AuditLens is a web-based statutory audit assistance prototype designed to help Chartered Accountants organise audit planning and focus on areas that may require greater attention. It brings selected financial statement indicators, risk screening, accounting-standard references and audit-response workflows together in one dashboard.

1. Problem Statement

Statutory audit planning involves reviewing financial statements, identifying risk areas, considering relevant assertions and standards, planning procedures, requesting evidence, raising audit queries and documenting follow-up. These activities can be repetitive and spread across multiple files and processes. AuditLens aims to provide a structured workflow to support this planning process.

2. Proposed Solution and Key Use Cases

1. Financial statement review and risk screening: Uses selected line items and year-on-year movements to highlight potential risk areas for auditor review. For example, a significant increase in receivables relative to revenue can be flagged for further investigation.
2. Risk-to-audit-response workflow: Connects potential risks with relevant financial statement assertions, suggested audit procedures and evidence to request, helping the auditor plan a response to identified risk indicators.
3. Accounting Standards and CARO screening: Provides preliminary screening of potentially relevant Ind AS requirements and CARO 2020 clauses based on engagement details and available financial statement indicators. The auditor must verify applicability, exemptions, notes and supporting records.
4. Materiality analysis: Allows the auditor to select a benchmark and percentage and calculates overall materiality and related thresholds from those inputs. The benchmark and assumptions remain subject to professional judgment.
5. Fraud and anomaly prompts: Provides audit prompts for areas such as revenue cut-off and year-end journal entries, to guide the auditor's consideration of matters addressed by SA 240. These prompts are not findings or proof of fraud.
6. Evidence requests and audit queries: Organises evidence requests with status and due-date fields, and supports drafting audit queries based on significant movements in financial statement items for the auditor to review before sending.
7. Audit documentation and follow-up: Provides a structured dashboard workflow for recording remarks, updating statuses and tracking audit work. The auditor remains responsible for performing procedures, evaluating evidence and signing off conclusions.

3. Technology and Development Approach

The prototype is a browser-based dashboard developed using HTML and CSS. ChatGPT and Gemini were used to assist with preparing initial reference data relating to Standards on Auditing applicability, CARO clauses and Ind AS standards. Lovable was used to create the first dashboard version, which was subsequently refined with Claude. These tools assisted development and reference-data preparation; this description does not imply that a live generative-AI model is connected to every function in the running prototype.

4. Current Scope and Limitations

AuditLens is a preliminary audit-planning support prototype. Its current workflow includes selected financial statement-based screening, materiality calculations based on auditor inputs, standards/CARO review prompts, and audit-response organisation. Detailed cash flow statement analysis and comprehensive reading of financial statement notes remain areas for further development. Screening outputs require verification against the full financial statements, notes, underlying transactions, applicable law and relevant professional standards.

5. Expected Benefits

AuditLens aims to reduce repetitive audit-planning effort, bring related planning activities into one workflow, improve visibility of potential risk areas and help auditors organise evidence requests and follow-up. It is intended to assist—not replace—the auditor.

6. Professional Responsibility

All risk indicators, standard references, CARO screening results and suggested procedures are preliminary. The engagement team must exercise professional judgment, verify applicable requirements, obtain and evaluate sufficient appropriate audit evidence, and make all final audit decisions and conclusions.