How to Get the Most Out of Audit Firm Interviews [SUBSCRIBERS-ONLY]

You have done everything right, prepared a request for proposal (RFP), obtained a list of prospective audit firms, received proposals from the audit firms, and narrowed your choice down to the top three to conduct live interviews. Now the most important step: how to conduct successful interviews to help ensure the “best” selection is made.

I believe the live interview process is the most important step in finding a match for an audit firm that aligns with your organization’s business model, service industry, types of funding, and  culture (how your organization conducts business, governance and communicates). I left out “well-qualified audit firms” as an objective because all audit firms that you had on your RFP list should have already met this criterion or they should have not been included.

To get the most out of the live interview process, you need to invest in up-front planning and preparation. Time and efforts here will directly impact how successful the interviews will be and optimize your final selection choice.

Incorporate the following tactics into your live interviews to level the playing field and glean the most useful information that will help the audit committee with making a final selection.