IndiaAuditLens
Work on and close findings, and evaluate misstatements under SA 450
Findings are raised and closed in one place, the Findings register. A finding stays open while you work on it. You close it only in the register, with one of five outcomes and your conclusion. Every report, letter…
By IndiaAuditLens product team · Updated 2026-08-03
Before you begin
Open the correct engagement. Gather what you need to decide each finding: source records, evidence, the client's explanation and any related workpaper. Check your role on the engagement team. Closing a finding is a review step. Set current materiality before you evaluate misstatements.
Where findings come from
Only findings in the Findings register count. A finding reaches the register when:
you capture an audit-menu check's exceptions (⊕ or Capture all to Findings); you use Raise finding, by hand or on an item such as a transaction, an audit question or an AuditIQ answer; an area raises one of its flags or exceptions, or several at once (see the next section); you raise a finding for a sampled voucher with an error (Sampling and external confirmations); you run one of the firm's custom rules. Each rule keeps one entry in the register, with one evidence row per matched record. Running the rule again refreshes those rows instead of adding them twice.
How findings arrive from the areas
The areas of the audit do not close anything. Each area keeps its flags and exceptions on its own screen and offers three actions on its items: Bookmark (to come back to it), Ask client (a question or a document request, kept on Review › Client requests) and Raise finding. Where an area lists several flags, tick them and click Raise finding for N: each item becomes its own finding. The form asks once for the risk level and what was found. An item that is already in Findings keeps its finding, and the message says so.
Each item then shows where it stands, for example In Findings · OBS-IT-0003 · Open (click the reference to open the finding), or Not raised to Findings. Where an area checks its work before sign-off, it counts the flags or exceptions not raised to Findings. It never asks you to close them in the area: you close each finding here, and manager sign-off waits until every finding is closed.
Decisions recorded before 13 October 2026
Decisions that an area recorded before 13 October 2026 were moved into the Findings register, so nothing was lost. Each became a finding with the words, the person and the date of the earlier decision: closed with the matching outcome, or open where the exception had not been decided. The area keeps the earlier decision as history; where a screen still shows it, it is marked as recorded before 13 Oct 2026.
Work on a finding
A finding is open while you work on it. It has one of three open statuses:
Open Review › Findings and select the Findings tab. Group by Audit Area, Severity or Status. Use the evidence and impact to decide what to look at first. Click a row. The panel shows the finding's description, where it was raised from, and its evidence rows. Under Status, click Mark Under investigation, Mark Confirmed or Mark Open. No reason is needed; you may add a note.
To change several findings at once, tick their rows, choose a status in Set status… and click Apply. Only statuses that every selected finding can move to are offered.
AuditIQ can change a finding's open status through a card that you confirm. It cannot close or reopen a finding.
Close a finding
You close a finding only here, in the Findings register. Choose how it is closed:
Click the finding's row. Under Close this finding, choose the outcome. For Report in the audit report, choose Where it is reported: A CARO clause, then choose the clause. CARO 3(xix) is not offered: it is concluded on the Going concern page. The opinion. Report Studio then suggests a qualified opinion. The opinion remains the partner's decision. Emphasis of matter (SA 706), for a matter disclosed in the accounts that readers should note. The opinion is not modified. Key audit matter (SA 701), for a matter of most significance in the audit.
For the last two, Report Studio adds the section after Refresh from the audit file and marks it To write, naming the finding; you write the paragraph. In Conclusion, write why it is closed this way. A conclusion is required. Click Close finding.
Closing is a review step, so the engagement team's review rules apply. If you raised the finding yourself, you are asked for a self-review reason, unless you are the only person on the team.
Reopen a finding
Click the closed finding's row. The panel shows the outcome, the conclusion and who closed it. Under Reopen it, write why it is reopened. Click Reopen.
The outcome is cleared and the finding is open again. Its history keeps the outcome it had and your reason.
A closed finding also reopens by itself when its check is run again and finds new exceptions. Its outcome was decided without them: look at them and close the finding again.
Review a finding (SA 220)
A manager checks the evidence and the status, then clicks Manager review. The engagement partner separately clicks Partner review. Every critical, very high or high finding needs partner review before the partner sign-off. Check the M and P marks on the row.
Do not paste internal notes, AI narratives or working comments into anything shared with the client.
What the outcome changes
Sign-off. Manager sign-off, and moving the engagement from Review to Finalise, need every finding closed. A Confirmed finding is still open. CARO. In Report Studio, the CARO annexure prints only the findings closed as Report in the audit report under a CARO clause. While a finding with a CARO clause is still open, that part of the clause shows 1 finding open and waits for it. Emphasis of matter and key audit matters. A finding closed as reported as an emphasis of matter or a key audit matter gives Report Studio that section, marked To write, after Refresh from the audit file. It does not…
The Executive Summary, CARO, 3CD, Management Letter and Partner Memo tabs read the same register. The CARO tab maps findings to clauses for your review; it is not the annexure. The letter and the memo are read-only drafts: review them, and remove anything internal, before any use.
Findings closed under the earlier statuses
The earlier closing statuses were converted. The conclusion of a converted finding names its old status.
Build the SA 450 schedule
Open Review › Misstatements. Confirm that each finding is quantified and that overall, performance and trivial materiality are current. Choose Factual, Judgmental or Projected in Type. Expand the row and set the affected statement (PL, BS or BOTH) and the direction (Overstate or Understate). Hover the amount to see its formula, basis and citation. If the supported amount differs, click the edit control, enter the amount (not negative) and save. The manual badge records your figure; keep the calculation evidence. Record management's response. Read In Findings on each row. It shows the…
The verdict updates live but does not save itself. A recorded evaluation is a timestamped snapshot; record it again after a material change and explain why.
Expected result
Every finding is either open with a current status, or closed with an outcome and a recorded conclusion; reviews are recorded at the right level; the SA 450 schedule classifies and adds up the quantified items; and the recorded evaluation and export agree with the report conclusion.