For the past 15 years, we've watched the same pattern repeat every summer into Q3. Audit notices start showing up, and clients make their worst decisions before they ever call us.
The mistakes usually aren't obvious; they come from panic, not carelessness. Businesses call the auditor back the same day. They waive their 60-day grace period without realizing it's there. They hand over records the state was never entitled to in the first place, because they believe cooperation means giving up everything. By the time they call us, the audit has already narrowed against them.
Here's what we tell every client the moment a notice lands on their desk.
Three Mistakes to Avoid Immediately
1) Don't rush to call the auditor back. You have 60 days before the audit can officially begin. Calling back early or answering questions on that call can waive protections you didn't know you had. Use the full window.
2) Don't overprovide records or answer questions. You have rights during an audit, and the DOR will over-request. Giving more than they're entitled to almost always creates new issues rather than solving existing ones.
3) Don't assume the clock started when you opened the notice. It started the day the notice was dated. Treat that date as day one, not the day it landed on your desk.
Three Things to Do Before the Audit Begins
1) Pre-audit your own records. You need to know your exposure before the auditor tells you what it is: your strengths, your weak points, and where their findings might be wrong. For the past 15 years, we've watched the same pattern repeat every summer into Q3. Audit notices start showing up, and clients make their worst decisions before they ever call us.
2) Prepare for the opening conference. That first meeting sets the tone for everything that follows. Walk in organized, not reactive.
3) Know what they'll ask before they ask it. Understanding the auditor's likely requests and how to respond to each is what lets you control the narrative instead of chasing it.
One Issue That's Different From the Rest
Tax collected but not remitted isn't just a compliance issue, it's a liability issue. If you collected sales tax and didn't remit it, how you handle that discovery matters. Handled wrong, it can expose the business and its owners to personal and even criminal liability.
Know Your Appeal Rights Early
You have several appeal rights once an audit concludes and knowing what to argue, and at what stage, has a direct effect on how efficiently the matter resolves. This isn't something to figure out after the assessment arrives.
Why This All Happens in Q3
None of this is random timing. The Department of Revenue's fiscal year begins July 1, and August through October is their final push before calendar year-end, which is exactly why notices cluster in the summer and into fall. It's also, not coincidentally, when your CPA is buried in the second tax season of the year and least available to help you navigate it.
The combination of the state's fiscal deadline and your CPA's bandwidth is why the first 60 days matter more than most businesses realize.
The three-year clock isn't the only clock
The Florida Department of Revenue has three years to audit your sales tax returns, measured from the date each return was filed. But the statute of limitations doesn't run the same way for every taxpayer.
File late, and the clock starts on the late filing date — not the original due date. Never file at all, and the clock never starts. And if the DOR can show fraud or a substantial understatement, they can reach back even further.
The practical upshot: the years you assume are closed may not be.
The flip side is just as important. If you already know where your exposure lives, narrowing the audit's scope to shield other periods is a legitimate — and often successful — strategy. But it only works if you move before the auditor does.
We raise this in the opening stages of nearly every audit we handle. And it's a move that almost never happens without counsel in the room.
Q: Does hiring an attorney make me look guilty to the auditor?
A: No. It tells the auditor you know your rights and intend to use them. Auditors expect represented taxpayers. They deal with counsel constantly. An unrepresented business does not look cooperative to an auditor; it looks like an easier target. The auditor's job is to find tax, interest, and penalties. Yours is to protect the business. Those two jobs don't align without someone whose only job is the second one.
Received an audit notice? Don't respond alone. Call us first at (888) 444-9568. Before you call the auditor. Before you pull a single record. Before you agree to any date.
One call can change the trajectory of an audit. Make it the right one.