Audit preparation starts with "where is everything?"
The pre-audit scramble is rarely about missing records. It is about nobody knowing where they are.
The most common pre-audit scene is people searching shared folders and personal laptops. The records exist; they are just everywhere.
The first step is not writing more documents but making one table — which records an audit checks, where they are now, and who is responsible. That table alone removes most of the panic.
Next, standardise where records live and how they are named. Finally, make the check a quarterly routine rather than a last-minute task.