Short answer: A PBC ("prepared by client" or "provided by client") list is the auditor's request list: the schedules, reports and documents the client must provide for the audit. For property owners and managers it typically covers cash and bank reconciliations, the rent roll and AR, security deposits, prepaid rent, fixed assets, payables and accruals, debt, intercompany balances, equity and distributions, and manual journal entries. Then come sample requests: leases, invoices and support for transactions the auditor selects. Preparation goes best when four things are true: the list is agreed before year-end, every schedule ties to the trial balance, each item has an owner and a due date, and source documents are already attached to transactions in the books.

Audit season rarely goes wrong because of one big problem. It goes wrong through two hundred small requests: a missing lease, a schedule that doesn't tie, a reconciliation prepared in February for a December balance. The PBC list is how you see those requests coming.

Must Read: Year-End Close vs Month-End Close: The Accounting Adjustments Property Companies Make Once a Year

Table of Contents

1. Who Gets Audited, and the Manager's Role

2. The Typical PBC List for a Property Entity

3. What Makes a PBC Schedule "Done"

4. How Auditors Use the List

5. Sample Requests

6. The Preparation Timeline

7. The PBC Tracker

8. Where Property Audits Usually Find Adjustments

9. Making Sample Requests Fast

10. Checklist

11. Common Mistakes

12. FAQs

13. Conclusion

Who Gets Audited, and the Manager's Role

Common reasons a property entity is audited or reviewed:

• Investor or fund reporting: owners, funds and joint ventures with audited financial statements.

• Lender requirements: some loan agreements require audited or reviewed statements.

• Regulatory or program requirements: for example, some government-assisted housing programs require audited financial statements.

• Public companies: REITs and other public companies, audited under PCAOB standards.

The audit is usually of the owner's entity, but much of the evidence sits with the property manager: the bank accounts, ledgers, leases and invoices. Many management agreements require the manager to support the owner's audit, sometimes for an additional fee. Check the agreement before the season starts.

The Typical PBC List for a Property Entity

Your auditor's list will differ. Use it as the master, and use this table to anticipate what's coming.

What Makes a PBC Schedule "Done"

A schedule is ready to send when:

• It ties to the trial balance at the period-end, with any difference explained.

• It's dated: the "as of" date is on the face of the schedule.

• The source is clear: the report name and run date, saved alongside.

• It shows who prepared and who reviewed it.

• It's numbered to match the auditor's request (e.g. "PBC 14: Security deposit listing").

• Reconciling items are explained, not just listed.

A schedule that doesn't tie generates more questions than one that arrives a day later and does.

How Auditors Use the List

Understanding what the auditor does with each item helps you prepare the right thing:

• Tie-out: schedule to trial balance to financial statements.

• Sampling and vouching: selecting items from a schedule or the ledger and asking for the source document. This is the same discipline described in tracing a number back through the GL detail report. Auditing standards such as PCAOB AS 1105 describe inspecting records and documents as a source of audit evidence.

• Confirmations: asking third parties, such as banks, lenders and sometimes tenants, to confirm balances or terms directly with the auditor. See PCAOB AS 2310. Private-company audits generally follow AICPA standards, which cover the same concepts.

• Search for unrecorded liabilities: reviewing payments made after year-end to find expenses that belonged in the audited year but weren't accrued.

• Analytics: comparing balances and expenses to the prior year and to budget, then asking about unusual movements.

Sample Requests

After the schedules, auditors usually select samples and ask for support. Typical property requests:

Sample requests are where turnaround time is won or lost. Teams that attach documents at entry can answer in hours. Teams that search inboxes and file rooms take weeks.

The Preparation Timeline

A typical calendar-year sequence. Adjust it to your fiscal year and the auditor's dates:

The PBC Tracker

A simple tracker keeps everyone on the same page:

Share it with the auditor. A tracker both sides can see replaces dozens of "where is item 14?" emails.

Where Property Audits Usually Find Adjustments

Each is easier to fix during the close than during fieldwork. The Year-End Adjustments post covers most of them.

Making Sample Requests Fast

Most of the time in an audit goes to finding things: the lease for unit 214, the invoice behind an addition, the approval for a journal entry. Two habits cut that time the most:

• Attach source documents to transactions when they're entered, not when someone asks.

• Keep leases, tenant ledgers and the general ledger connected, so a rent roll line leads straight to the lease and the receipts.

For example, property accounting where leases, ledgers and documents sit in one system lets the team answer a sample request from the record itself instead of a file search.

Checklist

• Audit timeline and fieldwork dates agreed

• PBC list received before year-end

• Owner and due date assigned to every item

• Management agreement checked for audit support obligations

• Known problems fixed before year-end

• Year-end cutoff, accruals, deposits and prepaid rent handled in the close

• Every schedule tied to the trial balance, dated and reviewed

• Schedules numbered to the auditor's list

• Shared PBC tracker set up

• Likely sample documents pre-pulled

• Single point of contact for fieldwork

• Proposed adjustments and management letter points reviewed for root causes

Common Mistakes

• Getting the PBC list in January. Schedules end up rebuilt after the close instead of produced by it.

• Sending schedules that don't tie. Every difference becomes a question.

• No owner per item. Requests fall between AP, AR and the controller.

• Answering samples from scratch. Documents scattered across inboxes slow everything.

• Multiple people answering the auditor. Inconsistent answers create more requests.

• Ignoring the subsequent disbursements review. January invoices for December work are the most common adjustment.

• Fixing the adjustment but not the cause. The same finding appears next year.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a PBC list?
The auditor's list of schedules, reports and documents the client must prepare or provide for the audit. "PBC" stands for "prepared by client" or "provided by client".

2. What's typically on a PBC list for a real estate entity?
Bank reconciliations, rent roll and AR, security deposit listing, prepaid rent, fixed asset rollforward, AP and accruals, debt schedules, intercompany reconciliations, equity, manual journal entries and selected source documents.

3. When should audit preparation start?
Many teams start in October or November, before the year closes, so the close produces the schedules the auditor needs.

4. What does "tie to the trial balance" mean?
The schedule's total agrees to the balance in the general ledger at the same date, with any difference explained.

5. What is the search for unrecorded liabilities?
A review of payments made after year-end to find expenses that belonged in the audited year but weren't recorded or accrued.

6. Do auditors contact tenants?
Sometimes. Auditors may send confirmations to tenants, banks or lenders to verify balances or lease terms directly.

7. Who is responsible for audit support, the owner or the property manager?
The audit is usually of the owner's entity, but the manager often holds the records. Many management agreements define the manager's audit support obligations and any fees.

8. How can sample requests be answered faster?
By attaching source documents to transactions at entry and keeping leases, tenant ledgers and the general ledger connected, so support can be pulled from the record directly.

Conclusion

An audit tests the books, but audit season tests the process. Get the PBC list early, give every item an owner, make every schedule tie, and keep documents attached to the transactions they support. Then fieldwork becomes a review of work already done, not a scramble to rebuild it.

Note: This article is for general information only and isn't audit, accounting or legal advice. Audit scope, standards and requests vary by entity, auditor and engagement. Confirm requirements with your auditor.