Most audit stress is self-inflicted: records exist, but they live in different places, reconciliations are months behind, and supporting documents have quietly gone missing. The fix is not heroic effort in the final week — it is a sequenced ninety days.
Days 1 to 30 are for the books. Bring the cashbook fully up to date, complete bank reconciliations for every account through to the most recent month-end, and reconcile fee income against student records. Any unexplained difference found now is a conversation; found by the auditor, it is a finding.
Days 31 to 60 are for the files. Assemble vouchers in sequence, pull together procurement records — quotations, committee minutes, delivery notes — and update the fixed asset register and stores records. Confirm that board and finance committee minutes exist for every significant decision of the year.
Days 61 to 90 are for review. Prepare the trial balance and draft statements, check that all statutory returns were filed and receipts kept, and walk through last year's management letter point by point. What was raised last year must be demonstrably fixed this year.
Do this annually and the audit becomes what it should be: an independent confirmation of a well-run institution, not an excavation.