Ever done something and instantly wished you hadn’t?
Some people just have a gift for making a terrible first impression.
Like the job candidate who was late and rudely barged into the lift ahead of a lady. The next time he saw her was in his interview. She was the CEO.
Or the best man who let the nerves get the better of him and opened his speech by accidentally proposing a toast to the groom and his previous girlfriend (true story).
As brutal as these are, it gets worse. You don’t get a second chance at a first impression.
It’s the same with your audit files. The moment someone opens that spreadsheet, it either whispers “trustworthy professional” or screams “I hope you like puzzles.”
Misaligned columns, inconsistent formats, rogue text where numbers should be. It all adds up to one thing: doubt. And once doubt creeps in, everything takes longer.
More uncertainty.
More questions.
More second guessing.
More explaining why the balance sheet still has a note attached saying “Note to self - not sure about this”.
The good news? Formatting isn’t about making things pretty. It’s about making things work, and it’s not hard to do..
Clean, structured data speeds up reviews, prevents errors, and makes your life (and everyone else’s) easier.
Numbers belong in number format. Dates should actually be dates. That “£” sign should be where it’s meant to be, not floating in a sea of misplaced numbers and symbols.
You don’t need to be an Excel Picasso. But you do need to make sure your work looks like you know what you’re doing. Because perception matters. And in auditing, the right first impression can be the difference between a smooth sign-off and days of picky, painful questions and revisions.
So, before you hit send on that file, ask yourself this. Does this look like it was prepared by someone who knows their stuff, or by someone who might accidentally include ‘FINAL_V27_ACTUALLY_FINAL.xlsx’ in their review notes?
Because if it’s the latter, we both know how that story ends.
Have a great week.
Regards,
Christiaan.
P.S. If you use the Audit Toolbar, you’ve already seen the promised land. If not, there is a place where you can give your data a scrub-up in seconds. Applying your favourite styles. One click. Numbers, signs, and dates all in the right format. One click. Absolute values? One click.
We should really call it The First Impressions Tab.
Want to see more? Watch this video.
Want to know much more? Arrange a time to set The Audit Toolbar in action here.
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Enhance your Excel with this powerful add-on, designed to make your audit work faster and more efficient.
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