2025 Study Reveals Systemic Efficiency Issues and Opportunities
Suralink released its first-ever State of Audit Efficiency Report. The report, which was done in partnership with a leading market research firm, compiles survey results from full-time accountants in North America with experience in public accounting and audit engagements at firms of all sizes.
The study highlights how prevalent and acute the challenges are that CPA firms are facing, such as staffing shortages, client delays, and inaccurate data. These challenges cause ripple effects across engagements, ultimately driving up costs, impacting firm profitability, and deteriorating client satisfaction. As firms increase their focus on meeting budgets, adhering to timelines, and achieving realization targets, the study reveals that the most significant blockers to these goals lie in requesting and assessing client-provided documentation, underscoring the importance of investing in the right client collaboration capabilities.
Key Findings
- Almost one-third of audits, on average, surpass their allotted hours, reflecting widespread issues due to budget overruns.
- Audit engagements on average have target realization rates of 64%, indicating firms are frequently assuming that they will have to absorb significant unpaid engagement hours that should otherwise be billable, leading to poor profitability.
- 87% of respondents cite client delays as a common issue, which disrupt engagement timeliness and create bottlenecks that ripple through the audit
- 95% of survey respondents reported challenges with document requests, including assessing information and securing necessary support documents - highlighting widespread inefficiencies across firms.
"As the audit landscape evolves, it's clear that many firms are still grappling with outdated processes and systems that hinder their efficiency, profitability, and client satisfaction," said Evan Fitzpatrick, CEO of Suralink. "While the State of Audit Efficiency Report highlights what many firms feel but hesitate to admit, it also emphasizes the real opportunities they have to streamline workflows, reduce delays, and improve client communication by adopting a more strategic tech stack."
The full 2025 State of Audit Efficiency Report is available for free download here.