PBC List for an Audit: What to Request and When

A PBC list ("prepared by client" or "provided by client") is the list of schedules and documents the audit team asks the client to provide. It is often the first thing to slip when an audit runs late, and vague requests cause much of the delay.

What goes on a PBC list

Each request should say:

• What you need, specifically: "AP aging at December 31, Excel, with invoice dates", not "AP detail".
• For which period or date.
• The format: Excel exports for anything you will test or sort; PDFs for signed documents.
• Who at the client owns it.
• When it is due.
• Status: requested, received, follow-up needed, accepted.

Sample PBC list by area

Area	Typical requests
General	Trial balance (Excel), general ledger detail for the year (Excel), chart of accounts, board minutes, significant contracts, organization chart
Cash	Bank statements for the year-end month and the month after, bank reconciliations at year end, list of all bank accounts
Accounts receivable	AR aging at year end, credit notes after year end, allowance calculation, customer list for confirmations
Revenue	Sales register, contracts for significant customers, shipping documents around year end
Inventory	Count sheets, inventory listing with costs, costing method, slow-moving analysis
Fixed assets	Fixed asset continuity schedule, invoices for additions, disposal support, depreciation calculation
Accounts payable	AP aging at year end, payments register for 60 days after year end, unpaid invoices received after year end, vendor statements for major suppliers
Accruals and provisions	Accrual schedules with support, legal letters, warranty and other estimate calculations
Payroll	Payroll registers, headcount by month, bonus and commission calculations, year-end tax forms
Debt and equity	Loan agreements, lender statements, covenant calculations, share register
Tax	Prior-year returns, tax provision, installments paid

Then, once samples are chosen, a second round: the sample-specific requests, such as the 40 invoices for the expense vouching sample. Our vouching vs tracing and accounts payable audit guides explain what those samples need.

Getting it back on time

1. Send it early, with due dates before fieldwork, not the first day of it.
2. Ask for exports, not printouts. A PDF of the general ledger can't be filtered or sampled. Ask for the Excel or CSV export from the accounting system.
3. Reuse last year's list, updated, so the client recognizes it.
4. Assign an owner on the client side for each item, not just "the controller."
5. Track status in one place and share it, so both sides see what is outstanding.
6. Request samples in one batch. Five separate requests for invoices cost the client five trips to the filing cabinet.
7. Check what comes back when it comes back. Finding out in week three that the AP aging is at the wrong date costs a week.

Where Warp fits

Once the documents arrive, the testing starts: matching samples to invoices, testing journal entries, checking controls. Warp runs that part. Send Warp the GL and the documents the client provided, and it returns workpapers where each result links to the page it came from. See test of details and journal entry testing.