Feature Ideas

Summary We’d like reviewers to be able to raise review points in draft while they work through a file, then release them together as one review memo once the review is complete. The memo would link to each review point and group them by importance, so the engagement team gets one clear, prioritised set of actions instead of a stream of individual notifications. The problem Currently each review point goes to the team as soon as the reviewer raises it. This causes three issues for us: Points that resolve themselves still get sent. Reviewers often raise a point early, then find the answer later in the file. By then the team has already been notified and may have started working on something that no longer needs action. Notifications interrupt the team. A single review can generate dozens of separate notifications over several hours, which breaks the team’s focus on other work. Every point looks equally urgent. A point that blocks sign-off arrives the same way as a minor presentation comment, so the team can’t easily see what to tackle first. Proposed solution Draft status for review points Add a “Draft” status. Draft points are visible only to the reviewer (and optionally other reviewers on the engagement) and trigger no notifications. Reviewers can edit, resolve or withdraw draft points freely before release.Importance rating on each point Let reviewers assign an importance level when raising a point, for example: High: must be cleared before sign-off Medium: should be addressed on this engagement Low: for consideration, or carry forward to next year Firms should be able to rename these levels to suit their methodology. Release as a review memo When the reviewer clicks “Release review”, Audit Assistant generates a review memo that: lists all open draft points, grouped by importance and then by work programme section links each item directly to the review point and its workpaper includes a short reviewer summary field for overall comments moves all included points to “Raised” status at once sends the team a single notification linking to the memo Separate memos for each review stage Support a memo for each review layer (for example manager review, partner review, EQCR), so each stage has its own record and release point.Urgent release option Allow a reviewer to release an individual point immediately when it genuinely can’t wait, so the batch approach never holds up urgent matters.Review memo kept on file Save each released memo to the engagement file as evidence of review, with the date, reviewer and status of each point. The memo should update as points are cleared, or allow a “cleared” version to be generated at close-off.Audit trail Keep withdrawn draft points in the review audit trail (visible to reviewers only), so the file still shows what the reviewer considered.Firm-level setting Make batch release a configurable setting, either firm-wide or per engagement, for firms that prefer the current approach. Benefits Teams receive one prioritised list instead of many interruptions No wasted effort on points the reviewer has already resolved High-importance items are obvious, helping teams clear sign-off blockers first Each review stage leaves a clear, timestamped record that supports quality management requirements under PES 3 Reviewers can work through the file naturally without worrying about premature notifications Suggested acceptance criteria A reviewer can raise, edit and withdraw draft points without the team being notified Each point carries an importance level Releasing a review generates one memo, moves all draft points to Raised and sends one notification The memo links to every included point and is saved to the engagement file Individual urgent points can still be released immediately

A user suggested that "permanent" attachments be possible i.e. automatically flag as permanent so they are brought forward without having to tick - for key documents such as trust deeds or constitutions. It would be good to be able to view all these from one tab also.

Time saver

We are currently unable to edit an 'enquire further' nor add additional comments or information once we send one. This leads to emails between ourselves and the clients to clarify in cases where we make a mistake, typo, or do not include enough relevant information to clarify the query. Allowing additional comments under 'enquire further' would avoid the use of external communication outside the AA system and help to streamline requests. Additionally, sometimes we need to refer a client to answers they previously provided but cannot do so directly because the request has been closed. Allowing the request to be reopened would make this easier, save time typing out explanations or copying the client's old replies into a new query.

Raised during training. If a sample is made based on performance materiality of say 20 items, and the sample reveals errors such that it is decided to extend testing to test say another 20 items, how is this possible without deleting the original sample and starting again (which will get rid of all that testing work)?

Some clients are particularly bad at responding to requests. An auto follow-up of requests would be useful. If not responded to after the initial follow-up then a more urgently worded follow-up could be sent.

Most of our audit clients use Xero. Integration with Xero would be the highest priority for us. Imagine being able to: sync a client’s Xero file with an AA file automatically search contacts in Xero for related parties identified sync the trial balance confirm that the opening balances agree to prior year audited closing balances pull in account transactions for cumulative monetary sampling (and for the selected items, pull invoice attachments and metadata of the date approved and by who) send adjustment journals from AA to Xero as draft journals for the client to approve We have a couple of clients that use MYOB AccountRight Live so would be great to do this with MYOB too, but Xero would very much be our priority. (Kyle S)

If two clients are in the same group, then having the ability to cross reference to something in another grouped client.

This would help reviewers significantly as they would no longer need to download the files first, instead they can just use the preview tool and rotate pages as needed.

When multiple staff members are working on the same audit file, it would be really helpful if a manager could allocate specific sections to each team member. This way, it would be clearly visible within the file who is responsible for each section.

Hi. When refreshing the page, it seems to go back to the top of the page always when I am already on W section. I want it to just refresh but don't take me to the top.

Add a permanent file area against each client record for documents that carry over largely unchanged year on year, such as constitutions and rules, trust deeds, registration certificates and signed engagement letters. When attaching a document to an engagement, the upload dialogue should let the user search that permanent file and link an existing document rather than only browsing the local drive. This keeps a single current version of each standing document, and cuts the time spent locating prior-year copies during file setup. It also means the whole engagement team draws on the same source document, which limits the risk of team members working from different or superseded versions.

For the new format AA, attachments show up on the left hand panel which is great - however it would be very helpful if attachments that were included via Links were also displayed in this list of attachments also.

A user suggested that if the corresponding figures are not audited, we add an applicable paragraph that addresses the fact and can be used in a standard audit report.