Methodology

How a Kisetsu review is built

A custom page for the engagement model: planning before sampling, evidence before opinion, and a findings memo directors can act on.

Annotated financial checklist and fountain pen on desk
  1. 01

    Acceptance & independence

    We confirm entity ownership, prior bookkeeping relationships, and whether we can maintain independence for a financial auditing engagement. Conflicts are declined in writing.

  2. 02

    Planning letter

    Material accounts, known judgment areas, inventory locations, and a dated document list are issued before fieldwork. Bookkeepers know exactly which schedules and confirmations we expect.

  3. 03

    Walkthroughs & controls inquiry

    We walk revenue, purchases, and payroll processes with the people who perform them — not only with the finance manager — to identify where cut-off and approval risks sit.

  4. 04

    Substantive testing

    Bank confirmations, receivable circularisation where warranted, inventory observation, cut-off tests, and related-party tracing fill the working papers. Sample sizes follow the planning memo, not last year’s habit.

  5. 05

    Disclosure checklist & partner review

    Notes and accounting policies are checked against the applicable framework. A partner reads the draft report and findings memo before anything reaches the board.

  6. 06

    Delivery & file assembly

    You receive the review report, findings memo, and a closed working-paper file index. Management representation letters are collected before the report date.

What we document

  • Planning materiality and significant risk notes
  • Confirmation control logs
  • Inventory count observation sheets
  • Disclosure checklist tied to the reporting framework
  • Subsequent events review through report date

What we refuse to rush

We will not date a review report before bank confirmations return, before inventory count differences are resolved, or before management signs the representation letter. Compressed timelines are discussed at acceptance — not invented mid-fieldwork.

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