Audit Path
The practical sequence of a financial audit of payroll processing applications — from scoping to the closing meeting.
1. Scoping conversation
We confirm which legal entities, pay groups, and cycles sit inside the payroll processing application. You leave with a draft information request and a fee outline.
2. Access and samples
Read-only access or supervised screen share is agreed. We select employees across ordinary, overtime, allowance, and leaver scenarios rather than relying only on high earners.
3. Walkthroughs
Payroll officers demonstrate how time enters the application, how exceptions are approved, and how bank files and journals are released. Finance joins whenever postings are discussed.
4. Testing and reconciliation
Samples are recalculated against contracts, attendance evidence, and statutory tables. Totals are bridged to remittance filings and ledger batches for the periods in scope.
5. Findings and close
You receive a draft for factual review, then a final report and a closing meeting. Remediation owners are named where the evidence supports it.
When this path shortens
Statutory deduction reviews and control walkthroughs compress steps 2–4 into a tighter schedule. Year-end reconciliations emphasise ledger bridges over deep formula testing.