Audit Reporting
Presenting Findings to Leadership
Best practices for communicating audit results to executive management
2025-12-15
Executive Presentations require distilling complex audit findings into strategic insights that resonate with leadership and drive decision-making.
🎯 Know Your Audience
Executives care about:
- Strategic implications and business impact
- Risk exposure and potential consequences
- Resource requirements for remediation
- Trends and emerging risks
- Comparative benchmarks and industry context
📊 Effective Presentation Structure
- Start with the headline: What's the most important message?
- Visualize data: Use charts, heat maps, and dashboards
- Tell a story: Connect findings to business objectives
- Prioritize: Focus on critical and high-risk items
- Recommend actions: Be specific about next steps
💬 Facilitation Tips
Anticipate questions, prepare supporting details, use plain language, maintain professional demeanor, and focus discussions on solutions rather than dwelling on problems.
💡 Pro Tip
Practice the "elevator pitch" version of your findings. If you had 60 seconds with the CEO, what would you say?