{"id":4683,"date":"2026-11-07T13:24:21","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T11:24:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/uk\/pidhotovka-npo-do-audytu-za-30-dniv\/"},"modified":"2026-11-07T13:24:21","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T11:24:21","slug":"pidhotovka-npo-do-audytu-za-30-dniv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/pidhotovka-npo-do-audytu-za-30-dniv\/","title":{"rendered":"How an NGO can prepare for an audit in 30 days: a week-by-week checklist"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<p>In the 30 days before an audit an NGO can cover the essentials: collect and reconcile primary documents, align the ledgers with the reports sent to the donor, review the accounting policy and show how internal control works. Several years of accounting cannot be fixed in a month, but closing the gaps an auditor will see on day one is entirely realistic.<\/p>\n<p>Below is a week-by-week plan. It works both for an audit of the organisation&#8217;s financial statements and for an audit or expenditure verification of a specific grant. We have already given a general list of documents in <a href=\"\/en\/yak-pidhotuvatysia-do-audytu-hrantu-cheklist\/\">how to prepare for a grant audit<\/a>; here the focus is on what to do in which order over one month.<\/p>\n<h2>What the auditor relies on<\/h2>\n<p>The starting point for any auditor in Ukraine is the Law &#8220;On Accounting and Financial Reporting in Ukraine&#8221;. Text: <a href=\"https:\/\/zakon.rada.gov.ua\/laws\/show\/996-14#Text\" rel=\"nofollow\">zakon.rada.gov.ua<\/a>. Several provisions matter for preparation.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Accounting policy.<\/strong> Under Article 8 the organisation sets its own accounting policy in agreement with the owner or authorised body in line with its founding documents. Article 4 requires consistency: the policy may be changed only in cases provided by the standards, with reasons and disclosure in the financial statements.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Internal control and document flow.<\/strong> Article 8 requires the organisation to develop a system of internal management accounting, reporting and control, define employees&#8217; rights to sign accounting documents and approve document flow rules.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ledgers.<\/strong> Under Article 9 analytical accounts must agree with the general ledger at the end of the last day of each month, and transactions are recorded in the period in which they took place.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stocktaking.<\/strong> Article 10 requires an inventory of assets and liabilities. The objects and frequency are set by the head of the organisation, except where an inventory is mandatory by law.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The donor adds its own requirements from the grant agreement: budget, procurement rules, reporting. The auditor checks both the law and the agreement.<\/p>\n<h2>Who this applies to<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>civil society organisations and charitable foundations whose donor has required a grant audit or an audit of annual financial statements;<\/li>\n<li>organisations facing their first audit and unsure where to start;<\/li>\n<li>accountants who joined an NGO mid-project and inherited incomplete records;<\/li>\n<li>managers who sign reports to the donor and are responsible for organising accounting under Article 8 of the law.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What to do in 30 days<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Days 1-3.<\/strong> Agree the scope with the auditor or donor: period, projects, materiality, list of documents, way of working. Appoint one contact person.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Days 4-10.<\/strong> Collect the primary documents for the period and sort them by budget line. Find the gaps: unsigned acts, costs without contracts, purchases without a procurement file.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Days 11-17.<\/strong> Reconcile the ledgers: bank, cash, balances with suppliers and staff, project analytics. Reconcile the amounts with the financial reports to the donor and explain every difference in writing.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Days 18-22.<\/strong> Review the accounting policy and internal documents: the accounting policy order, the method for allocating shared costs, the procurement policy, signing rights, document flow rules.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Days 23-26.<\/strong> Carry out or update the inventory of fixed assets, equipment bought under the grant and balances. Check that the equipment is in place and labelled, if the agreement requires this.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Days 27-30.<\/strong> Prepare a package for the auditor: the list of documents, explanations of budget variances, correspondence with the donor on agreed changes, and contacts of people who will answer questions.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"mk-table-wrap\">\n<table class=\"mk-table\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"col\">Week<\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\">Focus<\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\">Result by the end of the week<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<td>Audit scope, collecting primary documents<\/td>\n<td>Agreed list of documents, folders by budget line<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2<\/td>\n<td>Gaps in documents, ledger reconciliations<\/td>\n<td>List of what needs to be completed; bank and cash reconciled<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<td>Reconciliation with donor reports, accounting policy<\/td>\n<td>Explanations of differences, internal documents reviewed<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>4<\/td>\n<td>Inventory, package for the auditor<\/td>\n<td>Inventory records, package of documents and explanations<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>For the plan to work, assign roles from day one.