Asset areas produce the largest PBC requests and the most late items, because they depend on counts, appraisals and subledgers that the client builds by hand. This list covers inventory, property and equipment, and leases. Companion lists: cash, receivables and revenue and debt, equity and payroll. For due dates and follow-up, see PBC request tracking.
Inventory
| Request | Purpose | Form | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Count instructions, count dates and locations, count team assignments | Plan observation | Memo | Interim, before the count |
| Perpetual inventory listing by item, location, quantity, cost, tied to the ledger | Population for count tests and pricing | System export | Count date |
| Count sheets, tags and the count summary, including recounts | Count test evidence | Originals or scans | Count date |
| Roll-forward worksheet from the count date to the year-end date | Adjust count to the balance sheet date | Spreadsheet | Year-end |
| Last receiving report and last shipping document numbers at the count | Cutoff | Listing | Count date |
| Inventory held by third parties: locations, confirmations, warehouse statements | Existence | Contracts, statements | Year-end |
| Goods on consignment in and out | Existence and ownership | Listing, contracts | Year-end |
| Cost build-up for finished goods, standard cost rollup and variance accounts | Valuation | Spreadsheet | Year-end |
| Vendor invoices for the sampled items | Price testing | PDFs | On request |
| Obsolete, slow-moving and excess inventory analysis, reserve calculation, approvals | Valuation estimate | Spreadsheet | Year-end |
| Sales prices after year end for sampled finished goods | Net realizable value | Invoices | Year-end |
| Purchase commitments and open purchase orders | Loss on commitments, disclosure | Listing | Year-end |
See inventory observation, interim count rollforward and inventory price testing.
Property and equipment
| Request | Purpose | Form | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed asset register with cost, accumulated depreciation, class, in-service date, life and method, tied to the ledger | Population and recompute | System export | Year-end |
| Rollforward of cost and accumulated depreciation by class | Test additions, disposals, depreciation | Spreadsheet | Year-end |
| Additions listing with invoices and approvals for the period | Vouching | PDFs | Year-end |
| Capital expenditure approvals and the capitalization policy | Capitalize versus expense | Policy memo | Interim |
| Construction in progress detail and cost to complete | Existence, completeness, capitalized interest | Spreadsheet | Year-end |
| Disposals listing with proceeds, sale agreements, titles | Disposal accounting | Listing, contracts | Year-end |
| Depreciation calculation by class | Recompute | Spreadsheet | Year-end |
| Impairment indicators memo | Impairment assessment | Memo | Year-end |
| Titles, deeds, vehicle registrations, insurance schedules | Ownership, completeness | Copies | Year-end |
| Repairs and maintenance expense detail over a threshold | Expense that should be capitalized | GL detail | Year-end |
| Asset retirement obligation analysis | Estimates, disclosure | Memo | Year-end |
See PP&E capitalization, depreciation and disposals, PP&E additions testing and depreciation and disposals testing.
Leases
| Request | Purpose | Form | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complete lease listing: lessor or lessee, asset, term, payments, options, incremental borrowing rate used | Population for ASC 842 | Spreadsheet | Interim |
| Lease agreements and amendments | Terms, classification, modification | Contracts | Interim |
| Lease schedule: right-of-use asset and lease liability rollforward | Recompute, tie to ledger | Spreadsheet | Year-end |
| Discount rate support | Measurement | Memo | Year-end |
| Short-term and low-value lease elections | Policy | Memo | Interim |
| Variable lease payment calculations | Measurement and disclosure | Spreadsheet | Year-end |
| Related party leases | Disclosure and terms | Contracts | Interim |
| Subleases | Presentation | Contracts | Interim |
| Renewal and termination assessments | Reasonably certain judgments | Memo | Year-end |
Tips specific to asset areas
- Ask for the count schedule before the count. The observation plan depends on locations, dates and instructions, and a late count schedule means missed attendance.
- Ask for roll-forward support alongside the count. Count at an interim date? The reconciliation to year end is a separate piece of audit work.
- Ask for the asset register before the audit starts. Clients often update the register late, and reconciliations to the ledger take time.
- Ask for the lease population from several sources. Search accounts payable for recurring vendors that look like landlords or equipment lessors. See debt audit procedures for how a UCC search found an unrecorded lessor.
Format and tie-out
Every listing must tie to the trial balance and the tie shown on the schedule. A register that totals $8,412,000 against a ledger of $8,390,000 needs the $22,000 explained before testing. An item-level listing the client cannot tie to the ledger is not a reliable population.
Common requests that go wrong
- "Fixed asset listing" with no cost, class or date: ask for the fields.
- Count sheets not initialed by the counters: the evidence is weak.
- Leases requested from the controller only: ask operations and purchasing too.
- No cutoff identifiers: require last document numbers.
CORAA prepares ready-to-review audit files for US CPA firms; the firm keeps the client, the review and the signature. See /us.
Sources
- AICPA, AU-C Section 501, Audit Evidence: Specific Considerations for Selected Items (inventory attendance); AU-C Section 500, Audit Evidence
- FASB, Accounting Standards Codification Topics 330 (Inventory), 360 (Property, Plant, and Equipment) and 842 (Leases)
- U.S. Government Accountability Office, Financial Audit Manual, Volume 1 (GAO-26-108577), June 2026: gao.gov (FAM 470 and 495 C on substantive procedures and the roll-forward period)
Part of CORAA University · Evidence and audit procedures: related guides, calculators and templates.
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