Audits are a cornerstone of security and compliance programs. They validate the strength of your controls and communicate trust to customers, regulators, and partners. At the same time, audits can be complex and resource-intensive. The difference between an efficient, value-adding audit and a stressful, prolonged one often comes down to preparation.

When you hire an auditor, ask the right audit questions even before the process begins. These conversations set expectations, clarify scope, and help you understand exactly how evidence, timelines, and findings will be handled.

Key Takeaways

• The audit process runs smoothly when expectations are clarified upfront.
• Scope and evidence requirements are the two areas most likely to cause delays.
• Findings are inevitable, but how they’re handled can make or break trust.
• Realistic timelines prevent surprises and keep executive expectations grounded.
  

What Is a Security Audit?

A security audit is an independent examination of your controls. Controls are the processes, technologies, and safeguards you use to reduce risk –  from access reviews and password policies to incident response drills and vendor assessments.

An audit answers two key questions:

1. Are your controls designed properly to address the risks they’re meant to cover?
   
2. Do those controls operate effectively in practice, not just on paper?
   

For example:

• A design test might review your password policy and confirm it requires strong, unique credentials.
• An operating effectiveness test would then pull logs from your identity system to see if users are actually meeting those requirements.
  

Auditors use established frameworks as their benchmark. These frameworks define the controls and criteria an organization is expected to meet. The auditor’s role is to apply the framework, test evidence, and issue a report that stakeholders can rely on.

How the Audit Process Works

Most audits follow a similar structure:

1. Planning – defining scope, confirming the framework, setting timelines, and identifying stakeholders.
2. Fieldwork – the intensive phase where auditors request evidence, perform walkthroughs, and test controls.
3. Reporting – auditors draft their findings, allow management responses, and issue the final report.
4. Follow-up – for recurring standards like ISO 27001, surveillance audits ensure ongoing compliance.
   

Questions to Ask An Auditor

1. What is in scope for this audit?

Scope sets the boundaries of the engagement. It determines which systems, processes, and entities will be tested. If the scope is too broad, you’ll spend resources preparing irrelevant evidence. If it’s too narrow, you risk a report that doesn’t satisfy customer or regulatory expectations.

What to clarify with your auditor:

• Will shared services (HR, finance, IT) be included?
  
• Can systems with no sensitive data be excluded?
  
• For multi-entity organizations, are subsidiaries covered individually or collectively?
  
• If your business model changes mid-audit, can scope be updated?
  

The clearer the scope, the fewer surprises during fieldwork.

2. Which framework(s) and standards will you use to evaluate us?

Auditors don’t always interpret frameworks the same way. 

What to clarify with your auditor:

• Are they testing only the framework named in the engagement, or also mapping to others?
  
• Do they focus strictly on evidence of implementation, or also on design intent?
  
• Will they accept mapping from your internal compliance platform, or require their own templates?
  

This question ensures you’re preparing evidence aligned with how the auditor will test, not just with how the framework is written.

3. What type of evidence do you expect –  and in what format?

Evidence is where audits succeed or fail. Compliance teams often provide screenshots or manual trackers, only to find auditors reject them in favor of system-generated exports. Each rejection means delays, more requests to IT, and added frustration across teams.

What to clarify with your auditor:

• Do they prefer screenshots, raw exports, or live demonstrations?
  
• How much historical evidence is required; three months, six months, or a year?
  
• Will summarized reports suffice, or must raw data be provided?
  
• How should evidence be submitted – via portal, encrypted email, or tool integration?
  

The answer lets you coordinate early with IT and security teams so evidence is ready in the right format.

4. How do you test whether controls are actually effective?

Compliance teams sometimes prepare design evidence (like a written policy) when auditors want operating evidence (like logs showing the policy in action). Without clarity, controls that seem fine on paper fail under review.

What to clarify with your auditor:

• Do they test a sample of events or the entire population?
  
• Will they review only design, or also operating effectiveness?
  
