ERP Audit Checklist Pakistan: 25 Controls Before You Trust Your Reports

An ERP audit asks whether management can trust the system—not whether the software opens successfully. A practical review connects users, permissions, master data, transactions, inventory, accounts, reports, integrations, backups and operating procedures.

When a Pakistan business should audit its ERP

• before or after ERP go-live;
• when stock and accounts do not reconcile;
• after rapid branch or user growth;
• before changing the ERP vendor;
• when management reports are disputed;
• after suspected unauthorised activity;
• before adding new modules or integrations;
• as part of an annual control review.

ERP audit scope

1. Governance and ownership checks

• documented system owner and module owners;
• approved business processes and exceptions;
• change-request and release approval;
• defined vendor and internal responsibilities;
• issue register with priority, owner and resolution;
• management review of critical exceptions.

2. User access and segregation of duties

Shared administrator accounts remove accountability. Review active users, former employees, dormant accounts and powerful permissions. A user who creates a supplier should not automatically be able to approve a purchase, post the liability and record payment without oversight.

• individual user accounts;
• role-based permissions;
• approval limits by responsibility;
• administrator access restricted and monitored;
• timely removal of departed users;
• periodic access review;
• logs for sensitive settings and transactions.

3. Master-data quality

Duplicate or incomplete masters weaken every module. Test samples of customers, suppliers, products, units, prices, taxes, chart of accounts, employees, branches and warehouses. Look for duplicate codes, inactive records still in use, unexplained opening balances and uncontrolled price changes.

4. Sales and receivables

1. Trace quotation or order to delivery and invoice.
2. Confirm price, discount and credit-limit approval.
3. Match receipts and credit notes to customer balances.
4. Review old, negative and disputed receivables.
5. Test returns against original invoices and stock movement.
6. Compare sales reports with the general ledger.

5. Purchasing and payables

1. Trace requirement to purchase order and approval.
2. Match receiving with supplier invoice.
3. Review price and quantity differences.
4. Check duplicate invoice prevention.
5. Match payments with approved liabilities and bank references.
6. Review supplier advances, debit notes and ageing.

6. Inventory and production

Reconcile selected item balances from opening quantity plus receipts, production, transfers, sales, returns and adjustments. Investigate negative stock, unusual backdated entries and adjustment-heavy locations.

• physical count procedures;
• warehouse and branch ownership;
• transfer dispatch and receiving;
• batch or serial controls where needed;
• bill of materials and production issue/output;
• wastage, by-product and rework records;
• stock valuation method and exceptions.

7. Finance and closing

• controlled chart of accounts;
• subledger-to-general-ledger reconciliation;
• cash and bank reconciliation;
• period closing and reopening permission;
• manual journal approval;
• fixed-asset and depreciation controls;
• trial balance and financial statement consistency;
• documented treatment of opening and migration balances.

8. Backup, security and integrations

Confirm backup frequency, retention, storage location and restoration testing. Review integration failures, duplicate messages, missing records, credentials, logs and reconciliation between connected systems. A backup that has never been restored is only an assumption.

25-point management checklist

1. System owner identified
2. Process owners identified
3. Active users reviewed
4. Former users disabled
5. Admin access restricted
6. Approval limits documented
7. Customer duplicates reviewed
8. Supplier duplicates reviewed
9. Product and unit masters cleaned
10. Price changes controlled
11. Opening balances documented
12. Sales traced to payment
13. Returns traced to original invoices
14. Purchases matched with receiving
15. Supplier payments approved
16. Negative stock investigated
17. Physical stock compared
18. Transfers confirmed by receiving branch
19. Inventory reconciled with accounts
20. Receivables and payables aged
21. Bank reconciliations completed
22. Manual journals reviewed
23. Integration exceptions cleared
24. Backup restoration tested
25. Management reports traced to transactions

Frequently asked questions

Is an ERP audit the same as a financial audit?

No. An ERP review focuses on system configuration, access, processes, data and reports. A statutory or financial audit has a different professional scope and responsibility.

Can NexZion review an ERP built by another vendor?

Yes, subject to authorised access, available documentation and an agreed technical and operational scope.

How long does an ERP audit take?

It depends on modules, branches, users, data volume, integrations and the depth of transaction testing.

Should we replace the ERP if reports are wrong?

Not automatically. First identify whether the cause is configuration, migration, master data, user process, integration or software design.

Reviewed: August 2026. This operational checklist is not a statutory audit opinion, accounting advice or legal advice.