What the auditor asks for: the list we start from

The information request list — known in practice as the PBC, “prepared by client” — is the first document you receive from the auditor and usually the first source of friction: it arrives in January, asks for fifty things and is due “as soon as possible”. This article sets out the list we start from and why it looks the way it does. You receive it on the day the contract is signed, not in January.

Why the auditor asks for these documents

An auditor cannot confirm a figure because someone says it is right. Every significant balance needs evidence: a document showing that the asset exists, that the liability is real, that the revenue belongs to the period. The list is not administrative paperwork; it is the map of the evidence.

General records

• The trial balance at the reporting date and for the previous year, in electronic form.
• The complete journal of accounting entries, exported from the system.
• Draft financial statements, with the notes.
• The accounting policies applied and any changes from the previous year.
• The up-to-date constitutive act and the resolutions of the general meeting and of the directors during the year.

By area

• Fixed assets. The fixed asset register, additions and disposals during the year with their supporting documents, the depreciation calculation, any revaluations and impairment tests.
• Inventory. The stock count instructions, signed count sheets, differences found and how they were resolved, the analysis of slow-moving stock and the write-down calculation.
• Receivables and payables. Sub-ledgers, ageing, reconciliations with significant counterparties, the calculation of allowances for doubtful debts.
• Cash. Statements at the reporting date, bank reconciliations, the list of accounts and authorised signatories, loan agreements and covenants.
• Revenue. A breakdown by type and period, documents for transactions at the start and end of the year (the cut-off test), significant contracts.
• Payroll. Summary payroll records, the calculation of provisions for untaken holiday and bonuses, management contracts.
• Provisions and litigation. The litigation schedule, calculations and assumptions, the lawyer's confirmation.
• Related parties. The list of related entities, transactions and balances with each, intercompany confirmations.

What the auditor asks for that is not in the accounts

Part of the list does not come from the accounting records but from how the company works: a description of the sales, purchasing and payment processes, who approves what and within what limits, access rights in the IT system, the transfer pricing policy where there are intercompany transactions. These are prepared once and updated annually.

Three mistakes that make an audit longer

• Documents sent piecemeal, by email. Every file lost means a repeated request. A single place, structured like the list, saves days.
• Reconciliations prepared only when the auditor asks. A monthly reconciliation costs minutes; one redone in March for twelve months costs hours.
• Estimates explained verbally. If the assumption is written down nowhere, the auditor has to reconstruct it and test it from other sources.

How we work with the list

We send the full list on the day the contract is signed, grouped by area and with deadlines spread across the months rather than all at once. For a company of 150–⁠250 employees that keeps its accounting in house, we estimate 8–⁠12 person-days of your team's time over the whole engagement. Further requests inevitably arise, but we group them and explain why they are needed.

If you would like the list tailored to your company's situation, we go through it together in the free 60-minute assessment.