PBC List: How to Build a Prepared-by-Client Request List for an Audit

A PBC list is the list of schedules, reports and documents the auditor asks the client to prepare or pull before and during fieldwork. PBC stands for "prepared by client." A clear, specific list saves time on both sides: it tells the client what to produce, in what form and by when, and it gives the engagement team one place to track what has arrived.

This guide covers what belongs on a PBC list, how to organize it by audit area, when to send it, how to follow up, and what the auditor still has to do with the items once they arrive.

What is a PBC list?

A PBC list (also called a client request list or audit request list) is a schedule of every item the engagement team needs from the client, with an owner, a due date and a status for each line. It usually covers three kinds of items:

• Schedules the client prepares: account reconciliations, rollforwards, aging reports, accrual detail, debt schedules.
• Reports the client runs from its systems: the general ledger detail, the trial balance, subledger listings, payroll registers, the sales journal.
• Source documents the client pulls: contracts, board minutes, invoices for selected samples, bank statements, loan agreements.

The list is not an audit procedure. It is a project management tool. The audit procedures happen when the team tests what the client provides.

Why the PBC list matters

A vague request ("please send AR support") produces a vague response, a second request and a delay. A specific request (for example, "AR aging by customer as of 12/31/2026, total agreeing to GL account 1200, exported to Excel") gets the right report the first time.

A good list also:

1. Sets expectations early. The client knows the workload before fieldwork starts and can plan around its own close.
2. Creates a record. Dates requested and received show where delays came from, which helps on the next engagement and in fee conversations.
3. Links to the audit plan. Each request ties back to a procedure, so nothing is requested that the team will not use and nothing the team needs is forgotten.

How to build a PBC list by audit area

Start from the audit program, not from last year's list. Last year's list is a good draft, but it carries forward requests nobody used and misses new risks, new accounts and new standards. Walk through each area of the program and write down what the procedure needs.

General and planning items

• Final trial balance and general ledger detail for the year, in electronic form
• Prior-year adjusted trial balance (to confirm the opening balances agree)
• Board, committee and shareholder minutes for the year and through the report date
• Organization chart and list of key personnel
• Significant new contracts, leases, loan agreements and amendments
• List of related parties and transactions with them
• Accounting policies memo and any changes during the year
• Legal letter contacts and a list of open claims or litigation

Cash

• Bank reconciliations for every account at year end, with bank statements for the year-end month and the following month
• List of all bank accounts, including any opened or closed during the year
• Authorized signers

Receivables and revenue

• AR aging by customer at year end, agreeing to the general ledger
• Allowance for credit losses calculation and support for the assumptions
• Customer master list with addresses and contacts for confirmations
• Sales journal or revenue detail for the year
• Significant customer contracts and any changes to terms
• Credit memos issued after year end

Inventory

• Count instructions and the count schedule
• Final priced inventory listing agreeing to the general ledger
• Costing support: standard cost buildup, overhead allocation, purchase price detail
• Obsolescence or reserve analysis
• Last receiving and shipping documents before and after year end

Fixed assets and leases

• Fixed asset rollforward (additions, disposals, depreciation)
• Invoices for additions above a stated threshold
• Lease listing and ASC 842 calculations

Payables and accrued liabilities

• AP aging at year end, agreeing to the general ledger
• Check register or disbursements listing for the period after year end
• Unpaid invoices received after year end
• Accrued liabilities detail with support

Debt and equity

• Debt schedule with interest rates, maturities and covenant calculations
• Loan agreements and amendments
• Equity rollforward and any stock issuances, repurchases or distributions

Payroll

• Payroll registers and quarterly payroll tax returns
• Accrued payroll, vacation and bonus calculations
• Employee benefit plan information

Income taxes

• Prior-year tax returns and current-year provision workpapers
• Correspondence with tax authorities

For a ready-made starting point organized this way, use the PBC list and audit request list template and delete what does not apply.

What each line should contain

Each request on the list should be specific enough that someone new to the client could produce it. A useful layout:

Be precise about format. If the team will run analytics, ask for the general ledger and subledgers as electronic files with headers, not PDF reports. If a total must tie to an account, say which account.

