Notes are where judgements live. They are also where tired reviewers skim. The goal is not to highlight everything — it is to leave a trail next to the sentences that could change a board decision.
Start with a map, not a highlighter
List the note families you will always open: accounting policies that changed, critical judgements, related parties, contingencies, going concern, post-balance-sheet events. Time-box each family. Our Studio cohorts use twenty minutes as a default first pass.
Mark the decision, not the prose
When a note describes estimation uncertainty, ask what management would do differently if the estimate moved by a material amount. Write that question in the margin. Pretty language without a decision attached can wait.
Keep annotations where others can find them
Email comments detach from the disclosure. The financial statement review app keeps marks on the paragraph so a senior can resolve them without reconstructing your thought process from a chat thread.
If you finish the primary statements and “save notes for later,” later rarely arrives. Put the notes pass on the calendar as a named block — the same way you protect the cash flow bridge.