When your auditor is not on Achekam
What a non-profit can give an audit firm not on Achekam: ledger and trial balance, management accounts as PDF or CSV, and documents by expiring link.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Non-profit businesses in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya
Audit season at a non-profit has its own pressure. The funder's grant agreement names an audit deadline, the board wants the signed statements before the annual general meeting, and the audit firm, chosen for its non-profit experience and its fee, sends a long request list on day one. Then comes the question: how does the auditor get into your books, when the firm does not use Achekam?
The short answer is that the auditor cannot be appointed in Achekam until the firm is on it. But that does not stop an audit. This article explains why the appointment route needs the firm on Achekam, what you can give an outside auditor instead, how to share supporting documents safely, and what changes if the firm joins later.
Why the appointment route needs the firm to be on Achekam
In Achekam, a business appoints its accounting firm by the firm's Achekam address or firm code, as accountant, auditor, tax practitioner, payroll provider or adviser, with an access level, and the firm accepts or declines. That route gives a firm's people direct access to your books under your rules.
A business cannot appoint an accountant who is not already on Achekam. There is no invitation that brings an outside firm in. So for an audit firm that works in its own systems, the job is to prepare the information the auditor needs and hand it over in a controlled way, much as you would from any accounting package.
The ledger and trial balance the auditor can work from
Every audit starts from two documents: the trial balance at year end and the general ledger behind it. In Achekam, the general ledger lists every posted line, and the trial balance shows each account for all time, for a period or at a date, and says whether debits equal credits.
Agree early with the auditor how they will see them. Options include:
- a walk-through on screen with your finance officer, account by account;
- extracts of the ledger for the accounts the auditor selects, prepared by your team;
- the trial balance at year end, checked to balance, as the starting schedule.
Whatever the format, give the auditor the same cut-off as your final figures. If adjustments are still being posted, wait, or mark the trial balance clearly as a draft, so the auditor is not testing numbers that will change.
Management accounts downloaded as PDF or CSV
Achekam's management accounts show an income statement for a chosen period beside the period before, and a balance sheet at period end, both added up from the organisation's own journals. They can be exported as PDF or CSV.
Both formats are useful at audit time:
| Format | Use it for |
|---|---|
| A fixed copy for the audit file and the finance committee | |
| CSV | Figures the auditor can load into their own working papers and analyse |
Remember that the year-to-date preset starts on 1 January rather than your own year start, so set the period dates to match your financial year before exporting.
The auditor will want evidence for the figures, not just the figures. ACCA's article on examining evidence explains the difference between audit procedures and audit evidence, and how auditors decide which evidence is relevant, which helps you anticipate what they will ask for next.
Sharing supporting documents by an expiring personal link
Grant agreements, board minutes, bank statements, supplier invoices, payroll reports and donation records are what the auditor tests against. Sending them as e-mail attachments scatters copies across inboxes you do not control.
Instead, share from Document Centre. A document can be shared by e-mailing a personal link with an expiry date, an optional one-time code, and a choice of whether downloading is allowed, and the share can be revoked. For an audit:
- set the expiry to the end of the audit period;
- add a one-time code for sensitive files such as payroll and donor records;
- allow downloads only where the auditor needs to keep a copy for the audit file;
- revoke shares once the audit is signed off.
Keep a simple log of what was shared, with whom and when. It answers the inevitable "did we send the auditor the lease agreement?" in seconds.
An audit request list, in words
A community health non-profit receives its auditor's request list. The finance officer exports the year's management accounts as PDF and CSV, prepares the year-end trial balance, and arranges a screen walk-through of the ledger for the grant income accounts. Grant agreements and bank statements are shared by personal link with an expiry at the end of the month; payroll reports go with a one-time code and downloads switched off. After the audit report is signed, the finance officer revokes every share and files the log with the audit correspondence.
What changes if the firm joins Achekam later
If your audit firm later joins Achekam, you can appoint it as your auditor by its Achekam address or firm code, with an access level. Review access is read-only, which suits an auditor: the firm's people can look at the ledger and reports directly without being able to change anything.
Your own sign-in rules then apply to the firm's people too, as explained in making your accountant meet your sign-in rules. And if your accounting firm set up your books in the first place, when your accountant sets up your books covers who can do what.
Before the audit starts
Ask the audit firm for its request list early, agree how it will see the ledger and trial balance, export the management accounts for your financial year, and set up document shares with sensible expiries. Funders that also ask for a cash flow statement should read when a funder asks for a cash flow statement.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
