About us

Audit Assistant is an online (SaaS) software tool for use by accountants who carry out Audit and Review engagements. We are a New Zealand based company primarily focussed on the local market but with plans to service the international market as further content is added.

We are heavily focussed on user input and we collaborate closely with a number of audit firms in our development process. Our online delivery model and agile approach makes it possible to implement new features and fixes very quickly. 

Training and Support

We provide full training firms in New Zealand as required (recommended but not essential - contact us for costing details). 

Support is provided from our online help-desk and is included in the monthly subscription (unless for user-caused data loss recovery or for customisation work).

Subscription Services

Costs for using Audit Assistant are based on level of usage (number of jobs) in a series of charging steps, to provide accessability to all sized firms from very small (up to 25 jobs) to large (up to 190 jobs). 

See sign up page for details. For larger sites please contact us to work out a price. 

We also offer discounts for payment of subscription 12 months in advance. Cost works out at around $20-$25 per job per year.

All levels have the same features and allow multiple users. There is a free single job version available for trying Audit Assistant which is fully featured apart from not allowing attachments. All levels including the free version can be upgraded to a higher level from within the software keeping existing work completely intact.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

SaaS means the software is maintained by us on a server and accessed by users over the internet. 

In addition it also may be run in offline mode (Using Google Gears) which allows users to work on laptops at clients say where internet access is not possible. Workbooks must be set up online before checking out then they must be checked back in to update the server version. 

All modern browsers will run Audit Assistant so computer type, operating system or network type is not an issue. We do however recommend Google Chrome or Safari as the fastest browsers on which to run Audit Assistant at the present time.

Security on a SaaS model is normally higher than a normal office-based network or PC/Laptop. Our backups and security are handled by the professional data centre which hosts Audit Assistant (iServe Data Centre in Auckland). We presently also back up daily copies of our database on an international file storage service (Amazon S3) so we are able to recover our full data on a daily basis back to when we started.

Software as a Service (SaaS) is a major trend in software. A 2008 survey noted: Innovation in the software industry is on the upswing, with Software as a Service (SaaS) being a key driver. The SaaS model is becoming mainstream and this has led to the rise of a new generation of SaaS platforms (also referred to in the industry as Platformas-a-Service – PaaS). This year’s survey of more than 850 enterprise software customers ...and the Software and Interop conferences showed increasing acceptance of subscription and on-demand models but more surprisingly, a high portion (74 percent) of enterprise customers favorably disposed to adopting SaaS platforms.

We have gained considerable encouragement from the successful examples of:

Xero:A NZ publicly listed company providing accounting software for SME’s and Chartered Accountants in association now with Acclipse. They are successfully selling in the UK and have recently moved into Australia. 

37 Signals:A small Chicago based company which operates world-wide with over 1 million users. They say: We believe most software is too complex. Too many features, too many buttons, too much confusion. We build easy to use web-based products with elegant interfaces and thoughtful features. We’re focused on executing on the basics beautifully.  We share this design philosophy and also use Ruby on Rails,  the open-source web-app framework on which they base their SaaS solutions. We use their products including:Highrise-  a CRM application; Basecamp  – a project management and collaboration tool; and Campfire  – for document exchange.

Zendesk: A small Denmark based company providing online Helpdesk services in a SaaS format. Also based on Ruby on Rails  and with worldwide penetration. We use Zendesk for our support and information helpdesk.

History

The original version of Audit Assistant was created by Clive McKegg in 1999 answering a need for auditors in NZ to produce efficient work-papers which are compliant with the NZ Codified Auditing Standards. This was an Excel based package which was marketed through Solution 6 to their clients.

In 2003 he updated the product and took over support and sales from Solution 6. Matt McKegg had considerable input into this new version adding many further features and eventually a Microsoft .NET   ‘front end’ which continued to use Excel for the actual work-papers but added additional functionality. Clive also began travelling doing training and demonstrations. A loyal and enthusiastic group of accounting practices used this version of Audit Assistant and are in the process of changing to the online version.

With the advances in software technology and the adoption in NZ of International Auditing Standards it became obvious that it was time for a new product and approach which incorporates the features of the existing version into a much more powerful and flexible platform; hence the online version.

Our Team (so far)

Clive McKegg has many years experience in chartered accounting, including audits of small business and non-profit organisations. 

He graduated BCom from Auckland University in 1982 and was admitted to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in 1984 working for Hutchison Hull (now Deloittes) in audit for 3 years and has since worked in a number of second tier firms and smaller firms, owning his own practice from 2003. 

He has now sold his audit practice to concentrate on Audit Assistant. He is responsible for content, sales, development and training. He enjoys riding motorcycles and combines business with pleasure as much as possible travelling to visit clients on his bike. 

Matt McKegg has been involved in Audit Assistant since its early days and has followed his passion in software and graphic design into his own career as a software architect and programmer. 

Matt has undertaken a number of major software projects including the official Northland Community Services Directory www.2cu.co.nz. He is a specialist in web-based software plus providing graphic design. Matt is also a musician and has released two albums of electronica / cinematic music.

Matt's role is in development, design, support and optimisation making sure we are using the best possible tools to serve our users.

Recent Feedback

"Been using the new system for a little while now and she's fantastic! I think the boss likes the fact that he doesn't have to sign every page! And i like the fact that my paper file is pretty much non-existent!"

Brad Quin, Plus Chartered Accountants

"Good work on Audit Assistant. It is really easy to use, and it sounds as though you are set to make it even more user friendly with further improvements. Good one, and thanks."

Maria Morunga, PKF Francis Aiken

"Audit Assistant is running well and making life easier for us!"

Catriona Cory, Hounsell Accounting