Co-Audit
Co-Audit is the natural-language agent that lives in the left sidebar of every request. Describe what you want and it builds the workflow, document groups, columns, and client-facing request copy for you.
Co-Audit is the natural-language agent built into every request in Punchcard. Instead of clicking through menus to add a document group, configure columns, write extraction prompts, and draft the client-facing request description one by one, you tell Co-Audit what the workpaper needs to do (in plain English) and it builds the structure for you.
It is not a chatbot bolted on the side. Co-Audit knows about the request you have open, the documents in it, the columns you have already configured, the engagement variables published at the engagement level, and the templates available in your firm. Anything you could do by hand in the Workflow tab, Co-Audit can do for you faster, and usually as a single instruction.
What you'll learn
- What Co-Audit is and what it can do inside a request.
- Where the panel lives and how to open it.
- How to write an instruction that gets a good first draft.
- Where to go next to build a workpaper or an amortization schedule with Co-Audit.
Where Co-Audit lives
The Co-Audit panel sits on the left sidebar of every request. Open any request from the Request Board or Task Board and the panel is right there: no separate page, no separate mode. It stays open as you click around the Workflow, Workpaper, and Memo tabs, so you can ask it to make a change and watch the change happen in the tab next to it.
Open a request
From the Request Board or Task Board, open any request.
Find the Co-Audit panel
The panel opens by default on the left side of the request. If it is collapsed, click the Expand Sidebar button in the top-left of the screen to show it.
Type your instruction and submit
Describe the workpaper you want, the column you want added, or the policy you want compliance against. Anything you would otherwise build by hand goes here. Submit and watch the Workflow tab update in real time.
What Co-Audit can do
Co-Audit is built around the structure of a request, so its capabilities map to what's inside one.
Build a workpaper end to end
From a single instruction, Co-Audit can write the client-facing request description, create document groups, generate AI Prompt Columns, set up formulas, and add testing attributes. The result is a full workpaper, ready to run.
Tailor an existing template
Tell Co-Audit how the client's documents differ from the template and it rewrites the document groups, extraction prompts, and tie-out calculations to fit.
Add or fix a single column
Ask for one new AI Prompt Column or Formula, or describe a change to an existing one. Co-Audit edits in place rather than rebuilding the workpaper.
Generate amortization schedules
Point Co-Audit at uploaded lease, loan, or debt documents and ask it to build the amortization schedule. See Create an amortization schedule.
Answer questions about a document
Co-Audit reads the documents already uploaded to the request. Ask "summarize this plan's hardship distribution rules" or "what's the discount rate on this lease" and it answers from the source.
Draft the client-facing request
Leave the description blank when you create a request, and Co-Audit will write the description, list the documents to upload, and frame the ask in client-readable language.
How to write a good instruction
Co-Audit performs best when you brief it the way you would brief a new staff auditor. Three habits that pay off:
Always review what Co-Audit builds
Co-Audit is fast and accurate at structure: column names, document groups, references, and request copy. It still makes mistakes, especially on math, judgment, and references it cannot resolve. Watch for red text in custom columns (a broken @ reference) and recheck any column that calls for a recalculation rather than a straight extraction.
Continue your journey
← Rolling forward an engagement
Carry engagements forward to a new period before building new workpapers with Co-Audit.
Create a workpaper with Co-Audit →
Generate a full workpaper, document groups, and columns from a single natural-language instruction.
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