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Apparently this email went out at Cohn Reznick
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Yes, to the left is coming from and to the right to going to. Think of it like an envelope - coming from sender on the left.
It’s an efficiency issue, not a quality issue.
Cutting to the chase...
This kind of preferential crap is part of what drives people crazy. Seriously? You need to have a cross reference in a certain spot in order to understand whether it directs you up or down in the workpaper file? How about we simply put the cross reference next to the relevant number anyplace it comfortably fits. We are pretty smart and we will know where it directs us. What will we do if it doesnt fit on the left or underneath.... stop the audit, ask for overruns???
Let's focus on substance in our documentation. Preference items cause frustration and inefficient time.
Some people may say we need consistency in documentstion philosophy. I agree. But I do not consider the location of a cross reference to be included in that discussion.
Reminds me of a manager who color codes her points based on topic, relevance and priority. You needed more time understand her point writing system than to perform the entire audit. I cant even imagine how late she stayed at night to write them that way.
Big 8 when I started and we had a few people who tried to drive this preference. I'm sure it will last with some people until the concept morphs to something else.
Save yourself some time and some headache....dont worry about it. Just need intuitive and practical and put the reference where it makes sense to a reader.
Interesting that P1 and I are the ones saying it doesnt matter.
Exhausted all my hot air......
Get the details right. From on the left (or with brackets) and to on the right. It’s not about being a pain in the ass to work for, it’s about being consistent. Consistency leads to efficiency. But since you’ve led all these efficiency programs, you would know that. This idea that staff and seniors should be able to dictate the rules is one of the things causing so much unhappiness.
I am a JD LLM and didn’t know this. I had some really cross auditors at me my first audit job. Tick marks in the wrong place, wrong colors, etc etc. I just looked at them and said, “Look, it all adds up and here’s the back up for it. You can add your own hieroglyphic symbols to it to make it make sense to you.” They were not pleased with me :)
Hahaha at hieroglyphics. It’s so true. Each engagement team does it different. Some shapes, some letters, some random shooting star symbols.
Envelope method ALL THE WAY
Described by E1 above
Since we’re being technical this belongs in the audit bowl 🤣
I put all tickmarks to the right. The description of the amount is on the left
I’ve tried envelope method and I spend so much time thinking about what’s “coming from” and what’s “going to” — some references don’t fit the envelope method. Some tie-outs I add just to show how the information from different workpapers fits together, if that makes sense.
What the absolute f*ck is the envelope method? Just put em all to the right fam. Or under it. Or wherever makes the most sense.