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The accountant<\/strong> is responsible for the ledgers, reconciliations, bank statements and explanations of differences between the books and the donor report.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The project manager<\/strong> collects evidence of activities: event agendas, participant lists, consultants&#8217; reports, photos, project outputs.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The person in charge of procurement<\/strong> completes the files: requests, offers, minutes, declarations of no conflict of interest.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The director<\/strong> signs the accounting policy and internal policies, agrees budget changes with the donor and answers the auditor&#8217;s questions about management decisions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Hold a short meeting once a week and check what has been closed on the list of gaps. That way, the day before the auditor arrives, you will know which issues are still open and what to say about them.<\/p>\n<h2>Common preparation errors<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Documents are &#8220;created&#8221; for the audit.<\/strong> Procurement minutes or a timesheet drawn up a year after the fact are easy to spot from dates and content. It is better to show the gap honestly and explain it than to hand over a document the auditor will not believe.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The accounting policy is rewritten a week before the audit.<\/strong> Article 4 requires consistency, and a new policy will not explain why past costs were allocated differently.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Differences between the books and the donor report are not explained.<\/strong> The auditor starts by reconciling the report with the books. Every unexplained difference becomes a question.<\/li>\n<li><strong>No single contact person.<\/strong> The auditor&#8217;s requests are spread across the accountant, the manager and the director, answers are delayed and the audit drags on.<\/li>\n<li><strong>No inventory was carried out.<\/strong> Then there is nothing to confirm that the equipment bought under the grant exists and is used in the project.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If after the first ten days it is clear that there are too many gaps, discuss postponing the audit with the donor or restore the accounting records first. This is more honest and cheaper for the organisation than an audit report with significant findings.<\/p>\n<h2>FAQ<\/h2>\n<details>\n<summary>How long does an NGO need to prepare for an audit?<\/summary>\n<p>If the books have been kept up to date, a month is enough to collect documents, reconcile ledgers and prepare explanations. If the accounting is behind or the accountant has changed, start earlier and possibly restore the records first.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>Which documents will the auditor ask for first?<\/summary>\n<p>Usually the grant agreement with its budget and amendments, the financial reports to the donor, the trial balance and project analytics, bank statements, the accounting policy and a list of contracts. Agree the exact list with the auditor at the start.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>Is an inventory needed before a grant audit?<\/summary>\n<p>Article 10 of the Accounting Law requires an inventory, and its objects and frequency are set by the head of the organisation, except where it is mandatory. Before a grant audit it helps confirm that purchased equipment exists.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<h2>How we help<\/h2>\n<p>We carry out pre-audit reviews for NGOs: we look at primary documents, ledgers, the accounting policy and internal control through the auditor&#8217;s eyes and list what needs fixing. See <a href=\"\/en\/pidhotovka-npo-do-audytu\/\">NGO audit preparation<\/a>, <a href=\"\/en\/audyt-npo\/\">NGO audit<\/a> and <a href=\"\/en\/uslugi\/buhgalterskieuslugi\/vosstanovlenie-ucheta\/\">accounting recovery<\/a>. For accountants and project managers we run <a href=\"\/en\/zakhody\/\">free webinars for NGOs<\/a>. Write to us via <a href=\"\/en\/kontaktyi\/\">contacts<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Prepared by the MK Audit team<\/em><\/p>\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A 30-day, week-by-week plan to prepare an NGO in Ukraine for an audit: primary documents, ledger reconciliations, accounting policy and inventory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[199,198,197,195,196],"class_list":["post-4683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hranty-npo","tag-ngo-audit-preparation","tag-198","tag-197","tag-195","tag-196"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 5.0.5 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A 30-day, week-by-week plan to prepare an NGO in Ukraine for an audit: primary documents, ledger reconciliations, accounting policy and inventory.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\"\/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/pidhotovka-npo-do-audytu-za-30-dniv\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 5.0.5\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MK Audit\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NGO audit preparation in 30 days\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A 30-day, week-by-week plan to prepare an NGO in Ukraine for an audit: primary documents, ledger reconciliations, accounting\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/pidhotovka-npo-do-audytu-za-30-dniv\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-11-07T11:24:21+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-11-07T11:24:21+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale:alternate\" content=\"uk_UA\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale:alternate\" content=\"ru_RU\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/wp-content\/plugins\/mk-landing\/img\/og-default.