I Keep Asking Questions. I Think They're Getting Annoyed.

Junior Auditor Series: #03

For junior auditors afraid of asking too many questions

Three Rounds on Kelvin Bakeries

Do you worry that you're asking your audit senior too many questions? Read on to find out what's actually going on when a reply feels short or not forthcoming.

Priya was testing trade receivables for Kelvin Bakeries, her first time doing this section on her own. She checked last year's working papers to see how the confirmations had been selected. The file just said, "per our audit approach," with no criteria explained.

Rather than guessing, she walked over to Marcus.

Priya: How should I approach the receivable confirmations for Kelvin Bakeries? Last year's file didn't explain how the customers were selected.

Marcus: Start with those balances above PM, then include a few overdue accounts as well. The smaller balances can be covered through other audit procedures, such as testing subsequent receipts.

Priya prepared the confirmation letters and sent them out.

A few days later, several replies came back with balances that didn't agree with the client's ledger. She could already see that some looked like timing differences, but she wasn't sure the extent of testing she should perform before concluding they had been satisfactorily resolved.

Priya: A few confirmations came back with different balances. Most look like timing differences. I propose to test only those above PM. Does that sound right to you?

Marcus: Yes, you do that and test also those that appear unusual.

Most of the differences were supported by proper documentation except for one.

A customer, Meadow Grocers, disputed a shipment because part of the goods had arrived damaged. Priya searched the credit notes file but found nothing dealing with the disputed shipment.

Priya: For Meadow Grocers, the client claims the dispute is still being reviewed by the warehouse manager. Since this isn't a timing difference, should we make an allowance for expected credit loss?

Marcus: Yes. If the dispute remains unresolved.

His reply came a little quicker this time. A little shorter too.

Priya noticed it so she refrained from asking her next question.

By Thursday, she had moved on to testing additions to property, plant and equipment. She tested all additions above performance materiality. As she worked through the listing, two smaller purchases caught her attention as they appeared unusual. One was a replacement forklift for the warehouse. The other was a laptop. There was no Purchase Order to authorise these purchases.

Priya: Marcus, there were two smaller purchases below PM but weren't supported by approved PO. I think we should clarify with the Finance Manager about this since he approved the invoices for payment. What do you think?

Marcus barely looked up from the file he was reviewing.

Marcus: Obviously.

Priya: Got it. Thanks.

Priya didn't ask anything else that afternoon.

What's Actually Going On

By Thursday afternoon, Marcus had answered questions from four other juniors, reviewed working papers of two separate engagements, replied client's emails; all these while preparing for next week's closing meeting with another client.

None of Priya's questions were unreasonable. They were exactly what a first-year auditor should ask. Each time, she'd already reviewed the prior year's file, formed a preliminary view, or applied the firm's audit methodology before asking Marcus for confirmation. What changed wasn't the quality of her questions. It was Marcus's day.

One of the hardest things for junior auditors to appreciate is that they experience only one conversation. Their senior has probably experienced twenty before lunchtime.

By the time Priya asked about the PPE additions, Marcus had spent hours switching between his own work and constant interruptions. His shorter answer wasn't necessarily a judgement about Priya. It may simply have reflected how stretched he already was.

ISA 220 (Revised) requires appropriate direction, supervision and review throughout the engagement. In practice, that means seniors answer questions continuously while also completing and reviewing their own work. As the day progresses, their capacity becomes thinner. That usually has far more to do with workload than with the quality of any one junior's question; although the latter may be true and it would require separate consideration, not in this article.

Why This Feels So Personal

For a first-year auditor, a shorter reply is easy to read as frustration, and frustration as disappointment. Before long, Priya starts wondering whether Marcus thinks she's slow, or simply not cut out for audit.

But there is another explanation. Marcus isn't responding only to Priya's fourth question. He's responding after three days of interruptions, competing deadlines and conversations with several other juniors. Those are two very different things.

The danger is what happens next.

If Priya decides that a shorter answer means she should stop asking questions, she will eventually replace questions with guesses. And guessing is far more dangerous to audit quality than asking one question too many.

What Priya Can Do Differently

The first thing Priya should keep doing is exactly what she was already doing: think before she asks, do her own research and reading first, then bring her own tentative answer with her. That groundwork is what changes the nature of the question.

There is a difference between asking, "What should I do?" and saying, "I think most of the differences are due to timing because ........, so I'm proposing to test only those above PM. Does that sound right to you?"

The first asks the senior to solve the problem from scratch. The second asks him to review a proposed step that has been thought through. Experienced auditors naturally move toward the second. It shows initiative and makes the discussion more productive for both parties.

The second thing Priya can do is group questions where it makes sense, raising several non-urgent ones together rather than interrupting each time one comes up. That doesn't mean waiting on anything that's holding back her work.

Finally, Priya shouldn't assume every short answer is a judgement about her. If Marcus consistently dismisses questions or refuses to explain his reasoning, that deserves attention. But one shorter reply on a busy Thursday isn't enough to reach that conclusion.

None of this is an excuse for a senior to be disrespectful. Good supervision means juniors feel comfortable asking questions in the first place.

But even good seniors have demanding days. So a shorter reply doesn't always mean your senior thinks less of you. Sometimes it simply means you've asked your question at the end of someone else's very long day.

A tired reply isn't a reason to stop asking questions. It's a reason to be more thoughtful about how and when you ask them. Stop asking only when you've learned enough that you no longer need to ask.

 

If moments like this feel familiar, Is It Them? (Part 1): Working With Your Audit Senior walks through more real situations just like this one, and what you can do differently next time.

 

Your Audit Mentor