Thong & Lim delivers faster, high quality audit engagements with CCH ProSystem fx Engagement

“Over the past five years or so, digitisation has been a key trend in Singapore and from a regulatory perspective, there is growing emphasis on audit quality. We had also been caught out by Covid, with a backlog of audit working papers to print on our return to the office, so with all this considered, plus the establishment of the new ISQM standard, we knew it was time to make the transition to paperless audit software,” said Thong & Lim Partner, Shaun Tang.

As part of their office upgrade, Thong & Lim were also keen to reduce rental costs associated with space dedicated to storage.

“We were renting a 500/600sqft room at $2,600 SGD per month purely for storing paper. With CCH ProSystem fx Engagement paperless audit, and renovating our office space, we have now been able to give up that storage room, which is a significant cost saving annually,” he said.

Choosing the right solution

When it came time to choose the right audit software for the firm, Shaun says there were only two obvious solutions the firm was considering.

“When we were faced with the choice between the two options, our preference leaned towards CCH ProSystem fx Engagement. It stood out as a more adaptable software, seamlessly integrating with the Microsoft Office applications which we are already accustomed to. For our firm, which was transitioning to our first audit software, this choice seemed to offer a smoother and more natural progression. CCH ProSystem fx Engagement was also the more cost-effective choice of the two options, which factored into our decision,” he said.

Time, productivity, and compliance

While it did take the firm some time to get up and running with the software, the key benefits became obvious in subsequent years after implementation.

“In the initial year of implementation, there is a need to invest time in bringing in prior year balances and ensuring the proper setup. However, by the second year, during the peak season from April to August, for those engagements we had already integrated into CCH ProSystem fx Engagement the previous year, the process was significantly quicker and more efficient. We have definitely witnessed improvements in terms of time and productivity," Shaun explained.

“As an example, for one of my clients we would typically sign-off the audit in December, but this year we have completed the engagement about two months quicker. Some of this time saving would be attributable to our staff being more familiar with the recurring engagement, but I think a good portion of that time saving is attributable to the software. I can see our staff are less stressed this year as well.

“Also, paperless audit software ensures stronger adherence to the quality standards. Previously I would have had to revamp all my templates to comply with the latest SQM. But now Wolters Kluwer takes care of it for me. One less thing for me to do!”