PBC List Software: What to Look For in Audit Tools

PBC list software tracks the documents an audit or review team requests from a client: each request's owner, due date and status, the file that answers it, and the reminders for what is still open. When comparing tools, look at request templates, how files are matched to requests, how the list rolls forward each year, and what you can export.

Which features matter in PBC list software?

The features that matter most in PBC list software are request templates, a status for every item, a named owner on each side, and tracked due dates. A PBC ("prepared by client") list is the audit team's schedule of documents it needs from the client. Software earns its place when it keeps that schedule current without manual updates.

Request templates. A template is a starting list of standard requests for a type of engagement: an audit of a manufacturer, a review of a nonprofit, a compilation for a small business. A good tool lets the firm keep several templates, edit items per client, and add or remove whole sections. The content of a typical list, grouped by audit area, is covered in the post on PBC list items by audit area.

Item status. Each request needs a status that changes when something specific happens: requested, received, reviewed, returned with a question. The tool should show the count of open items per area and per owner at a glance, so the engagement senior does not have to read every row.

Owners. Each item has an owner at the client (who sends it) and an owner on the audit team (who reviews it). Filters by owner turn one long list into a short to-do list for each person.

Due dates. Dates per item, not one date for the whole list, with overdue items easy to see. Staggered dates match how fieldwork actually runs.

Comments per item. Questions and answers about one request belong on that request. A question about the December bank reconciliation, kept in a general email thread, is hard to find a week later.

Matching uploaded files to PBC list items

Matching uploaded files to PBC list items means linking each file a client sends to the request it answers, and checking that the file is the document asked for. The link is easy. The check saves the time, because a file attached to the right request can still be the wrong period, account or entity.

Tools handle matching in one of three ways:

• Client picks the request. The client uploads a file against a specific line. Simple, and it puts the burden on the client, who may attach the wrong file to the right line.
• Staff assigns the file. Files arrive in one place and someone on the team links each to a request. Accurate, but slow on a long list.
• The tool reads the file. The tool identifies what the document is, such as a bank statement for a given account and month, and proposes the matching request. Staff confirm.

Whichever approach a tool uses, ask how it spots the wrong document. A request for the December 31 statement for operating account XXXX-4821 should not be marked received when the file is the November statement, or the statement for savings account XXXX-1190. Ask the vendor to show you that case in a demo.

Reading the document is the part Schema CPA works on. It classifies each page by document type, issuer and period, flags a duplicate when the same statement is sent twice, ties statement balances month to month, and calls out gaps in a run of statements. It reads bank statements, general ledgers, trial balances, balance sheets and income statements among other types. It is not a PBC list tool, and its output today is an Excel or CSV export; the document types it reads are listed on the homepage.

Does PBC list software roll requests forward each year?

PBC list software should roll requests forward each year by copying last year's list for the same client, keeping the items, owners and structure, clearing statuses and files, and shifting due dates by a year. Audit request list software that cannot do this makes the team rebuild the list every engagement, which is where items get dropped.

What a good rollforward keeps:

• The items themselves, including client-specific ones added last year, such as a lease agreement or a new loan.
• Owners, flagged for confirmation, since client staff change.
• Item numbering, so "C-3" means the same thing two years running.
• Comments marked as standing notes, such as "the client keeps this account at a second bank."

What it should clear: statuses, attached files, dates (shifted, not copied), and one-time questions.

Rolling forward also exposes what changed. A loan repaid during the year leaves a debt item that should be retired. A new bank account needs a new cash item. The tool should make it easy to review the rolled list before sending, rather than sending it automatically.

An example rollforward for one client

Take a fictional client, Example Distribution LLC, with a 42-item list last year. When the list rolls forward for the new year end, three things happen to it:

• Items carried as is (40). The trial balance, bank reconciliations, aged receivables, the fixed asset rollforward and the rest keep their numbers and owners. Due dates move forward one year.
• Items retired (2). Debt item D-2, the lender statement for a term loan the client repaid in June, and D-3, its covenant calculation, are marked "not expected this year" with a note.
• Items added (3). A new cash item for a second operating account opened in March (account XXXX-5512), a lease agreement for a new warehouse, and a question about a new related-party loan raised in last year's management letter.

The new list has 43 items. Without a rollforward, the team would rebuild it from last year's spreadsheet, and the two retired items would likely go out again, prompting the client to ask why the firm wants statements for a loan that no longer exists.

The same idea, using last year as the starting list, applies to tax clients. The guide to the tax document checklist by client type shows how a tax checklist is built and reused for each kind of client.

Questions to ask a PBC list software vendor

The questions to ask a PBC list software vendor cover what you can get out of the tool, how the client interacts with it, and how reminders reach the client. Those three answers decide whether the tool fits how your firm already works, and whether you can leave it later without losing the record of each engagement.

Export.

• Can the whole list, with statuses, dates, owners and comments, be exported to Excel or CSV?
• Can attached files be exported in bulk, organized by item number?
• Does the export include history, such as when each item changed status?

Client access.

• How does the client send files and see their open items? Does each client user need an account, or is there a link?
• Can several people at the client see only the items they own?
• How are files shared and stored? The client portals and security category covers what firms should ask about client access and file storage in more depth.

Reminders.

• Are reminders sent automatically, or drafted for the team to review?
• Can a reminder list the specific open items by name, rather than a count?
• Can the firm change the wording, and turn reminders off for a client?

A tool that sends reminders on its own saves a step. One that drafts them for review gives the team a chance to adjust tone or hold a reminder while a client is dealing with something. Schema CPA takes the second approach for tax clients: it drafts the list of missing items and the firm decides whether and when to send it.

Pricing. Ask whether pricing is per engagement, per user or per firm, and what happens to the price as the client count grows.

When a spreadsheet PBC list is enough

A spreadsheet PBC list is enough for a small engagement with a short list, one or two people on each side, and a client who returns documents promptly. For a compilation with fifteen items, or a first-year client whose list will change shape anyway, software can add setup and training time without saving much.

A spreadsheet works well when it is set up with some structure. A status column restricted to a fixed set of values keeps the list readable; Microsoft's guide to creating a drop-down list in Excel shows how to limit a cell to items from a list using Data Validation. Add columns for owner, due date and file reference, and keep one master copy rather than versions in email.

The spreadsheet starts to fail when:

• Several people edit it and versions drift apart.
• The list is long, and finding open items means filtering every time.
• Files and the list live apart, so ticking an item does not tell anyone where the file is.
• Reminders are written by hand from the open rows.
• Next year's list is rebuilt from last year's file with old statuses left in.

A comparison of spreadsheet and dedicated PBC list software

The table compares a well-built spreadsheet with dedicated software across the features above. It describes typical capabilities, not any specific product; check each tool against your own list.

For an example of a structured list with item numbers, owners and status, see the 20-item template in the PBC request list post. Firms that also run tax engagements can compare it with the list of documents you need from tax clients, since the two often ask for the same bank and loan statements.