Client preparation
Fieldwork you can put on the calendar
Statutory audits succeed when document requests, inventory counts, and bank confirmations are scheduled with the people who hold the seals and the stock. This guide explains how our team stages those moments.
Before week one
Document packs that shorten testing
Two weeks before fieldwork, we send a request list keyed to significant accounts: trial balance, bank reconciliations, fixed-asset roll-forwards, inventory listings by location, sales cut-off schedules, and related-party boards. Incomplete packs do not cancel the visit; they extend it, and we say so in writing.
Assign a single liaison who can open folders, book meeting rooms, and reach warehouse leads. Multiple inboxes slow confirmation follow-ups more than any sampling plan.
On site
How a typical fieldwork week unfolds
Opening meeting
Partner and manager confirm materiality, significant risks, and the inventory observation date. Controllers raise known ledger gaps before testing begins.
Walkthroughs and samples
We trace a small set of purchases, sales, and payroll items from initiation to ledger. Sample selections for substantive testing follow the same day where possible.
Inventory observation
Counts happen where goods sit. We recount samples, test cut-off at the dock, and photograph tag sequences for the file when permitted by site policy.
Daily wash-up
Open items are listed each afternoon so your team can clear them overnight. Surprises at the draft meeting should be rare if wash-ups are kept honest.
Confirmations
Authorisations ahead of the rush
Bank and receivable confirmations leave our office early in fieldwork. Clients who prepare seal-ready authorisation letters before we arrive usually see replies before reporting week. Dormant accounts and escrow balances belong on the first list, not the second.