You verify component auditors once, distribute audit instructions and appendices for each entity, and see audit progress in a single overview.
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Every year, each component auditor is contacted afresh, confirms their contact details by email and receives the audit documents as attachments. The status of responses sits in a spreadsheet that someone has to maintain. If a materiality figure or an appendix is missing, this often only comes to light when someone follows up.
5F replaces this process with two guided workflows on one platform.
You set the title, client, financial year and due date, and upload the list of component auditors as an Excel or CSV file. A template showing the required format is available to download. If an auditor's details are already known, you can verify them yourself directly.
Each contact receives an email in German and English with a deadline, a link and brief instructions. They check their contact details, correct them if necessary, nominate additional auditors or opt out. Finally, they enter the name of the person confirming and register on the platform.
The contact list shows open, verified, overdue and deleted requests. You send reminders to individual contacts with one click or forward the verification link directly. When you close the list, the contacts move to the address book, and the completed list is available as a template for further data rooms.
You select the verified auditor list and upload the audit instructions. A list of standard appendices is provided, from the Component Auditor's Confirmation to the Completion Memorandum. You add your own appendices with a title, description and due date.
In a matrix of entities and appendices, you deselect anything an entity should not receive. For each entity, you enter component materiality, the clearly trivial threshold and a note for the recipients; a warning flags any missing details. On dispatch, a separate data room is created for each entity.
The status overview shows how many appendices have been sent or are overdue, in progress, not applicable or closed. Comments on an appendix show who has read them, and tasks with due dates allocate work within the team. You can export the status of the matrix to Excel and download all documents received in one go.
In 45 minutes, we show you the module in action. You can then start the trial straight away if you wish.
Benefits at a glance
By using 5F, we can make data exchange with our customers and the process for group audits more efficient and structured. Our customers benefit from this too. What I also value highly is the direct, straightforward communication and individual support from the 5F team.
A group audit is the audit of the consolidated financial statements of a parent company together with the subsidiaries included in the consolidation. The group auditor is responsible for the audit opinion but often has work on individual components performed by local auditors, the component auditors. For this purpose, the group auditor issues them with audit instructions and evaluates their reporting. Because entities and auditors from several countries are involved, coordination is a separate step in the audit.
| Merkmal | Traditional group audit | Digital group audit with 5F |
|---|---|---|
| Auditor verification | Individual emails, responses entered by hand | Request sent from the imported list, confirmed by the auditor directly |
| Auditor list in the following year | Compiled from scratch | Completed list available as a template |
| Sending documents | Email attachments for each entity | Assigned in the matrix, sent from the platform |
| Responses | Files in the inbox, assigned by hand | Uploaded to the entity's data room, directly on the appendix |
| Audit status | Consolidated spreadsheet, maintained manually | Status overview with due dates, Excel export |
| Documentation | Spread across inboxes and filing systems | Comments, tasks and audit log on the engagement |
5F Konzernabschluss is charged as an annual fee in addition to your licence. Component auditors work in the module as external participants without their own licence, however many entities and countries the group includes. The exact fee is set out in your quote.
In a short online demo, we show you the module in action and discuss your requirements.