determing the extent of work to be carried at the final audit

Short time does not necessarily mean rushing - but rather choosing most appropriate SPs in the circumstances. So if, for example, there is 3 months in which to complete the audit, but, on average, customers take 3 months to settle their accounts, the auditor will not be able to rely on cash receipts to confirm recoverabililty of debts. So the sample of external confirmations may be more extensive than if there were 4 or 5 months before the auditor's report will be signed.