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:secure_url\" content=\"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/wp-content\/plugins\/mk-landing\/img\/og-default.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:alt\" content=\"MK Audit, an audit firm in Kyiv and a full member of DFK International\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"NGO audit preparation in 30 days\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"A 30-day, week-by-week plan to prepare an NGO in Ukraine for an audit: primary documents, ledger reconciliations, accounting\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/wp-content\/plugins\/mk-landing\/img\/og-default.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:image:alt\" content=\"MK Audit, an audit firm in Kyiv and a full member of DFK International\" \/>\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO -->\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"NGO audit preparation in 30 days | MK Audit","description":"A 30-day, week-by-week plan to prepare an NGO in Ukraine for an audit: primary documents, ledger reconciliations, accounting policy and inventory.","canonical_url":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/pidhotovka-npo-do-audytu-za-30-dniv\/","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"miscellaneous":""},"schema":null,"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"MK Audit","og:type":"article","og:title":"NGO audit preparation in 30 days","og:description":"A 30-day, week-by-week plan to prepare an NGO in Ukraine for an audit: primary documents, ledger reconciliations, accounting","og:url":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/pidhotovka-npo-do-audytu-za-30-dniv\/","article:published_time":"2026-11-07T11:24:21+00:00","article:modified_time":"2026-11-07T11:24:21+00:00","og:locale:alternate":["uk_UA","ru_RU"],"og:image":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/wp-content\/plugins\/mk-landing\/img\/og-default.jpg","og:image:width":1200,"og:image:height":630,"og:image:secure_url":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/wp-content\/plugins\/mk-landing\/img\/og-default.jpg","og:image:alt":"MK Audit, an audit firm in Kyiv and a full member of DFK International","twitter:card":"summary_large_image","twitter:title":"NGO audit preparation in 30 days","twitter:description":"A 30-day, week-by-week plan to prepare an NGO in Ukraine for an audit: primary documents, ledger reconciliations, accounting","twitter:image":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/wp-content\/plugins\/mk-landing\/img\/og-default.jpg","twitter:image:alt":"MK Audit, an audit firm in Kyiv and a full member of DFK International"},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"4683","title":"\u041f\u0456\u0434\u0433\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0432\u043a\u0430 \u041d\u041f\u041e \u0434\u043e \u0430\u0443\u0434\u0438\u0442\u0443 \u0437\u0430 30 \u0434\u043d\u0456\u0432 | \u041c\u041a \u0410\u0443\u0434\u0438\u0442","description":"\u041f\u043b\u0430\u043d \u043f\u0456\u0434\u0433\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0432\u043a\u0438 \u041d\u041f\u041e \u0434\u043e \u0430\u0443\u0434\u0438\u0442\u0443 \u0437\u0430 30 \u0434\u043d\u0456\u0432 \u043f\u043e \u0442\u0438\u0436\u043d\u044f\u0445: \u043f\u0435\u0440\u0432\u0438\u043d\u043a\u0430, \u0437\u0432\u0456\u0440\u043a\u0438 \u0440\u0435\u0433\u0456\u0441\u0442\u0440\u0456\u0432, \u043e\u0431\u043b\u0456\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0430 \u043f\u043e\u043b\u0456\u0442\u0438\u043a\u0430, \u0456\u043d\u0432\u0435\u043d\u0442\u0430\u0440\u0438\u0437\u0430\u0446\u0456\u044f \u0456 \u043f\u0430\u043a\u0435\u0442 \u0434\u043e\u043a\u0443\u043c\u0435\u043d\u0442\u0456\u0432 \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0430\u0443\u0434\u0438\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0430.","keywords":null,"keyphrases":null,"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":"","og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":null,"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":"default","schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":null,"robots_max_videopreview":null,"robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":0,"frequency":"default","local_seo":null,"breadcrumb_settings":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"ai":null,"created":"2026-11-07 11:24:22","updated":"2026-11-07 11:24:22","seo_analyzer_scan_date":null,"focus_keyword":null,"additional_keywords":null,"truseo_locale":null},"aioseo_breadcrumb":"<div class=\"aioseo-breadcrumbs\"><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/\" title=\"Home\">Home<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">\u00bb<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/category\/hranty-npo\/\" title=\"Grants and NGOs\">Grants and NGOs<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">\u00bb<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\tHow an NGO can prepare for an audit in 30 days: a week-by-week checklist\n\t\t<\/span><\/div>","aioseo_breadcrumb_json":[{"label":"Home","link":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/"},{"label":"Grants and NGOs","link":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/category\/hranty-npo\/"},{"label":"How an NGO can prepare for an audit in 30 days: a week-by-week checklist","link":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/pidhotovka-npo-do-audytu-za-30-dniv\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4683\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}