Aging open exceptions before an audit committee meeting
Committee packs often list how many exceptions exist. Aging them by risk and owner tells a clearer story.
A raw count of open exceptions can look calm or alarming depending on how you slice it. Aging by days outstanding, and tagging items above a materiality threshold, helps the audit committee see concentration risk rather than a flat number.
We usually recommend three buckets: under thirty days, thirty to ninety, and beyond ninety. Pair each open item with a named owner and a next action date. If several long-aged items share one owner, that pattern belongs in the narrative — not only the appendix table.
Before distribution, reconcile the register to source approvals. Nothing erodes trust faster than a briefing that includes exceptions already closed in the payment system but still listed as open on the committee pack.