# Write an audit finding management will understand and act on

Turns my testing notes into a finding with condition, criteria, cause, effect, and a practical recommendation, rated by risk.

- Topic: Legal & Compliance
- Framework: Few-Shot
- Level: Standard
- Tags: Leadership, Legal, Write, Analyze, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/write-an-audit-finding-management-will-understand-and-act-on

## Prompt

```text
Help me write an internal audit finding from my working notes.

**What I tested and how:** [SCOPE, period, sample size, method]
**What I found:** [EXCEPTIONS - e.g. "7 of 40 vendor changes had no independent approval"]
**The requirement it breaks:** [POLICY, procedure, control description, or regulation - quote it]
**What management told me about why:** [EXPLANATIONS from interviews]
**Known or potential impact:** [losses, misstatement, regulatory exposure - only what is supported]
**Our rating scale:** [e.g. High / Medium / Low with definitions, or PASTE]

Structure the finding as:
1. **Title** - under 12 words, states the problem, not the topic.
2. **Condition** - what is happening, with the exact numbers from my testing.
3. **Criteria** - what should be happening, citing the source.
4. **Cause** - the root cause (design gap, ownership gap, system limitation, training, resourcing), not just "the control was not performed".
5. **Effect** - the realistic risk if not fixed, proportionate to the evidence.
6. **Recommendation** - addresses the cause, is specific and achievable.
7. **Suggested rating** with a one-line justification against my scale.

Rules:
- Use only facts I gave you. Mark any gap as [CONFIRM] rather than filling it.
- Neutral, factual tone: no blame, no names, no words like "failure" or "negligent".
- Do not extrapolate sample results to the population unless I used statistical sampling.
- Keep the whole finding under 300 words.
```

## What to fill in

- SCOPE, period, sample size, method
- EXPLANATIONS from interviews
- e.g. High / Medium / Low with definitions, or PASTE
- CONFIRM

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