From trial balance to sign-off, structured working papers for every engagement

Structured folder index: organise workpapers into numbered and named folders (Administration, Planning, Lead Schedules and any custom sections your firm uses), with drag-and-drop reordering to match your preferred file layout.

Roll-forward: carry forward last year’s completed file as the starting point for this year’s engagement. Prior-year workpapers, trial balance mappings and file structure all come across, so your team builds on previous work rather than starting from scratch.

Completion tracking: each folder shows a workpaper sign-off percentage, rolled up to the Workflow Manager so managers can see progress across the firm without opening individual files.

Tickmarks, references and cross-referencing: add review tickmarks and cross-references between any workpapers, searchable by name or reference number.

Supporting documents on any line: drag and drop evidence files (invoices, bank statements, confirmations) directly onto lead-schedule lines or trial-balance account codes, so supporting evidence sits where it belongs.

PDF annotation: highlight, comment on and flag items in PDF documents without leaving the working papers.

Microsoft Office Online: open and edit Word and Excel workpapers in the browser, with no downloads and no version conflicts.

Excel Connect: work in your own Excel spreadsheets with a live connection to the engagement file, so your team uses familiar tools without duplicating effort.

Client Portal: send information requests and queries directly to clients through a secure portal. Responses come back into the engagement file, with no chasing by email.

Automated import from bookkeeping sources: connect directly to Xero, QuickBooks Online and Sage Accounting, or import via CSV.

Export to your accounts production software: export your final trial balance to BrightAccountsProduction, IRIS or CCH, or via CSV.

Drill into individual transactions: import the full general ledger from Xero or CSV and search, filter and drill into individual transactions across any account. Flow Analysis shows how money moves between accounts as an interactive diagram, so unusual patterns stand out and you can click through to the underlying entries.

Post adjustments without leaving your working papers: raise journal entries (accruals, prepayments, reclassifications, corrections) directly within the engagement file, each tagged, traceable and ready to export in one click.

Accounting structures: map trial balance codes to lead schedules that build your profit-and-loss and balance-sheet view automatically, using the built-in structures or your own custom mappings, applied consistently across every file.

Chartered Accountants Ireland templates: templates based on the Chartered Accountants Ireland Procedures for Quality Audit (PQA) and Audit Exempt programmes, with legislative checklists for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Limited Company Audit and Limited Company Exempt are available; Charity Audit and a Group Audit template aligned to ISA 600 extend the range.

CPA Ireland content: CPA Ireland’s Limited Companies Audit and Limited Companies Exempt working paper content, ready to use or customise to your firm’s approach.

ISA (Ireland) 315 risk assessment: identify and assess risks of material misstatement using structured inherent-and-control risk workpapers. Risks link directly to the audit plan, and the Risk Matrix, a 5x5 likelihood-and-magnitude grid, lets you score, prioritise and filter risks at a glance, with manual overrides for rebuttable presumptions such as revenue recognition.

Materiality, calculated to ISA (Ireland) 320: benchmark selection from the trial balance, overall and performance materiality, the trivial threshold and specific area materiality, automated with a manual override at every step.

Group audits, without the duplication: share planning and completion workpapers across every file in the group, so a change is made once rather than repeated in each subsidiary file.

Consolidation inside the engagement: pull the subsidiary figures together to set group materiality early, then finalise the consolidated position with adjustments drawn from the individual files.

Planning lockdown: enforce planning discipline across the firm, so fieldwork cannot begin on an incomplete plan without a recorded reason.

Lockdown and archive to ISA (Ireland) 230: set the lockdown period to match the standard, which ordinarily expects the final audit file to be assembled within 60 days of the auditor’s report. Once archived, the file is locked against amendment; workpapers, journals and review points remain visible and printable for the retention period ISA (Ireland) 230 expects, ordinarily at least five years from the report date.