• How do they treat compensating controls if the primary one is missing?
  
• For continuous controls (like monitoring), what level of proof is required?
  

Understanding their methodology lets you prioritize preparation and avoid unexpected “not operating effectively” findings.

5. How will you report and classify findings, and do we get a chance to remediate?

No organization passes an audit without findings. The difference is in how those findings are documented and whether you can address them before the report is finalized. A report that lists unremediated findings can alarm executives and customers, even if the issues are minor. Knowing the process in advance helps you manage both remediation and communication.

What to clarify with your auditor:

• Will they raise issues as they’re identified, or only at the end?
  
• Do you get a remediation window before the report is locked?
  
• How do they classify severity – minor vs. major, exception vs. deficiency?
  
• Will management’s response be included in the report?
  

Clear answers here let you plan remediation timelines and set executive expectations.

6. What is the realistic timeline for fieldwork and reporting?

Audit schedules look neat in planning decks, but rarely hold up once evidence collection begins. Delays are common.

What to clarify with your auditor:

• How long does evidence collection usually take?
  
• Where do delays typically occur?
  
• What’s their turnaround time for reviewing submissions?
  
• How soon after fieldwork should you expect the draft and final report?
  

Auditors know where audits slip. By asking for their perspective, you can build a timeline that reflects reality.

Best Practices for Working With Auditors

• Prepare early: Build evidence into workflows year-round.
  
• Centralize evidence: Use one source of truth, not scattered spreadsheets.
  
• Communicate often: Ask questions during prep, not after issues are flagged.
  
• Train staff: Employees may be interviewed. Teach them to answer clearly and consistently.
  
• Document exceptions: Showing awareness of issues demonstrates maturity.
  

FAQs

1. Do auditors ever interview employees directly?

Yes. Auditors may interview staff to confirm whether policies and procedures are actually followed. For example, they might ask a system administrator to walk through the access review process, or a developer to describe how code changes are approved. Training employees to answer consistently and factually can prevent confusion.

2. How should we handle evidence that involves sensitive or personal data?

Auditors don’t need raw customer data to test controls. If an export contains sensitive information, redact or anonymize it before submission. Most auditors accept masked datasets as long as they retain enough metadata (timestamps, user IDs, status codes) to verify the control.

3. What if we discover gaps during preparation –  should we disclose them or wait for the auditor to find them?

Disclosing gaps and showing your remediation plan usually works in your favor. Auditors respect transparency, and most frameworks allow management responses in the final report. Trying to hide gaps can backfire if they’re discovered later without context.

4. Can audits be conducted entirely remotely?

In many cases, yes. SOC 2 and HIPAA audits are often remote, with evidence submitted through secure portals and interviews done over video calls. ISO 27001 audits may still involve onsite visits, especially for initial certification. Ask your auditor what mix of remote and onsite they expect.

5. How do auditors deal with inherited controls from cloud providers like AWS or Azure?

Auditors review the provider’s own SOC 2 or ISO reports and check that you’ve implemented the complementary controls the provider assigns to you. For example, AWS secures the physical data center, but you are responsible for configuring IAM properly. Be ready to show how you meet those shared responsibilities.

6. What happens if the audit report contains exceptions?

Exceptions don’t automatically mean failure. They signal areas for improvement. Customers and partners reading the report often focus on how management responded –  did you acknowledge the issue and commit to fixing it? Providing clear, documented remediation plans keeps exceptions from undermining trust.

7. Should we run a readiness or “mock audit” before the real one?

A readiness assessment helps surface gaps early, especially for first-time audits. Many organizations do a mock run using internal staff or consultants. This not only reduces stress during the real audit but also familiarizes teams with the evidence collection process.

8. How to hire an auditor?

Start by matching the auditor to your compliance goal. SOC 2 must be conducted by a licensed CPA firm, ISO 27001 by an accredited certification body, and other standards may have their own requirements. Fit matters as much as technical ability; some firms are strictly hands-off, while others take a more collaborative approach.