Finance Controls Audit
Finance controls are the habits that stop honest mistakes and fraud: who approves, who reconciles, and what leaves a trail. These audit prompts review expense approvals, invoicing and billing, payroll steps, fraud risk, and approval trails, plus checks tailored to QuickBooks and Xero set-ups. Describe your current process in plain language or paste a sanitised procedure, and the prompt returns gaps, segregation-of-duties concerns and low-cost fixes. They suit small business owners, bookkeepers and treasurers preparing for a review. They are not an audit opinion or a substitute for an accountant, and you should never paste bank details, passwords or personal data.
- Expense Controls 11
- Invoicing & Billing 11
- Payroll Process 11
- Fraud Risk 9
- Xero 10
- QuickBooks 9
- Approval Trails 11
Prompts
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Purchase Request and Approval Trail Audit
Check that spending approvals follow your own rules.
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Expense Report Approval Trail and Policy Audit
Test a sample of expense reports for proper approvals, receipts, policy limits and approver independence, with exceptions ranked.
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Invoice Approval and Segregation of Duties Check
Check whether the same person can raise, approve and pay supplier invoices, and find approval gaps in a pasted invoice log.
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Journal Entry Approval and Supporting Evidence Audit
Review manual journal entries for preparer and approver independence, support, timing and unusual patterns that need explaining.
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Vendor Bank Detail Change Approval Audit
Audit how supplier bank detail changes are requested, verified and approved to reduce payment redirection and impersonation risk.
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Payment Run Release Approval and Dual Authorisation Audit
Review payment batch approvals for dual authorisation, bank limits, last-minute changes and evidence kept, with gaps by severity.
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Contract Signature Authority and Approval Evidence Audit
Compare signed contracts with your delegation rules to find signatures without authority, missing approvals and renewals nobody reviewed.
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Budget Overspend and Exception Approval Audit
Review overspend, budget transfers and out-of-policy approvals to see who authorised them, when, and whether evidence supports the decision.
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Payroll Change Approval Trail Audit
Check payroll change records for authorisation, supporting documents, timing and independent review, and list gaps to fix before the next run.
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Delegation of Authority Matrix Gap and Conflict Review
Review a delegation of authority matrix for gaps, overlaps, outdated names and limits that do not fit how approvals really work.
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Email and Chat Approval Evidence Quality Review
Judge whether emails, chat messages and screenshots are good enough evidence of financial approval, and set a standard for what to keep.
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Small Business Expense Controls Review
Check who can spend, approve and reconcile.
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Company Card Statement Review
Check card spending against policy and purpose.
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Petty Cash and Cash Handling Review
Check cash floats, counts and records.
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Vendor Master and Payment Detail Change Audit
Check controls for changing supplier bank details.
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Fraud Risk Self-Assessment for a Small Organisation
Identify where opportunity exists, without accusing anyone.
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Invoicing and Billing Controls Review
Check that every job is billed once and correctly.
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Payroll Process Controls Review
Check changes, approvals and payments.
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Donation and Fundraising Cash Controls Review
Check handling of gifts in a small charity.
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Month-End Close Checklist Audit
Check a month-end close checklist for clear steps, owners and sign-offs, and find tasks that are skipped or unreviewed.
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Access to Accounting System Review
Check user rights in bookkeeping software.
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Cost Allocation and Overhead Method Review
Check how shared costs are split.
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Cash Handling and Till Reconciliation Audit
Check daily cash controls in a shop or venue.
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Purchase Order and Three-Way Match Audit
Check orders, receipts and invoices agree.
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Whistleblowing and Reporting Channel Effectiveness Audit
Audit your whistleblowing and reporting channels to see whether staff can raise concerns safely and whether reports get acted on.
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Segregation of Duties Matrix Review
Find combinations of access that need extra controls.
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Expense Claim Red Flag Review
Look for patterns that need a conversation.
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Fraud Awareness Training Content Audit
Check that training is clear and effective.
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Bank Account and Signatory Control Review
Check who can move money.
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Gift, Hospitality and Conflict Register Audit
Check disclosures and approvals.
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Inventory and Asset Count Reconciliation Review
Compare counts with records and trace differences.
