Accounts payable are amounts that an individual or organisation owes to other persons or companies. They arise because goods and services are received on one date and paid for on another. This makes an accounts payable audit necessary, and it should be carried out only by highly qualified specialists.
What does the auditor use in an accounts payable audit?
In an accounts payable audit, the auditor draws on several sources of information, including:
- supply contracts for products and goods;
- invoices together with delivery notes;
- records of mutual offsets;
- the company’s accounting policy;
- various payment documents;
- the purchase ledger;
- settlement inventory reports and other documents.
These documents form the basis of the auditor’s work when auditing accounts payable.
Common errors found in an accounts payable audit
An accounts payable audit often reveals errors such as:
- missing supplier contracts or contracts drawn up incorrectly;
- accounts payable recorded incorrectly;
- genuine documents being cancelled;
- VAT amounts recorded without proper grounds;
- the company’s accounting data not matching the supplier’s figures;
- incorrect postings between accounts.
The audit itself is carried out in several stages, which allows every detail to be examined thoroughly.
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