Free planning guide · October 2026

2027 Audit Readiness Playbook

What to have ready before the request list arrives.

For community banks and credit unions. A 12-month calendar, six workstreams, a ten-item evidence pack, a 90-day sprint, and a self-score you can finish in ten minutes.

2027 Audit Readiness Playbook cover and self-score

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Only have ten minutes? Download the one-page self-score. No form.

What changed heading into 2027

Three shifts matter more than a longer priority list.

The 2027 exam conversation will start from what examiners already emphasized this year, until the agencies say otherwise.

Scope follows risk, not a fixed checklist.

If your risk story is current and your testing matches that story, the exam has a reason to stay in the areas that actually matter.

Independent testing can shrink or expand the BSA review.

A memo that says "no issues noted," with no sample, no period, and no open items, does not give an examiner a reason to stay light.

The balance sheet is still an exam topic.

Credit, finance, and the board have to show the same discipline the BSA officer is asked to show.

Less burden does not mean less evidence. It means the evidence must be good enough to rely on.

What is inside

A file an examiner can follow, and a person who can explain it.

Use it three ways. Exam more than a year out: follow the calendar. Exam inside 90 days: go straight to the sprint. Only have an hour: do the self-score.

The 12-month calendarOne quarter, one owner, one board packet. Bank and credit union owners named side by side.
Six workstreamsCredit, rate and liquidity, earnings and capital, BSA/AML, payments and fraud, third parties.
The question an examiner asksFor each workstream, plus the miss we see most often and a 30-day fix.
The ten-item evidence packA printable index for the front of the exam folder.
Ninety days before the examA four-block sprint, what to do and what not to do.
The self-scoreTen yes-or-no questions. Every "no" is a conversation, not a grade.

Try the self-score

Three of the ten questions.

If you cannot answer in ten minutes, the answer is no.

1Has the BSA/AML risk assessment been updated since the last product, geography, staffing, or fintech change?Yes / No

2Can you show that the last independent BSA test covered your highest-risk activity, not only the policy?Yes / No

6Can the CFO explain the first ten days of the contingency funding plan without opening the model?Yes / No

Download all ten questions (PDF)

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Want a second set of eyes?

You can run this playbook without us. If you want help, Brian Montes will walk your self-score with you on a 30-minute call. He will tell you which two workstreams are worth fixing before the next exam and what a quote would cover.

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Planning tool based on public supervisory materials available as of October 2026. Not legal, audit, or regulatory advice.