Audit Update
Preparing for your statutory audit: a prepared-by-client list that works
Audit Desk · ·
Two companies of identical size can take a week or a month to audit. The difference is rarely the accounting; it is the file. A complete prepared-by-client list turns audit from an excavation into a review.
The core file
- Trial balance and general ledger, with comparative year
- Bank reconciliations for every account at year-end
- Fixed asset register with additions and disposals
- Debtors and creditors ageing with post-year-end receipts
- Loan schedules, sanctions and covenants
- Board minutes, contracts and related-party agreements
- Tax returns, VAT and TDS reconciliations
Why each item shortens the audit
Reconciliations eliminate the most common source of audit adjustments. Confirmations and post-year-end receipts convert debtor balances from estimates into evidence. The asset register turns a two-day count debate into a two-hour walk-through.
The quality of the file is the quality of the audit experience.
Clients on our bookkeeping desk receive this file automatically at year-end — which is why their audits finish early.
Prepared by
Audit Desk · Baral & K.C. Associates
This note is general guidance and not advice on your specific facts. Rates, thresholds and deadlines change; confirm the current position before acting.
Continue reading
All insights →Tax Alert · 6 Oct 2026
After the Finance Act: a practical review checklist for companies
Every Finance Act moves rates, thresholds and incentives. This is the order we work through the changes so nothing reaches a return unexamined.
Tax Alert · 14 Sep 2026
TDS at source: the five withholding mistakes we see most often
Withholding tax is simple in principle and expensive in practice. These five errors account for most of the assessments we defend.
Apply it to your facts
Discuss what this means for you.
General notes cannot see your ledger. A partner can — usually within one business day.