Getting audit-ready: the two-week list our audit team actually sends
22 May 2026 · 3 min read
In 28 years of signing audits, we have rarely seen a delay caused by complex accounting. Delays come from schedules that have to be built during fieldwork, and from supporting documents that take days to locate. Below is a shortened version of the list our audit managers send clients ahead of a year end.
Week one: close the books properly
Complete bank reconciliations for every account through year end. Agree the trial balance to the general ledger. Post depreciation, accruals and prepayments. Review the aged receivables and payables listings, and be ready to explain the long-outstanding balances before we ask — those explanations are where most of our early queries land.
Week one: assemble the evidence
Bank statements and confirmations, loan and hire purchase agreements with repayment schedules, tenancy agreements, major sales and purchase contracts, and the fixed asset register with additions and disposals supported by invoices.
Week two: the four areas that generate the most queries
Inventory — a dated count sheet with the valuation basis applied consistently. Related-party balances — a schedule of every director and inter-company movement, with the reason for each. Revenue cut-off — the last invoices and delivery documents either side of year end. Provisions and estimates — a short note on how each figure was arrived at, written by whoever arrived at it.
Week two: the governance items
Minutes of directors' and members' meetings, the register of members and directors, any changes in shareholding, and confirmation of dividends declared. Quick to gather in advance, slow to chase afterwards. Where these are held by a company secretary, ask for them early — our clients' co-sec work is handled by our associate practice and we coordinate the request as part of planning.
Keep a standing folder
The clients who finish fastest are the ones who maintain a running audit folder through the year instead of assembling one in the final fortnight. They also receive noticeably fewer audit adjustments.
If you would like the current full version of our audit team's request list ahead of your year end, ask us and we will send it.
From the file
One owner-managed group used to take six weeks of fieldwork every year, largely because inventory and related-party schedules were built while we were on site. We agreed a standing folder and a fixed pre-year-end checklist with their accounts manager. The following year fieldwork closed in under three weeks, with fewer adjustments — the accounting had not changed at all, only the preparation.
Anonymised and de-identified. Shared to illustrate the point, never to identify a client.
Reviewed by Patrick Chai Chuin Wei, CA (M), FCCA — Founder & Managing Partner. Written by the audit and tax team at C.W. Chai & Partners (AF 001844). General guidance only — it is not advice on your specific position.
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