Archer Audit Management Release Notes

January 8, 2026

This release delivers an enhancement to Audit Management with new reports on the dashboards and minor fixes.

What's New?

Audit Management Workspace

Added a link to the Issues Management Dashboard

Audit Engagement

Minor fixes to improve the data feeds
Added the Poorly Rated Audits report, which shows engagements with Unsatisfactory or Needs Improvement ratings

September 2025

First official release of the consolidated version of Audit Management.

This release consolidates and simplifies the audit process by standardizing audit templates as the single method for creating engagements. Previously, users could choose from four overlapping approaches—program libraries, risk-based audits, control-based audits, or templates—but these redundancies often led to confusion. Now, every engagement is built from a template, ensuring a consistent risk and control matrix across all audits and removing unnecessary applications.

The Audit Plan entity has been retired with engagements now beginning in the Proposed stage to streamline planning and reporting. Workflow enhancements further improve audit execution: all issues must first be logged as observations before escalation, ensuring a structured review process. Audit engagement, workpapers, and plans are now workflow-driven. Evidence requests can be automatically generated and sent through data feeds as testing progresses. Audit procedures have been separated into their own application for cleaner reporting and easier access, while risks and controls have been updated to align with the new standardized layouts. Together, these updates create a more intuitive, guided experience that aligns with modern audit practices.

What's New?

Audit Entity

Created new roles aligned with new design principles
Streamlined layout and workflow
- Added and removed several fields and sections based on user feedback
- Removed the scoping tabs, as now risk and controls are added on the template, not the engagement
- Updated the risk assessment to be easier to configure, but kept a baseline four factor assessment ready for users to use
- Removed scoping sections, and instead the entity itself is the scope of what you are auditing.
Created new reports and dashboards
Fixed and updated several calculated fields
Updated inherited and default record permissions to reflect new groups and cross references
Updated history log to include relevant fields and set retention period to 90 days
Update fields to be inline edit
Updated cross references grids to show appropriate values

Audit Templates

Created new roles aligned with new design principles
Streamlined layout and workflow
- Added and removed several fields and sections based on user feedback
- Removed the direct cross reference to controls and program library procedures. Now Templates connect to audit risks, which then connect to audit controls, removing the redundant cross references, and making clear how the relationships need to be set up.
- Made this app the primary way for audits to be set up
Created new reports and dashboards
Fixed and updated several calculated fields
Updated inherited and default record permissions to reflect new groups and cross references
Updated history log to include relevant fields and set retention period to 90 days
Update fields to be inline edit
Updated cross references grids to show appropriate values

Audit Risks

Created new roles aligned with new design principles
Streamlined layout and workflow
- Added and removed several fields and sections based on user feedback
- Matched with the new risk layout in the ERM solution. Now this form just collects basic information and links to the audit controls and a template
Created new reports and dashboards
Fixed and updated several calculated fields
Updated inherited and default record permissions to reflect new groups and cross references
Updated history log to include relevant fields and set retention period to 90 days
Update fields to be inline edit
Updated cross references grids to show appropriate values

Audit Controls

Created new roles aligned with new design principles
Streamlined layout and workflow
- Added and removed several fields and sections based on user feedback
- Matched with the new control layout in the compliance solution. Now this form just collects information required by regulators, as well as the testing procedures and acceptable evidence, which can be used to automatically request evidence.
Created new reports and dashboards
Fixed and updated several calculated fields
Updated inherited and default record permissions to reflect new groups and cross references
Updated history log to include relevant fields and set retention period to 90 days
Update fields to be inline edit
Updated cross references grids to show appropriate values

Audit Plan

Created new roles aligned with new design principles
Streamlined layout and workflow
- Added and removed several fields and sections based on user feedback
- Added workflow that requires approval. Updates to the plan can only be made when in draft mode.
- Now audit plans link directly to engagements, and removed the need for plan entities. Audit engagements will start in the proposed state, and cannot leave that stage until the audit plan is approved
- Simplified the rollup fields.
Created new reports and dashboards
Fixed and updated several calculated fields
Updated inherited and default record permissions to reflect new groups and cross references
Updated history log to include relevant fields and set retention period to 90 days
Update fields to be inline edit
Updated cross references grids to show appropriate values

Audit Engagement

Created new roles aligned with new design principles
Streamlined layout and workflow
- Added and removed several fields and sections based on user feedback
- Added in-app instructions for each stage
- Updated workflow, with workflow tracker
- Updated notifications for internal and external users
- Greatly simplified the first intake form. Users must select the entity and the template, then some estimation fields. Engagement starts as a proposed engagement
- Added several data feeds at different stage transitions
  - Upon starting planning, a data feed runs to copy the chosen template and entity to an entity-risk-control matrix. From there the user can make tweaks to the risk and control matrix before starting fieldwork
  - Upon starting fieldwork, a data feed will create workpapers and procedures from any in-scope risks and controls in the risk and control matrix.
  - If applicable, evidence requests will be sent out, one for each new audit procedure to the business owner. They will be linked in the information gathering tab of the engagement as well to each individual procedure.
  - Observations and Findings roll up to the engagement level
Created new reports and dashboards
Fixed and updated several calculated fields
Updated inherited and default record permissions to reflect new groups and cross references
Updated history log to include relevant fields and set retention period to 90 days
Update fields to be inline edit
Updated cross references grids to show appropriate values

Audit Workpaper

Created new roles aligned with new design principles
Streamlined layout and workflow
- Added and removed several fields and sections based on user feedback
- Added in-app instructions for each stage
- Updated workflow, with workflow tracker for simple review and approval flow
- Updated notifications for internal and external users
Created new reports and dashboards
Fixed and updated several calculated fields
Updated inherited and default record permissions to reflect new groups and cross references
Updated history log to include relevant fields and set retention period to 90 days
Updated fields to be inline edit
Updated cross references grids to show appropriate values