You know, I have to say I was thinking the same thing...
This really does not really make much sense.
I did technical audits for years for KPMG.
Here is how the general Audit Process works:
The Company requesting the audit meets with the Audit company.
They agree on the Scope of the Audit and define a set of Requirements based on the reason for the audit.
All the information that the requesting company is required to provide is typically right there onsite, or easily obtained.
There is also a Clear definition of when the Audit needs to be completed. This is ALWAYS in the contract.
Most of the time the Company requires the Audit for a reason (Like perhaps an IPO or a Planned Uplisting or as part of their Yearly Processing, which needs to be completed by a specific date).
Each member of the audit team is given a set of tasks.
Each task has a Start date and an End date.
The person performing each task is Required to complete all their assigned work by a specific date. If a specific task cannot be completed due to a Vendor issue or cannot be contacted (a person is in the hospital and cannot provide the requested info... A Large Rock falls on a vendor's building destroying all their records... A pack of wild dogs ate all the invoices) then it is noted and they move on. It Does NOT, EVER stop the audit. If this were the case, no audit would Ever be completed...
All the reports and tasks are funneled to the person responsible for consolidating all the info and creating the final Audit report.
Any outstanding items, unless truly deemed "Critical" are simply noted and the report is finished.
If this Audit Company is trying to say they cannot complete an audit because they cannot get information they require, unless Sarissa is the provider of this particular piece of information, that is Not Sarissa's fault or problem.
I cannot even conceive of this happening. I was involved with literally Hundreds of audits and we Never missed a target date.
Not only does this Void the Contract (and at that point the requesting Company would not be obligated to pay) but there are Huge legal and other consequences beyond just being late and losing money. The business of preparing audits, financial and technical, is Very tightly controlled and the audit firm could lose their licensing or worse if they do not meet their obligations.
It sounds like this audit company needs to get their act together. If I were Sarissa and assuming the date for audit completion has passed, I would be making some demands right now and not just waiting for this to happen.
JMHO...
Cheers,
ThegoodlifeGeo
AI
