Audit horrors: real stories of teams who escaped the nightmare

AuditExternal Audit
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Every auditor knows the feeling. The cold glow of a laptop at 2 a.m., the endless spreadsheet tabs that seem to multiply with every revision, the missing evidence that vanishes just when deadlines close in.

As the busy season unfolds (so does the spooky season this October), we’re revisiting those frightful “before” moments the spreadsheet phantoms, the vanishing documents, and the haunted workflows that once kept teams awake through the night.

But these stories don’t end in despair.

They end with clarity, control, and confidence thanks to intelligent automation for audit.

The spreadsheet phantom

Coordinating client document requests can be a real test of patience. Multiple emails, version tracking, and ensuring every file ends up in the right place. For a team like Walker & Dunlop, managing that process efficiently across engagements was key to keeping reporting cycles on track.
With UpLink, what used to take hours of coordination now happens in one organized flow. The team can create, send, and monitor client requests in minutes, with every document automatically linked and searchable for review. Centralized visibility means less back-and-forth and faster turnaround - all while maintaining complete traceability.

“UpLink helped us turn hours of manual compliance work into minutes. We no longer need to open every file or manually search for figures – everything is searched, snipped, and ready for review. It has significantly reduced both preparation and reviewer time.” — Dylan Chaikin, Manager, Financial Reporting, Walker & Dunlop

Walker & Dunlop turned their haunted spreadsheets into a smooth, transparent workflow that delivers speed without sacrificing precision.

The case of the missing evidence

If there’s one thing scarier than a haunted house, it’s not knowing where your evidence went. For Kushner LaGraize, manual searches through leases and meeting minutes once consumed hours, with every engagement feeling like a scavenger hunt through endless PDFs.
DocuMine changed that. By automating evidence extraction and review, the team can now instantly find, verify, and approve the data they need – all while keeping full control over accuracy and traceability.

“I feel much safer using DocuMine because I can approve the answers before using them. This is especially helpful with lease reviews. Being able to verify the answers before implementing them makes me more comfortable using DocuMine compared to other tools.” — Chad McAdam, Manager, Kushner LaGraize

Since adopting DocuMine, Kushner LaGraize has saved 45 minutes per complex lease, 15 minutes per simple lease, and up to 10 hours per client on board meeting reviews – turning what used to be a draining process into an efficient, confident workflow.

Survive busy season without the jump scares

The busy season can feel like the ultimate haunted house. You know it’s coming – long nights, endless reconciliations, and the occasional jump scare when a number doesn’t tie out.

But unlike a haunted maze, this one isn’t meant to be only survived – it’s also meant to be made efficient.

Thankfully, with the right technology, you can skip the scares altogether. Intelligent automation tools like UpLink and DocuMine turn the chaos into calm.  

Our Surviving Busy Season Guide shows you how to prepare before the doors creak open:
  • How to keep every document and data point in sight
  • How to reduce manual testing so you can focus on insights
  • How to turn the audit maze into a straight path to sign-off

When your workflow runs itself, you’re done surviving the haunted house. And you have the tools you need to walk right through it with the lights on.

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