Client stories

What finance teams noticed during fieldwork

Specific moments from statutory audits and readiness reviews — including the parts that were imperfect.

“Sample selections for receivables arrived with customer names already matched to our aging. We spent the first morning pulling invoices instead of decoding mystery reference numbers.”

— Haruto S., Accounting manager · Statutory audit

“The readiness review found our payroll approval trail was verbal for overtime. Fixing that before year-end saved us from a last-week scramble — though the interviews ran longer than the proposal suggested.”

— Naomi T., HR & finance lead · Control readiness

“Warehouse staff appreciated that the observers spoke plainly on the floor. One recount was unavoidable after a miscounted bay; they documented it without blame theater.”

— Luis M., Operations · Inventory observation

“Our lender wanted covenant testing on cash and inventory turns. The agreed-upon procedures report listed sources line by line, which closed the information request without expanding into a full audit.”

— Clare P., CFO · Agreed-upon procedures

Finance team reviewing papers around a meeting table

Extended story

March close for a two-site foods manufacturer

A regional producer needed a statutory opinion before its main bank renewed a working-capital line. Inventory sat in a cold store and a dry warehouse forty minutes apart. Prior-year files from another firm were incomplete on opening stock.

We spent the first week rebuilding opening balance evidence from purchase invoices and count sheets, then observed both locations on consecutive days. Revenue cut-off revealed three shipments with destination FOB terms booked a day early; management posted adjusting entries before the report date.

The signed report arrived five days after the original target because of the recount. The controller later said the timeline honesty mattered: they could brief the bank with a revised date instead of hoping quietly.

Extended story

First local audit for a European-owned trading subsidiary

The parent’s consolidation pack was tidy; Japanese statutory notes were not. Lease disclosures and related-party service charges needed local contract files that lived only in Tokyo email threads.

Elena’s team translated key policy excerpts, tied intercompany balances to signed agreements, and kept the parent auditor copied on status without turning status notes into a second engagement. The subsidiary’s finance lead kept a mild reservation: translation of older contracts took more staff time than expected. They now keep bilingual abstracts for renewals.

Small team in discussion during an office workshop