Engagement
Accounts Payable Cycle Audit
End-to-end review of invoice receipt through payment release, with sampling, control walkthroughs, and a prioritised exception schedule.
Request this engagement
Who this is for
Finance teams with a steady invoice volume — typically several thousand vouchers a year — who want an independent reading of whether invoices are authorised, matched, and paid as policy requires. Common clients include trading houses, logistics operators, professional firms, and regional subsidiaries with shared service centres in Hong Kong.
What you receive
- A planning memo confirming population, sample size, and periods covered
- Control walkthrough notes with named roles (clerk, approver, payment releaser)
- An exception schedule listing each issue, voucher reference, severity, and suggested remediation
- A closing discussion with your controller or CFO (usually 90 minutes)
What is included
Sampling across invoice intake, coding, three-way or two-way match, payment batching, and cut-off around month-end. We review vendor master changes for the selected period and test a subset of bank detail amendments. Soft-copy and hard-copy evidence both accepted when your filing is mixed.
What is excluded
Statutory financial statement audit opinions, tax filing, forensic investigation for suspected fraud (we can recommend specialists), and redesign of your ERP configuration. System access is read-only unless you arrange a supervised extract.
How we work
- Brief — You share ledger volume, systems (e.g. SAP, Oracle, Xero with attachments), and any known pain points.
- Planning — We agree sample sizes, locations, and document request list.
- Fieldwork — Interviews and voucher testing, usually 3–10 days on site or hybrid.
- Reporting — Draft findings for factual check, then final memo within five business days of fieldwork close.
Preparation
Nominate a single AP contact. Prepare vendor master extract, unpaid invoice listing, payment run reports for the test period, and access to approval logs. Messy filing slows us — we will say so early rather than pad silent hours.
Fees and next step
Fees are fixed once scope is agreed; starting point for a mid-size Hong Kong entity is HKD 48,000. Complex multi-entity groups are quoted separately. Request an audit brief with your approximate annual invoice count and preferred timing.