July 9, 2026 • 3 min read
Every audit engagement follows a familiar structure.
Evidence is collected, documentation is reviewed, stakeholders provide information, and findings are documented before the final report is delivered.
However, not every stage requires the same amount of effort.
We recently asked our LinkedIn community a simple question:
Which part of an audit takes the most time?
Although the poll reflects a relatively small group of professionals, the responses highlight a challenge that many audit teams recognise.
- Reviewing documentation – 47%
- Collecting evidence – 40%
- Following up with stakeholders – 7%
- Reporting findings – 7%
The two activities receiving the most votes have something important in common: both happen long before the final audit report is written.
Reviewing Documentation: More Than Just Reading
Nearly half of respondents identified documentation review as the most time-consuming part of an audit.
That is hardly surprising.
Reviewing evidence involves much more than checking whether a document exists. Auditors need to determine whether the evidence is complete, accurate, relevant to the audit scope, and sufficient to support their conclusions.
When documentation comes from multiple systems, departments, or document owners, this process becomes even more demanding.
Evidence Collection Remains a Major Challenge
Collecting evidence ranked a close second.
While evidence requests may appear straightforward, gathering the required information often involves multiple stakeholders, different systems, and repeated follow-ups to obtain complete documentation.
The more fragmented the process becomes, the more time audit teams spend coordinating information instead of evaluating controls and identifying risks.
Why Reporting Ranked Lower
Interestingly, only a small number of respondents selected reporting as the most time-consuming activity.
This does not necessarily mean reporting is easy.
Instead, it may suggest that much of the work has already been completed by the time auditors begin writing the report.
If evidence has been collected effectively and documentation has been reviewed thoroughly, reporting becomes the process of communicating conclusions rather than searching for missing information.
Every Stage Depends on the One Before It
Although audit activities are often discussed separately, they are closely connected.
Delays during evidence collection can slow documentation reviews.
Incomplete documentation creates additional follow-up requests.
The more interruptions that occur throughout the engagement, the more difficult it becomes to maintain momentum.
That is why many organisations focus on improving the audit process as a whole rather than trying to optimise individual tasks in isolation.
Better visibility, clearer ownership, and more structured workflows help reduce unnecessary delays across every stage of an audit.
What Do These Results Tell Us?
Our LinkedIn poll was never intended to produce statistically representative research.
Instead, it started a conversation about where audit teams believe they spend the most time.
For this group of professionals, the biggest challenges were not writing reports or presenting findings.
They were reviewing documentation and collecting evidence – the activities that form the foundation of every successful audit.
Perhaps that is where the greatest opportunity for improving audit efficiency begins.
Ready to streamline your audit process?