How DAS Audit gives EisnerAmper more time for judgment

Jason Pitts, Partner at EisnerAmper, shares how the firm’s audit teams are working with DAS. From a more structured planning process to consistency that carries through the whole engagement, he explains what has made the biggest difference and what he’d tell other firms before they start.

Why DAS Audit works well for audit teams

Pitts credits the partnership with Caseware and the AICPA, saying both listen to the firm’s needs, make changes and map the audit standards well to the tool. The planning process is more in-depth and structured and teams have to work through every phase of planning before moving into execution.

How DAS improves consistency and efficiency

Planning judgments and decisions roll into execution and flow through to wrap-up, so teams no longer track changes across Excel and Word documents. Automation, workflow and consistency are huge improvements, Pitts said. Teams used to spend a lot of time matching wording and judgments throughout the file. With DAS, everything stays consistent, so they can focus on judgment decisions and critical estimates rather than nitpicky items.

Advice for firms adopting DAS

Training is the most important thing. The tool is intuitive, but the shift is big for people coming from an older system. Because the cloud-based tool asks many questions, it makes teams think through the audit rather than simply rolling forward a Word document. Tutorial videos have been the biggest help, letting people learn at their own pace, rewind and rewatch.

‍