I have a confession to make. I’m a Geek. Capital G. Star Wars and Marvel are my two biggest fandoms. DC comes up right behind them but post-Dark Knight series DC hasn’t been too satisfying for me.

I’ve found my satisfaction with the brand has a heavily influence on my hopes for its success or failure. For example, I generally loved the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so the financial success of End Game made me smile. For Star Wars I loved the original trilogy and really enjoyed The Force Awakens (episode 7). When The Last Jedi (episode 8) was released I absolutely hated it. Same parent company. However the creative minds behind it failed to deliver for me. As a result, I find myself hoping The Rise of Skywalker (episode 9 coming out this weekend) fails financially. Strictly due to a bias I mentally have against Disney’s creative choices.

This bias made me think more about our own internal biases and how they can impact an audit. Our professional skepticism can become skewed when auditing the same departments and locations each year. We remember arguments over budgets or an audit issue from three years ago. Or we know about their kid’s activities and avoid asking the deeper questions that could uncover potential fraud.

When planning an audit we must address our internal bias and adjust accordingly. Do I really want a bad Star Wars movie? Absolutely not. Do you want the dad of a kid on your kid’s rival soccer team to lose their job over an inaccurate audit report? Or to spend time on an audit that has a default end result?

Which manager or department do you have a general dislike for? Before your next audit, address that internal bias. Which department do you really enjoy working with and look forward to chatting a bit during the next company party? How “independent” is that upcoming audit? This seems so simple yet we still allow these opinions to steer an audit more than facts and risks.

Take some time when planning an audit, acknowledge how your bias can influence the outcome. If you need a break to think about it, The Mandalorian has a new episode on Disney Plus today.