When to send the PBC list

Timing depends on the engagement. One workable pattern for a calendar-year nonissuer audit looks like this:

Send sample selections as separate, dated requests that reference the original PBC line. That way the list shows both the population request and the follow-up for supporting documents.

How to follow up without slowing the audit

• Hold a short status call at a regular interval during fieldwork and go line by line through open items.
• Mark partial receipts as incomplete, not received. A reconciliation that does not tie is not done.
• Group follow-up questions rather than sending them one at a time.
• Escalate early. If a key item such as the inventory listing or the debt covenant calculation is late, raise it with the manager and the client controller before it blocks the timeline.
• Use one shared tracker. Multiple versions of the list passed around as email attachments lead to duplicate requests and missed items.

What the auditor must do with PBC items

Receiving a schedule from the client is not evidence that it is right. Under AU-C 500, when the auditor uses information produced by the entity, the auditor evaluates whether it is sufficiently reliable for the auditor's purposes. That generally means obtaining evidence about its accuracy and completeness and evaluating whether it is precise and detailed enough.

In practice, for each PBC schedule used in a procedure:

1. Tie it to the trial balance. Agree the total to the general ledger account.
2. Check the math. Foot and cross-foot, or recalculate in the audit software.
3. Test the source. Understand which report or system produced it and, where relevant, test parameters (date range, filters, included entities).
4. Test completeness. For a listing used as a sampling population, confirm it includes everything it should, for example by reconciling it to the general ledger.
5. Document it. Mark the workpaper as PBC and record what was done to rely on it.

The IPE testing worksheet is a structured way to record those steps for reports the audit relies on. Under AU-C 230, the documentation should let an experienced auditor see what was done; for a simple schedule, "PBC, agreed to TB" with a tick mark legend can be enough, but it does not cover completeness of a population used for sampling.

PBC list mistakes to avoid

• Copying last year's list unchanged, so new accounts, new debt or a new revenue stream are missed.
• Requests too vague to fulfill, producing a second round of requests.
• No due dates, or one due date for everything.
• Asking for documents the team never uses, which wastes client time and goodwill.
• No link to the workpaper index, so nobody can tell whether an item was received and tested.
• Treating PBC schedules as audited, with no tie-out or completeness check.
• Missing the post-year-end items: subsequent disbursements, subsequent cash receipts, minutes through the report date.

PBC lists for reviews and compilations

Review engagements under AR-C 90 rely mainly on inquiry and analytical procedures, so the list is shorter: trial balance, prior-year financial statements, key reconciliations, information to support analytical expectations and answers to the inquiry checklist. Compilations under AR-C 80 need even less. The same principles apply: be specific, set due dates and track receipt.

Frequently asked questions

What does PBC stand for in auditing?

PBC stands for "prepared by client." It refers to schedules, reports and documents the client prepares or pulls for the auditor, and the PBC list is the tracker of those requests.

When should the PBC list be sent to the client?

A typical pattern is to send the full list during planning, several weeks before fieldwork, with item-level due dates, to request confirmation details soon after year end, and to send sample selections as follow-up requests during fieldwork.

Can the auditor rely on schedules the client prepares?

Only after evaluating whether they are reliable enough for the purpose. Under AU-C 500 that usually means agreeing totals to the general ledger, checking the math and obtaining evidence about the accuracy and completeness of the underlying data.

Should the PBC list be the same every year?

No. Use last year's list as a draft and update it from the current audit program and risk assessment. New accounts, transactions, standards and risks all change what the team needs.

Who owns the PBC list on the audit team?

Usually the in-charge senior maintains the list, with each line assigned to the staff member who will test the item. The manager reviews open items and escalates delays.

CORAA prepares ready-to-review audit files for US CPA firms; see /us.

Sources

• AICPA, AU-C Section 500, Audit Evidence (information produced by the entity)
• AICPA, AU-C Section 230, Audit Documentation; AU-C Section 330, AU-C Section 505, AU-C Section 530
• AICPA, AR-C Section 80, Compilation Engagements, and AR-C Section 90, Review of Financial Statements
• FASB ASC 842 (lease listing)

AU-C references are to AICPA Professional Standards, paraphrased here; read the standard itself before relying on a requirement. This page is guidance, not professional advice. Report an error