Financial Close Management
Year-end audit in Nigeria: what your auditor will ask for, and how to be ready
Your auditor will ask for the trial balance, bank statements and signed reconciliations, confirmations, registers, aged receivables and payables, payroll and tax records, statutory records and a representation letter. Audits overrun because the same documents are gathered in a rush every January by people also closing December. Here is what to expect, when, and what to build month by month.
A timeline counted back from fieldwork
| When | What should be done |
|---|---|
| 6 weeks before | Agree the request list with your auditor. Set the stock count date. |
| 4 weeks before | Bank, customer and legal confirmations sent out. |
| 2 weeks before | Trial balance, registers, tax and statutory records ready. |
| 1 week before | Reconciliations, schedules and draft accounts ready to share. |
| At fieldwork | Receipts, payments, credit notes and journals after year end; events after year end. |
| At sign-off | Management representation letter, signed. |
Confirmations take longest: replies go to the auditor directly.
What the auditor asks for, area by area
Brillrec's audit request list has 66 items in 12 areas. Your auditor's list takes precedence.
| Area | Examples |
|---|---|
| Planning and general | Trial balance, last year's audited figures, board minutes, last year's management letter points |
| Bank and cash | Every bank account, including dormant and closed; December and January statements; signed reconciliations; cash count sheets |
| Investments | Investment register; custodian and CSCS statements; fixed deposit and treasury bill confirmations |
| Receivables and revenue | Aged receivables; confirmations; sales cut-off; e-invoices cleared through the NRS system |
| Payables and accruals | Aged payables; supplier statements reconciled; accruals |
| Inventory | Count instructions and signed count sheets; valuation and obsolete stock |
| Fixed assets and leases | Register agreed to the ledger; additions, disposals and depreciation; IFRS 16 schedule |
| Payroll | Payroll agreed to the ledger; PAYE, pension, NHF, NSITF and ITF receipts |
| Tax | CIT computation; VAT and WHT returns and receipts; WHT certificates agreed to Rev360 |
| Equity, borrowings and statutory | CAC filings; share capital and dividends; loan agreements and covenants |
| Related parties | List, transactions and balances |
| After year end and closing | Significant events; legal letters; going concern; representation letter |
Drop areas that don't apply and put a name and date against the rest.
Build it month by month
Much of this should already exist if your month-end is in order. These cause the most stress:
- signed year-end bank reconciliations, with explanations for old items and how they cleared after year end;
- December POS, processor and wallet settlements, agreed to the bank;
- cash count sheets for each float and imprest;
- foreign currency balances with the closing rates and their source;
- PAYE, pension, VAT and WHT returns and receipts, by month;
- WHT certificates from customers.
If each month was signed off as you went, these are ready on the day. See how to close your books faster.
E-invoicing and WHT credits
E-invoicing. The NRS is phasing in e-invoicing, according to its February 2026 notice as summarised by KPMG (checked November 2026):
| Taxpayers | Annual turnover | Go-live |
|---|---|---|
| Large | Above ₦5bn | Live since August 2025 |
| Medium | ₦1bn to ₦5bn | 1 July 2026 |
| Emerging | Below ₦1bn | 1 July 2027 |
If you are large or medium, expect your auditor to agree cleared e-invoices to sales and the VAT account.
WHT credits on Rev360. The NRS launched Rev360 on 30 April 2026 to replace TaxPro Max, and the Templars client alert (May 2026) advises reviewing migrated WHT credits. Agree your certificates to the portal before fieldwork. See lost WHT credits.
Confirm the rules that apply to you with your tax adviser.
ICFR for public interest entities
For a Public Interest Entity, the FRC's guidance on the management report on ICFR applies to periods ending on or after 31 December 2024. Management assesses internal control over financial reporting, the CEO and CFO certify, and the auditor's attestation is filed with the annual report. Expect requests for evidence that key controls operated during the year, not only at year end. See ICFR in Nigeria, and check the scope with your auditor.
How Brillrec helps
Brillrec is the finance operations platform for Nigerian businesses, with three products on one record: Reconciliation, Internal Control Automation and Financial Close Management. The work your team signs off each month becomes the evidence your auditor asks for.
- Audit request list and lead schedules (Essential and above, in Financial Close Management): the 66-item list in 12 areas, lead schedules for 19 financial statement lines, and evidence Brillrec already holds attached. On Professional and above, guest auditors see the requests and the audit pack exports as one file.
- Year-end returns checklist on every plan, with owners, reviewers and due dates.
- Sign-off packs from Reconciliation: a PDF per reconciliation with the statement, explanations and source files. Sign-off locks the reconciliation, reopening needs a reason and is logged, and the audit log is tamper-evident.
- Cash counts in Reconciliation, on Essential and above: petty cash and imprest counted note by note and signed by the custodian and a reviewer.
- Tax accounts and WHT tracker (Essential and above): VAT, PAYE, pension, NHF and WHT payable agreed to the ledger, the return and the payment. Certificates are requested by secure link and the Rev360 credits listing is matched to them.
- Supplier statements and fixed assets (Essential and above): differences named, and each depreciation charge recomputed.
- Balance sheet open items (Essential and above): the preparer classes each open item (supported, timing, adjustment due or exposure), accounts above a threshold need a dated action plan, and the exposure report lists what the business is at risk of, with an Excel download.
- Close evidence: files attached to Close tasks are type-checked and encrypted (5 GB on Close and Essential, 10 GB on Close Professional and Professional, 50 GB on Business). Each close period exports as an evidence pack: a PDF and Excel file of every task, who prepared and reviewed it and when, plus a zip of the attached files.
- E-invoice reconciliation (Professional and above): cleared e-invoices matched to ledger sales invoices and credit notes by invoice number, IRN, then customer TIN, amount and date, with a VAT check and optional bank receipts. Brillrec does not submit e-invoices to the NRS.
- ICFR and evidence (Professional and above, in Internal Control Automation): risks mapped to controls, key controls tested on items Brillrec selects, owner, CFO and CEO certification, a control evidence pack and read-only guest auditors. Brillrec records the process. The company and its auditors decide the conclusions.
Reported by clients: 99% of clients' bank and ledger lines matched automatically in a month; 70% less month-end close time; 50% less audit preparation time; 2.5x finance team productivity. Results depend on your records and how your team works. See client results.
Frequently asked questions
What documents do auditors ask for in Nigeria?
The trial balance, bank statements and reconciliations, confirmations, aged receivables and payables, asset and investment registers, payroll and tax records, CAC filings, minutes and a representation letter.
How early should I prepare for a year-end audit?
About six weeks before fieldwork: agree the list and count date, send confirmations four weeks before, and have reconciliations and draft accounts ready a week before.
Do auditors check e-invoices in Nigeria?
For large and medium taxpayers in the NRS rollout, expect the auditor to agree cleared e-invoices to sales and VAT.
Start your free 14-day trial, no card needed, or book a 20-minute demo.