The readiness path

Custom to this practice

Four stages every flagship engagement follows

1. Map the review surface Entities, periods, frameworks, and the known request patterns from last year’s reviewers. We leave this stage with a scoped list of accounts that will carry assertion tags.
2. Inventory what you already hold Ledgers, reconciliations, contracts, confirmations, system extracts, and plant-floor documents. Duplicates are noted; absences enter the gap log immediately.
3. Index to assertions Every retained document receives a home in the binder and a link to completeness, existence, valuation, rights, or presentation. Process owners receive sample packs for walkthroughs.
4. Dry-run before fieldwork We simulate the first week of requests, pressure-test narratives, and hand management a closing checklist with owners and dates.

Readiness checklist you can start today

• Locate last year’s final binder and management letter with status of each point.
• List material accounts that changed process owners or grew sharply year on year.
• Confirm where bank reconciliations, fixed-asset rolls, and revenue cut-off samples currently live.
• Identify two real transactions per key process for walkthrough rehearsal.
• Agree who will speak Mandarin or English with the external review team.