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- 🧾 How to Write Audit Commentary with AI (Without Getting Manager Notes)
🧾 How to Write Audit Commentary with AI (Without Getting Manager Notes)
Draft clean, risk-based summaries without sounding like a broken template
☕ Morning, finance fam! Audit commentary is one of those things we think we should be good at — until we stare at a blank text box at 9:34 PM wondering if “no issues noted” is enough.
This week’s issue is all about handing that job off to your AI assistant (without sounding like a robot). Whether you’re testing controls, summarizing walkthroughs, or just documenting procedures — this is the hack for you.
Audit commentary — the one thing that makes even seasoned accountants whisper “ugh, not again.”
This week, we’re fixing that. With just a few smart prompts, ChatGPT can take your messy audit notes and turn them into clean, review-ready summaries — the kind that actually make it past the manager on the first try.
Here’s what’s cooking in this week’s issue:
⚡ 1 AI Hack Use ChatGPT to generate audit commentary based on your actual test results
🛠️ 3 Free Tools To help clean, format, and improve your audit write-ups
🧠 1 News Byte Why Big 4 firms are training AI to document audit evidence
📚 What’s Happening Prompt libraries and audit AI guides worth saving
And more…
Let’s make documentation the easiest part of your audit 👇
⚡1 AI Hack: Write Risk-Based Audit Commentary with ChatGPT
🧠 The Problem:
You’ve done the audit testing. Now you’re stuck writing up the results — clearly, concisely, and in a way that won’t get bounced back by your manager.
Most folks either overexplain or underwrite. AI can help you hit the sweet spot — if you give it the right info.
🧰 What You’ll Need:
ChatGPT (free version is fine)
Notes from your audit testing, walkthrough, or control evaluation
5–10 minutes per section
🪜 Step-by-Step Instructions: From Raw Notes to Review-Ready Commentary
Let’s walk through a typical audit example.
🧾 Scenario:
You tested 15 invoices for the AP 3-way match control. No exceptions were found. Risk level: Low.
✅ Step 1: Feed your notes into ChatGPT
Prompt:
“Summarize this audit test result for documentation. I tested 15 invoices for 3-way match (PO, invoice, receiving). No exceptions. Risk level: Low. Make it sound professional and suitable for audit workpapers.”
🖊️ Output:
“A sample of 15 vendor invoices was selected and tested for adherence to the 3-way match control (purchase order, invoice, and receiving report). All items matched as expected, with no exceptions noted. Based on the results, the control appears to be operating effectively. Risk level: Low.”
✅ Step 2: Add business context if needed
Prompt:
“Add a sentence on why this control matters and its impact on financial reporting.”
🖊️ Output:
“This control ensures that payments are only made for goods and services that were properly ordered and received, reducing the risk of duplicate or unauthorized payments.”
✅ Step 3: Format for workpapers
Prompt:
“Combine this into a final audit commentary with clear structure: Objective, Testing Performed, Results, Conclusion.”
🖊️ Output:
Objective: Evaluate the effectiveness of the 3-way match control in Accounts Payable.
Testing Performed: A sample of 15 invoices was selected and reviewed for matching PO, invoice, and receiving documentation.
Results: All items met the criteria, with no exceptions noted.
Conclusion: The control is operating effectively. Risk level is considered Low.
✅ These prompts work great pasted into ChatGPT — or in bulk using Claude or Gemini.
💡 Why It’s Worth It:
Saves you 30+ minutes per section
Helps standardize tone and structure
Works even better with walkthroughs, control narratives, and issue descriptions
Try it on your next workpaper and see the difference.
🛠️ 3 Free AI Tools to Try This Week
📁 ChatGPT (Free)
Use Case: Turn testing notes into formal commentary
Tip: Structure inputs with bullets or clear sections (e.g. “Results,” “Risk,” “Control Tested”) for better output
🔗 chat.openai.com
📄 Notion AI (Free Plan)
Use Case: Summarize walkthroughs and controls notes
Tip: After pasting your notes into Notion, use the “Summarize” or “Make it more formal” command
💬 Claude.ai (Free)
Use Case: Refine or restructure lengthy audit commentary
Tip: Claude shines with long input — paste a rough draft and ask it to make it more concise but formal
📰 News Byte: Big 4 Teams Are Quietly Using AI to Draft Audit Commentary
AI is no longer just a pilot project — Big 4 firms like KPMG and Deloitte are actively integrating tools like ChatGPT into their audit workflows.
📌 Here’s what’s happening:
Auditors are feeding testing results into ChatGPT to generate summaries
Reviewers are using AI to “tone-check” or reformat junior staff work
Internal GPTs are trained on firm-style guides and risk matrices
Commentary now gets written faster, with more consistency — and fewer rounds of rewrites
💡 Why it matters:
AI will standardize documentation — which means fewer reviewer comments for you
It also gives juniors a fast way to level up their narrative game
Early adopters will get faster closes and better reviews
🔗 Read the full story on CPA Journal
Read it here
📚 What’s Happening
✅ Prompt Engineering for Internal Audit Teams
Walks through 4 specific prompts for testing procedures, walkthroughs, and narrative writeups. Great for junior auditors learning the ropes.
🧾 ChatGPT Prompts for Audit & Compliance Pros
Free GitHub prompt library built for risk, control, and audit prep
🎯 How AI is Changing the Role of the Auditor
Looks at how audit teams are shifting from documentation to advisory work as AI picks up the admin slack.
https://www.theiia.org/en/content/articles/2025/how-ai-is-changing-audit/
Meme Corner 😂
That’s a wrap!
This week you learned how to let AI handle the language game — while you stay focused on the insights.
✅ Wrote cleaner commentary in less time
✅ Found 3 AI tools to give your audits polish
✅ Got the scoop on how Big 4 are already ahead of the game
🗳 Got an idea or prompt to test? Hit reply — I read every one.
Requests, ideas or prompts, hit reply or comment and let me know - I read every response/comments.
👉 Know an overworked auditor? Share the goods: https://theaiplus.beehiiv.com/subscribe
Until then -
Stay sharp, stay risk-aware, and let AI take the first draft. 😎
Shirley, Chief Nerd at The AI+
P.S. 🧠 New: 25 Free ChatGPT Prompts to Fix Your Finances → https://theaiplus.beehiiv.com/c/personal-finance-prompts
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