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Invoice Template Completeness Audit
Check that your invoice template carries the details customers and tax authorities expect, with a completeness checklist.
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Invoice Numbering and Gap Check
Look for missing, duplicate or out-of-order invoice numbers.
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Billing Accuracy Review: Quote Versus Invoice Versus Payment
Trace sample jobs from quote to cash.
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Credit Note and Refund Control Audit
Audit credit note and refund controls to check that credits are approved, recorded and not open to misuse or error.
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Subscription Billing Failure and Churn Leakage Review
Find revenue lost to failed payments and billing errors.
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Pricing Versus Invoice Consistency Check Across Customers
Spot customers billed differently for the same service.
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Recurring Invoice and Standing Order Audit
Check that recurring charges are still correct and wanted.
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Tax Line Consistency Review on Invoices
Check tax lines on invoices for consistency: whether tax is applied, shown and rounded the same way every time.
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Deposit and Prepayment Handling Review
Check how advance payments are recorded and applied.
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Customer Statement Accuracy Audit
Check that statements match the ledger and are clear.
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Billing Dispute Log and Root Cause Audit
Learn from invoice disputes.
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Payroll Run Checklist Review
Check each step of a payroll cycle for control gaps.
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Payroll Variance Analysis Between Periods
Spot unusual changes before paying.
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New Starter and Leaver Payroll Controls Audit
Check that people are added and removed correctly.
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Overtime and Allowance Claims Audit
Check overtime against policy and records.
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Payroll Data Privacy and Access Review
Check who can see pay data and how it is shared.
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Payroll Journal and Bank Reconciliation Check
Check that payroll totals agree with accounts and payments.
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Expense Versus Payroll Boundary Review
Check that payments are classified correctly.
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Holiday Pay and Leave Balance Accuracy Audit
Check leave balances and pay for leave.
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Contractor Payment Controls Audit
Audit contractor payment controls: how contractors are onboarded, approved, paid and checked against invoices.
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Bonus and Commission Calculation Audit
Check calculations against the plan rules.
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Payroll Calendar and Deadline Control Check
Check cut-offs and payment dates are met.
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QuickBooks Bank Reconciliation and Cash Controls Audit
Check that reconciliations are complete, timely and reviewed.
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QuickBooks Categorisation Accuracy and Clearing Accounts Audit
Find miscategorised items and accounts used as dumping grounds.
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QuickBooks Accounts Receivable Ageing and Collections Process Audit
Review overdue invoices and the follow-up process.
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QuickBooks User Access, Audit Trail and Duplicate Vendor Review
Check who can do what and look for control gaps (defensive).
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QuickBooks Chart of Accounts Clutter and Consistency Audit
Find duplicates, unused accounts and unclear names.
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QuickBooks Payroll Liabilities and Clearing Reconciliation Review
Check payroll accounts against payroll reports (education only).
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QuickBooks Duplicate Transactions and Entry Errors Audit
Find double entries and typical data-entry mistakes.
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QuickBooks Accounts Payable and Supplier Payment Controls Review
Check bills, approvals and payment timing.
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Chart of Accounts Cleanup Audit: Duplicates, Misuse and Opening Balances
Find accounts that are duplicated, misused or unclear.
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Xero Bank Rules and Suspense Account Audit
Check rules and unexplained balances.
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Xero User Roles, Approvals and Payment Controls Review (Defensive)
Check who can create, approve and pay.
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Xero Aged Payables and Supplier Payment Practice Audit
Check bill payment timing and duplicates.
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Xero Reconciliation Backlog and Data Quality Audit
Measure how far behind the books are.
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Xero Tracking Category and Report Consistency Audit
Check tags and report totals.
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Xero Month-End Close Review Checklist Audit
Review a Xero month-end close checklist to confirm the monthly close was complete, consistent and ready for review.
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Xero Contacts, Supplier Bank Details and Duplicate Payments Review (Defensive)
Check for duplicate suppliers and payment risks.
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Xero Depreciation, Fixed Assets and Prepayments Schedule Check
Check asset and prepayment balances against schedules.
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Xero Aged Receivables and Bad Debt Provision Review
Review overdue invoices and the basis for provisions.
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Bank Rules and Reconciliation Exceptions Audit
Check that rules categorise transactions correctly.
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