AUD workpaper lab

Audit Documentation: PBC, Tick Marks, and Footing

Read a workpaper the way an AUD reviewer would: identify what each mark records, then find the current-period evidence behind it.

The review rule

A mark points to work. It is not the work.

PBC identifies origin. F records a recalculation. TB records an agreement to a named balance. SALY can prompt a prior-year comparison. None of them, alone, supports a current-period audit conclusion.

A reviewable current file

01Current riskWhat could be wrong now?
02Current workWhat was performed and found?
03Current conclusionWhat does the evidence support?

AS 1215 requires the engagement file to show procedures performed, evidence obtained, and conclusions reached. AS 1105 frames the sufficiency and appropriateness of audit evidence. Read AS 1215 and AS 1105.

Worked workpaper

Read the evidence before the tick marks

This illustrative accounts receivable schedule separates the file received, the arithmetic performed, the ledger agreement, and the assertions still untested.

AR-4.2

Accounts receivable aging

PBC - version 2
Period end
December 31
Extraction
January 8
Source
AR subledger
Parameters
Open items, all customers
Aging bucketAmountMark
Current$110,000-
1-30 days$70,000-
31-60 days$45,000-
61+ days$25,000-
Recalculated total$250,000F

Aging total

$250,000

Ledger

$250,000

Difference

$0 TB

After the worked example

Practice the evidence decision, not the abbreviation

On AUD, identify what the mark records, which assertion remains open, and what procedure would close it.

Try free AUD questionsMatch risks to procedures

SALY repair desk

Replace “same as last year” with this year's record

Prior-year documentation can inform planning. It cannot stand in for the procedure, evidence, and conclusion from the current engagement.

Review note

“SALY. No changes.”

A defensible current-period note identifies what was compared, what remained unchanged, what changed, the evidence inspected this year, the procedure performed, and the conclusion reached. PCAOB AS 1215 explains that prior-year documentation can aid current planning, while the current engagement file still must show the procedures performed, evidence obtained, conclusions reached, preparer, reviewer, and dates.

Illustrative current-period note

SALY process
Did the people, system, flow, or relevant control change?Retain: Current walkthrough evidence, identified changes, and the effect on assessed risk.
SALY balance
Do current amounts, relationships, or unusual items differ?Retain: Current population, comparison performed, exceptions, follow-up, and conclusion.
SALY procedure
Does the prior procedure still respond to the current risk and assertion?Retain: Current nature, timing, extent, items tested, evidence obtained, and result.
SALY conclusion
What current evidence supports the conclusion, including contradictory information?Retain: Current reasoning, unresolved findings, preparer, reviewer, and completion dates.

SALY is informal engagement shorthand, not an official PCAOB term or a workpaper conclusion. The example above is CPAPass study content, not a universal firm template. AS 1215 is the source boundary.

Decode each label in two passes

First say exactly what the label records. Then name the conclusion it cannot support by itself.

PBC

Prepared by client

Records

Client-prepared or client-provided origin under the team's stated terminology

Does not establish

Reliability, completeness, or sufficient appropriate evidence

✓

Tick mark

Records

The procedure or status defined in that workpaper's legend

Does not establish

A universal meaning across firms, engagements, or workpapers

F

Footed

Records

A column total was recalculated under the illustrative legend

Does not establish

Existence, completeness, or valuation

CF

Cross-footed

Records

Related row and column totals were recalculated and compared

Does not establish

Population completeness or proper classification

TB

Agreed to trial balance

Records

The schedule total agreed to the named controlled ledger report

Does not establish

Existence, cutoff, rights, or valuation

These symbols are illustrative. A tick mark gets its meaning from that workpaper's legend or the engagement methodology. Never import a meaning from another firm or file.

Move a PBC file through five visible handoffs

A client file becomes usable evidence only through documented provenance, reconciliation, testing, and review. “Received” is the start of the trail, not the end.

  1. 01

    Define the request

    Specify account, period, fields, detail, format, parameters, and due date.

  2. 02

    Identify provenance

    Record preparer, source system, extraction date, manual changes, and version.

  3. 03

    Reconcile the population

    Agree totals to a controlled balance and investigate differences before selection.

  4. 04

    Perform the work

    Apply the procedure chosen for the stated risk and preserve the source and result.

  5. 05

    Resolve and review

    Link exceptions, follow-up evidence, preparer, reviewer, dates, and conclusion.

Can a reviewer reconstruct the work?

Test the file without relying on a conversation, a message thread, or the appearance of a tick mark.

Risk and population

Identify the population, selected item, relevant risk or objective, and source examined so the scope of the work is visible.

Procedure and result

Describe the nature, timing, and extent of the procedure and record the result rather than allowing a tick mark to stand for an unexplained action.

Exception trail

Separate a clean result from an exception, link follow-up evidence to the original item, and show how the exception was resolved or carried into the conclusion.

Preparation and review

Identify who performed and reviewed the work and when. PCAOB AS 1215 supports documentation that an experienced auditor with no previous engagement connection can understand.

Finish the AUD loop

Documentation records the work. The risk and assertion determine which work belongs in the file.

Choose a procedureMap risk and assertion to direction and evidence.Test a controlSeparate preventive, detective, design, and operation.Review the AUD sectionPlace the workpaper inside the exam blueprint.

Audit documentation questions

What is the PBC full form in audit?
PBC commonly means "prepared by client." Some audit teams use it to mean "provided by client," so the engagement request list or workpaper legend should define the term. Either way, the label identifies origin and does not make the item sufficient appropriate audit evidence.
Are audit tick marks standardized?
No. Firms and engagement teams define tick marks in a workpaper legend. Never assume that a symbol has the same meaning on another workpaper or engagement.
What is the difference between footed and cross-footed?
Footed normally means a vertical column total was recalculated. Cross-footed normally means totals were recalculated across rows or compared between related row and column totals.
Does footing prove that an account balance is correct?
No. Footing supports arithmetic accuracy only. A perfectly added schedule can still contain omitted, duplicate, invalid, misclassified, or incorrectly valued items.
What does SALY mean in audit documentation?
SALY is informal shorthand for "same as last year." It can prompt a prior-period comparison, but it is not an official audit term and cannot replace current-period risk assessment, procedures, evidence, conclusions, or review documentation.

Official sources and study boundary

The AICPA Blueprint owns current CPA Exam scope. PCAOB AS 1215 and AS 1105 support the issuer-audit documentation and evidence principles used here. PBC expansions, SALY, the illustrative symbols, and the worked examples are study explanations, not official Blueprint tasks or a universal firm methodology.