# Audit, Assurance & Transaction Support Audit readiness, internal audit and internal financial controls, and support through due diligence and transactions. Audits that finish on time, because the questions were answered before anyone asked them. A difficult audit is usually the year catching up with the company: schedules nobody reconciled, judgements nobody wrote down, controls that lived in the policy manual and left no evidence behind. Our work is to make a statutory audit predictable: testing internal financial controls before the auditor does, running internal audits that end in fixes, and supporting management through diligence and transactions. Where we are the statutory auditor, independence rules limit what else we can do for that client, and we apply them strictly. ## How we help clients ### Audit readiness programmes A preparation calendar that begins months before fieldwork, with PBC schedules owned by named people, a pre-audit health check, draft financial statements tied to the ledger, and a file of the technical positions the auditor will test. - PBC management - Pre-audit review ### Internal financial controls Design and testing of internal control over financial reporting: risk and control matrices, walkthroughs, operating-effectiveness testing, and gap reporting, so that the controls an auditor relies on can be evidenced. - ICFR - IFC - Risk and control matrix ### Internal audit Risk-based internal audit for promoter-led and investor-backed companies, reported to the audit committee as risks and remediation rather than a list of exceptions. - Internal audit - Audit committee reporting ### Audit trail and IT general controls Assessment of accounting systems against the audit trail requirement, including the database, interface, and sub-ledger gaps that a software setting does not close. - Rule 3(1) - Rule 11(g) - ITGC ### Statutory and special-purpose audits Statutory audits of private companies, and special-purpose audits for a stake sale, a lender, or group reporting. All are carried out under the Standards on Auditing. - Standards on Auditing - Special purpose ### Transaction support Financial due diligence and quality-of-earnings work, and completion accounts once a deal closes, for buyers as well as sellers. - Due diligence - Quality of earnings ## When clients call us ### Last year’s audit ran months late Deadlines slipped, penalties followed, and the working relationship with the auditor has become strained. ### The auditor has reported control weaknesses Observations on internal financial controls are building up, and the audit committee wants a plan it can track. ### A new auditor is coming in Rotation resets the auditor’s understanding of the business. Opening balances and old judgements will be looked at again. ### Investors are about to begin diligence A funding round or stake sale is weeks away, and the data room will expose every balance that does not reconcile. ### The audit trail question is still open The feature is switched on, but nobody has tested whether it covers every system and every change for the full year. ### The board wants independent assurance The business has grown faster than its oversight, and the board would like an internal audit function before it needs one. ## Our approach ### Independence comes first We do not audit what we prepared. Where two roles could conflict, we decline one of them. ### Evidence over assertion For audit purposes, a control without evidence does not exist. We design for evidence from the start. ### Findings with owners Each observation has a root cause, an owner, a deadline, and a test of whether the fix worked. ### The auditor’s view, from your side Our training is in Big Four assurance. We know what an engagement team will ask, and why. ## How audit-ready is your company? Fifteen statements, about four minutes, and a scored view of where your exposure is concentrated. [Take the diagnostic](https://soniassociates.in/audit-readiness-diagnostic) ## Examples of our work [All client impact](https://soniassociates.in/case-studies) Manufacturing · Audit & Assurance ### [Turning chronic audit delays into on-time delivery for a seven-entity manufacturing group](https://soniassociates.in/case-audit-readiness-manufacturing-group) 7 Legal entities brought onto one readiness calendar Technology · Financial Reporting ### [Rebuilding an expected credit loss model for a listed IT services company with US$855 million in receivables](https://soniassociates.in/case-ecl-model-listed-it-services) US$855mn Gross trade receivables covered by the model Diversified group · Financial Reporting ### [Consolidating a thirteen-entity group through a mid-year sale of a majority stake](https://soniassociates.in/case-consolidation-thirteen-entity-group) 13 Entities consolidated, including subsidiaries and associates ## Featured insights [More insights](https://soniassociates.in/insights?topic=audit-controls) Article · The Audit-Ready Company ### [The audit trail requirement is a control, not a software setting](https://soniassociates.in/insight-audit-trail-edit-log) August 26, 2026 · 10 min read Article · The Audit-Ready Company ### [The month-end close as a design problem](https://soniassociates.in/insight-month-end-close) June 24, 2026 · 9 min read Article · The Audit-Ready Company ### [The judgements auditors test in an expected credit loss model](https://soniassociates.in/insight-ecl-models-audit-scrutiny) June 10, 2026 · 11 min read ## Related ### [Technology & AI](https://soniassociates.in/tech-and-ai) Full-population analytics test every journal entry rather than a sample: postings outside working hours, round amounts, unusual combinations of user and account, and duplicate payments. Exceptions arrive ranked by risk, and a person investigates each one. ### [Audit-readiness diagnostic](https://soniassociates.in/audit-readiness-diagnostic) Fifteen statements, about four minutes, and a scored view of where your audit exposure is concentrated. ### [The Brief](https://soniassociates.in/subscribe) Our fortnightly read on reporting, tax, and structure for CFOs, controllers, and founders. [![Aditya Soni](https://soniassociates.in/assets/img/aditya-soni.jpg)](https://soniassociates.in/aditya-soni) ### [Aditya Soni](https://soniassociates.in/aditya-soni) Founding Partner, Pune Leads the firm’s work in audit and assurance. Advises companies and families on financial reporting, audit readiness, group structure, and tax. Previously in the Assurance practice of Ernst & Young in Pune. [Full profile](https://soniassociates.in/aditya-soni) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/in-aditya/) Industries [Manufacturing & Industrials · Inventory, fixed assets, working capital, and multi-entity groups with tender and export exposure.](https://soniassociates.in/industry-manufacturing) [Technology & IT Services · SaaS, IT services, and global capability centres dealing with revenue, equity, and cross-border complexity.](https://soniassociates.in/industry-technology) [Family Enterprises & Private Wealth · Promoter groups, family offices, and individuals planning for control, succession, and liquidity.](https://soniassociates.in/industry-family-enterprises) Other capabilities [Financial Reporting & Technical Accounting](https://soniassociates.in/service-financial-reporting) [Finance Function Transformation](https://soniassociates.in/service-finance-transformation) [Cross-Border & Multi-Jurisdiction Advisory](https://soniassociates.in/service-cross-border) [Corporate Structuring & Tax](https://soniassociates.in/service-corporate-structuring) ## Talk to our Audit & Assurance practice Tell us what you are working on. A first conversation carries no obligation, and confidentiality applies from the first email. [Contact us](https://soniassociates.in/contact?topic=audit) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/in-aditya/) --- Soni Aditya & Associates, Chartered Accountants. Office No 502, Unit 507, 5th Floor, 45 Baner Street, Baner, Pune, Maharashtra 411045, India. aditya@soniassociates.in · +91 93400 75288 · https://soniassociates.in/contact This website is published for general information, in keeping with the guidelines of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India on members’ websites. It does not advertise or solicit work, and nothing on it is professional advice. Publications reflect the law and standards at the date they were written, so please take advice on your own facts before acting. Client engagements described here are anonymised. Site index for agents: https://soniassociates.in/llms.txt Canonical page: https://soniassociates.in/service-audit