Plan the count now, because you cannot audit it afterwards
Plan the count now, because you cannot audit it afterwards
Inventory and fixed assets are among the few balances an auditor cannot verify retrospectively. If the count was not properly planned, not properly documented and not attended, the evidence simply does not exist in January. That is how a clean set of numbers ends up carrying a qualified opinion.
A count that stands up has a written instruction issued in advance, count teams that do not include the people responsible for custody, pre numbered count sheets controlled from issue to return, a clear cut off procedure for goods received and dispatched around the count date, and separate treatment for slow moving, damaged and third party held items. Fixed assets need the same discipline: a physical verification against the register, with disposals, write offs and idle assets identified rather than quietly carried forward.
Tell your auditor the count date as soon as you fix it, so attendance can be arranged. BDO Azerbaijan attends counts, reviews count instructions before they are issued and can help design the procedure if you are running it for the first time. Contact BDO Azerbaijan to plan your year end count.
A count that stands up has a written instruction issued in advance, count teams that do not include the people responsible for custody, pre numbered count sheets controlled from issue to return, a clear cut off procedure for goods received and dispatched around the count date, and separate treatment for slow moving, damaged and third party held items. Fixed assets need the same discipline: a physical verification against the register, with disposals, write offs and idle assets identified rather than quietly carried forward.
Tell your auditor the count date as soon as you fix it, so attendance can be arranged. BDO Azerbaijan attends counts, reviews count instructions before they are issued and can help design the procedure if you are running it for the first time. Contact BDO Azerbaijan to plan your year end count.