What is an Interim Audit?

An interim audit involves preliminary audit work that is conducted prior to the fiscal year-end of a client. An interim audit can also refer to a full audit that is conducted for an interim period, such as for a quarter or half-year. This is a relatively uncommon event, since publicly held companies only need to have a review conducted at quarterly intervals, not a full audit.

Advantages of an Interim Audit

One advantage of conducting interim audit work is that it compresses the period needed to complete the final audit. Doing so benefits the client, which can issue its audited financial statements sooner. An interim audit also helps the auditors, who now have more time available during their peak audit season to engage in activities for more clients. In addition, interim audit work keeps auditors busy during slower periods in the audit year.