A lender asks for a stock audit as at a date. The date is rarely the year end, the figures have to come from the borrower's own books, and the report is read by someone deciding how much to lend against what is in the warehouse.
Computed from the books, as at the date the bank asked for
The draft is computed live from the client's synced books, as at the date the engagement specifies rather than at the year end. Each stock audit is created against a client and a bank, with its own title and as-at date, and the whole set is kept in a register so a firm can see every stock audit it has done for every lender.
What the auditor records against what the books say
The draft holds the parts a lender's report turns on, each editable while it is a draft:
- the terms of the facility;
- the stock statement the borrower submitted;
- the physical verification the auditor carried out;
- the insurance position.
The value is in the comparison. A stock statement given to a bank and the books the same business keeps are two different documents, and the gap between them is what the lender is paying to have looked at.
A draft recomputes; a final one does not
While it is a draft, reopening it recomputes from the books, so it cannot drift from the ledgers it claims to be drawn from. When a partner or manager finalises it, the figures freeze. A later sync can change the books and will never change a report the bank has already relied on.
One report, in the lender's shape
The finalised audit produces its report as a PDF. Because the register holds every one, a firm answering a lender's question about an audit done four months ago is reading the document that was issued, not reconstructing what it probably said.
Why the freeze matters here more than elsewhere
Stock audits are commissioned by a third party who makes a credit decision on them. If the underlying books move afterwards, as books do through late entries, reclassifications and a year-end audit, a report that silently moved with them would be worse than useless. The frozen snapshot means the document in the bank's file and the document in the firm's register are the same document.
Questions CAs ask
Can a stock audit be done at a date other than the year end?
Yes. Each stock audit carries its own as-at date and is computed from the client's synced books as at that date, which is what a lender normally asks for.
What does the report cover?
The terms of the facility, the stock statement the borrower submitted, the physical verification the auditor carried out, and the insurance position, alongside the figures from the books.
What happens when the books change after the report is issued?
Nothing changes in the report. A draft recomputes from the books every time it is opened, but a finalised stock audit is a frozen snapshot, so a later sync cannot alter a report a bank has relied on.
Who can finalise a stock audit?
A partner or a manager. Until then it remains a draft and can be edited.
Is there a record of past stock audits?
Yes. A register holds every stock audit per client, so a firm answering a lender's question months later reads the document that was issued.
Related modules
- Trial Balance — Read the trial balance with every ledger under its real group chain — opening, movement and closing, signed balances, and comparatives on one grouping.
- Bank Reconciliation — Reconcile any bank statement in any format against the books — matched items, open items on both sides, and a reconciliation to the paisa at any date.
- Statutory Audit — Statutory audit software built around the Standards on Auditing — materiality, SA 530 sampling, SA 510 opening balances and confirmations, documented as the work is done.