SmartSuite for the Audit Manager
The Audit Manager leads individual engagements: scoping, planning, oversight of fieldwork, review of workpapers and timely reporting. They define objectives, risks and controls with standard templates, track testing completion and sign-offs, and coordinate with process owners on findings.
What you own
The Audit Manager leads individual engagements: scoping, planning, oversight of fieldwork, review of workpapers and timely reporting.
- Scope and plan engagements with objectives, risks and controls
- Supervise fieldwork and review workpapers
- Manage engagement schedules, assignments and review notes
- Draft audit reports and agree findings with management
- Follow up management actions to closure
- Coach auditors and maintain engagement quality
At a glance
The GRC processes this role owns, touches and depends on.
Owns
accountable for the process
Touches
contributes or approves
Depends on
consumes its output
How the GRC processes connect
Three lines of defense set the frame; the chain shows where each process hands off to the next. Colors follow the role: navy is owned, blue is touched, gray is depended on.
Reporting lines
Who this role reports to, who reports to them, and the peers they work with most.
Reports to
Direct reports
Works closely with
How SmartSuite supports this role
Lead
Internal audit. Defines objectives, risks and controls with standardized planning templates and tracks testing completion, review notes and sign-offs in real time.
Risk management. Reviews and tests controls linked to enterprise risks and records observations tied to specific risks.
Issues and actions. Automates task assignments, review reminders and follow-up requests to management.
Reporting. Produces engagement reports and status views from the workpapers.
Products this role uses most
Industry reference
The IIA's Global Internal Audit Standards (2024) set engagement requirements: objectives and scope tied to risk, a work program, supervised fieldwork, evidenced conclusions and findings agreed with management. Workpapers must support every conclusion and be reviewed before the report is issued.
Sector regimes shape the engagements. Bank audits are read by examiners under FFIEC and Basel expectations; healthcare audits cover billing, HIPAA and clinical compliance; government audits may need to meet GAO's Yellow Book; technology audits often test the ITGCs and SOC 2 controls that external assessors rely on.
Related roles
Explore Further
Guides and definitions from the GRC Knowledge Center and the What-is glossary, chosen for this role.
Frequently asked questions
What does an Audit Manager own on each engagement?
The Audit Manager leads individual engagements from scoping to reporting: defining objectives, risks and controls, supervising fieldwork, reviewing workpapers, managing schedules, assignments and review notes, drafting the report and agreeing findings with management, then following management actions to closure. They also coach the auditors on the engagement and are accountable for its quality. In SmartSuite each engagement is a record in Internal Audit Management holding the plan, workpapers, review notes and findings together.
How does SmartSuite help an Audit Manager plan and run an engagement?
SmartSuite defines objectives, risks and controls with standardized planning templates in Internal Audit Management, so each engagement starts from the function's methodology rather than a blank document. During fieldwork the manager tracks testing completion, review notes and sign-offs in real time: which tests are done, which workpapers await review and which review notes the Internal Auditor has cleared. Nothing waits for a status meeting to be known.
How are controls linked to enterprise risks during testing?
The manager reviews and tests controls that are linked to enterprise risks in Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), and records observations tied to the specific risk each control addresses. That link means an observation is not just an exception in a workpaper; it shows which enterprise risk is less well controlled than assumed, which the Risk Manager and Control Owner can see on the same record when the finding is agreed.
How does the engagement team keep follow-ups moving?
SmartSuite automates task assignments, review reminders and follow-up requests to management, so the manager is not chasing by email. Findings agreed with management become actions in Issues Management with owners and dates; reminders go to the owner as dates approach, and the manager sees which actions have closed and which need escalation. The manager's time goes to reviewing workpapers and coaching rather than administration.
How does the Audit Manager report to the Audit Director?
Engagement reports and status views are produced from the workpapers themselves, so the Audit Director sees fieldwork progress and emerging findings in SmartSuite as the engagement proceeds, not only at the draft report. The manager's report to management is drafted from the recorded findings, and the Audit Quality Assurance Reviewer can confirm review notes and sign-offs from the same record before issue. Compliance Managers see the findings relevant to their frameworks.
How long does it take to get an engagement running in SmartSuite?
New customers can start with SmartSuite Onboarding, a guided four-week program around one or two priority workflows; for an Audit Manager the first is one live engagement, set up once the function's planning templates are in place, and engagements already underway can be recorded at their current stage. The manager needs the engagement scope, the risks and controls in scope and the auditors assigned; workpapers and evidence are then captured as fieldwork happens. Because the Internal Auditor works in the same record, there is no separate transfer of workpapers for review.
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