappings, while also allowing for manual adjustments when needed. Additionally, the tool provides a detailed import report, helping you identify any skipped rows and ensuring data accuracy.

Watch the video below for a full walkthrough of the new trial balance import tool in action. We believe this update will make your workflow smoother and more efficient. As always, we welcome your feedback—let us know how it’s working for you!

General Release: 17 March 2025

Delayed Release: 1 April 2025

In this video, Nick shows the Audit Assistant’s SharePoint integration, demonstrating how account administrators and users can enable and link their Microsoft SharePoint accounts. Administrators must first activate the integration via Account Settings, while individual users can connect their accounts through their profile settings or when attaching a document to a workpaper.

Once linked, users can browse SharePoint files, select a drive, and navigate using search or folder browsing. Documents can be previewed, edited directly in SharePoint, and any changes remain synced while the workpaper is open. If a workpaper is concluded, the linked document version is locked.

Guests can still preview documents via temporary SharePoint URLs, ensuring seamless access for external reviewers or clients. When exporting jobs, Audit Assistant downloads and includes SharePoint files in the ZIP archive for a complete backup.

00:00 Introduction to SharePoint Integration

01:40 Linking SharePoint Accounts

03:20 Uploading Files from SharePoint

05:00 Managing File Versions

06:40 Exporting and Sharing Documents

We're excited to release a pre-release of the new Audit Assistant experience. This is the first of a number of version 3 features that we will be releasing.

You can try the new Audit Assistant today by clicking the 'Try Now' button that appears in the banner on a client. While in pre-release, you will be able to switch between the the current classic version of Audit Assistant and the new Audit Assistant Experience at any time.

A picture tells a thousand words, and a video tells even more so see the below video for a quick 2 minute introduction or learn more here.

Audit Assistant users now have the option to sign in with either their Microsoft work or school account or their Xero login.

This feature can be turned on and off in the Security Settings, under 'Sign In.'

For more information, please view our support article: https://support.auditassistant.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000355716-Security-options

The general release has already been deployed, and there will be a final release on the 1st of October for any remaining firms that require extra time to prepare for the change.