Audit in Progress

The album was well received by critics and fans. Joseph Larkin called it "the most ferocious record in the Hot Snakes discography, [it] rarely lets up [and] pummels without mercy."[2] Spin noted the album's "loud, throttling punk-rock elegance" and compared it to Drive Like Jehu.[9] The latter comparison was again made by Nick Cowen, noting that despite replacing their original drummer: "the Hot Snakes manifesto remains “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Not bad for a band playing some of the most blistering punk rock around." Brian Howe was slightly less positive, citing the aforementioned replacement as one of the reasons: "While Rubalcaba is a proficient percussionist possessed of a distinct style, his crisper, more rigid drumming simply doesn't mesh as well with Hot Snakes' metallic doom-rock guitars and monotone shout-alongs as Kourkounis's rumbling, primal pounding did. Audit in Progress remains sufficiently fierce, but sounds a little tinny when compared to the rippling muscles of 2002's Suicide Invoice."[7] Jean-Pierre of Tiny Mix Tapes called it "one of the finest albums of the 2004 [sic], hands down."[11]

Audit in Progress was named "best punk album" at the 2005 San Diego Music Awards.

"This Mystic Decade" was featured in the soundtrack of Grand Theft Auto V.[12]

The album received renewed critical attention upon being reissued. Nad Khan noted that on the album, "everything is cranked up a notch to quash any signs of complacency. Influences like Suicide and the more torte instrumental elements of previous incarnations like Pitchfork and Drive Like Jehu shine through the roughed-up recordings. The emergence of a hardcore indebted new wave has clearly been influenced by this album, with the likes of Pissed Jeans and Fucked Up all taking cues within their chosen musical styles."[13] In a review of Jericho Sirens, Vish Khanna calls the album and its predecessors "highwater marks for American punk".[14] Emma Johnston called it "fiery, furious" and "cathartic".[5] Alun Hamnet was, however, more mixed, noting the influence of The Wipers and comparing it unfavorably to their previous releases.[1]