Auditor Evidence Checklist
TLDR
Auditors don't need everything. They need the right things, organized. This checklist covers what external reviewers typically request from nonprofit grantees, divided into four sections: general organizational documents, restricted fund evidence, grant-specific records, and supporting documentation. Use it before the fieldwork date to find gaps while there's still time to close them.
Why Auditors Find Gaps After the Fieldwork Starts
Audit preparation usually happens in two phases: the scramble and the regret. The scramble is the two weeks before the auditor arrives, when the team pulls documents from email archives, shared drives, and accounting exports. The regret is the finding letter, which cites the documents that were missing or couldn’t be produced on request.
The gap between the two phases is almost always a document that existed somewhere but wasn’t connected to the grant record in any usable way: the time-and-effort certification signed but filed in a personal drive, the amendment letter emailed but never uploaded to the grant file, the restricted fund release processed but never documented with a supporting narrative.
This checklist works backward from what auditors request. It is not a comprehensive compliance guide. It is the document inventory you need before you can say you’re ready for fieldwork.
How to Use This Checklist
Go through each section before the auditor’s fieldwork start date. For each item, mark whether the document exists, where it is stored, and whether it is already in your grant management system or needs to be uploaded.
If you’re using the GrantPipe Auditor Portal, any document you haven’t uploaded yet should be uploaded before you build the evidence bundle. A document that exists in a filing cabinet but isn’t in the portal cannot be shared without breaking the controlled-access model that makes the portal useful.
Auditor Evidence Checklist
What auditors need from nonprofit grantees — organized by section. Build your evidence bundle without missing the documents that typically produce findings. Delivered by email.
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