AUDIT & ASSURANCE

Why Most Audit Plans Repeat Last Year’s Problems

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Why planning often reinforces existing constraints – and how to design for a different outcome.

By William Englehaupt

Most audit teams believe they are planning for the future. In reality, they are often replaying the past. This is what many would label as SALY, “same as last year.”

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As a Prussian general once observed, “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.” In auditing, that “enemy” is reality: uneven client data, evolving judgment and the rework that becomes visible once work begins. Most plans are not corrections; they are continuations.
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The Post-Audit Debrief Most Teams Get Wrong

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Why most debriefs fail to change the next audit—and how to turn them into real design inputs

By William Englehaupt

As one audit cycle closes and the next begins, most teams go through some form of debrief. In theory, this is where learning happens, where teams step back, reflect on what worked, what didn’t, and carry those insights forward.

In practice, it rarely works that way.

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Debriefs are often rushed or treated as closure rather than input. The questions are familiar—what went well, what didn’t—but the discussion stays at the surface. Late nights, difficult clients, tight deadlines. The symptoms are easy to identify. The underlying causes are not. READ MORE →

The Hidden Factory in Accounting: Why Rework Is Quietly Eating Your Capacity

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The question firm leaders often ask is simple: Where did the capacity go?


By William Englehaupt

Accounting firms rarely struggle because they lack plans, tools, or capable professionals. Most engagements begin with detailed project plans and clear milestones. Yet despite all of that structure, work still arrives late, review pressure spikes at the end, and teams feel chronically overextended.

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The answer usually isn’t visible on the plan. It sits in what many firms experience but rarely name—the hidden factory.

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Psychological Safety Is a Throughput Issue, Not a Soft Skill

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Firms rarely struggle because their people lack intelligence, training, or work ethic.

By William Englehaupt

Most teams are staffed with capable professionals who understand the standards and care deeply about quality. Yet issues still surface late, reviews still congest near deadlines, and leaders are often surprised by risks that “should have been obvious earlier.”

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The common explanation is experience gaps or workload pressure. The more accurate explanation is simpler and more uncomfortable: uncertainty is being withheld until it is too late to deal with cheaply. That is not a personality problem. It is a system problem.

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