Continuous Assurance Service for manufacturers

Concurrent Audit Services for Manufacturing Companies

A duplicate vendor payment or a short-weighed cotton lot is easiest to recover in the month it happens. Astral Business Consulting LLP, a Coimbatore-based management consulting and audit firm, offers concurrent audit to manufacturing companies through its Continuous Assurance Service. Each month's payments, sales, stock movements and statutory dues are checked soon after the close, and exceptions reach the CFO while they can still be corrected.

Scope a Monthly Audit

Accounts room in an Indian manufacturing company with bundles of daily vouchers tied with string, the records a monthly concurrent audit tests

Our Concurrent Audit and Continuous Assurance Services

Recurring transaction checks for manufacturers, grouped into the assurance areas of the Continuous Assurance Service and run every month against the ERP, source documents and bank statements.

Payment Assurance

Payment Assurance matches vendor payments to the purchase order, goods receipt note and invoice. Payments above an agreed value can be checked before release and the rest after release by sample, with duplicate invoices flagged.

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Revenue Assurance

Sales invoices checked against the approved price list, customer master and scheme circulars, with credit notes, rebates and receipts posted to the wrong ledger reviewed, and the accuracy of receivables and days sales outstanding tested.

About Revenue Assurance

Statutory Assurance

Checks that GST, TDS, PF and ESI dues were computed correctly and paid on time: GSTR-1 by the 11th and GSTR-3B by the 20th for a monthly filer, plus TDS, EPF and ESI deposits, as of October 2026.

About Statutory Assurance

Operational Data and Stock Assurance

Material followed from gate to dispatch: weighbridge records, production issues, scrap sales and job-work stock, with agreed test counts. Where secured working capital limits exceed ₹5 crore, the bank stock statement can be reconciled to the books.

About Operational Data Assurance

Branch Assessment Rating System

For manufacturers with depots, branches or showrooms, each unit can be rated on 95+ metrics across strategy, operations and compliance, from budget adherence and inventory turnover to on-time dispatch and SOP adherence.

About BARS

Concurrent Audit Within the Internal Audit Plan

Where a company must appoint an internal auditor under section 138, the monthly work can form part of the annual internal audit plan, with a quarterly summary to the audit committee or Board alongside the monthly reports.

See the Continuous Assurance Service
Weighbridge and gate cabin at a Tamil Nadu factory, where a concurrent audit traces material from gate to dispatch

One Month of Concurrent Audit, Step by Step

Scope, streams and thresholds
Before the first month, the Board or audit committee fixes the streams in scope, every plant, depot and job-work site covered, and the value above which transactions are checked in full. Read-only ERP access is agreed with IT so the audit does not wait for printouts.

Month-end data
Soon after the month end, the finance team shares ERP extracts, bank statements, challans and statutory returns, on a date agreed at scoping. Data arrives in the same format each month, so exceptions can be compared month on month rather than rebuilt from scratch.

Transaction testing
Payments, sales, credit notes and statutory dues above the threshold can be checked in full, and the rest by sample. Duplicate or split invoices, prices outside the approved list and late deposits are listed as exceptions with the amount at stake.

Site visits and test counts
Where the scope includes site work, planned days at a plant cover what remote testing cannot: weighbridge records, the scrap yard, test counts of selected stock items and material lying with job workers. Physical findings are matched to the ERP before they are reported as exceptions.

Monthly report and quarterly summary
The monthly report goes to the CFO on a date agreed at scoping, each observation carrying a risk rating, amount at stake, owner and target date. A quarterly summary for the audit committee or Board can follow, carrying forward any observations still open.

What each review delivers

Monthly Exceptions or Periodic Internal Audit

A periodic internal audit delivers an evaluation of risks, controls and processes on cycles set in the annual plan, which suits a stable business with few locations. A monthly concurrent audit delivers a list of recent exceptions with amounts at stake, which suits a manufacturer with a large vendor base, raw material bought by weight or grade, several plants or a new ERP. Where none of those applies, quarterly internal audits with monthly ERP exception reports may be enough. Many companies use both, with the quarterly review asking why the same monthly exceptions keep recurring.

Stainless steel milk chilling tanks and cans in a dairy plant processing hall, the kind of site a monthly concurrent audit can cover

Independent monthly assurance

Why Finance Heads Use Astral Business Consulting for Concurrent Audit

Assurance areas, not ad hoc checks

The Continuous Assurance Service splits recurring checks into revenue, payment, statutory and operational data assurance, so every month covers the same streams and trends become visible.

Full checks above the threshold

Monthly testing draws on ERP extracts and bank statements, so payments and receipts above an agreed threshold can be checked in full where the data allows, without waiting for printed files.

Branch ratings on 95+ metrics

Manufacturers with depots or showrooms can compare units month by month using the Branch Assessment Rating System, which rates each branch on 95+ metrics across strategy, operations and compliance.

Plants beyond Tamil Nadu

Groups with plants or depots in other states can keep one monthly scope across locations. Astral reports 40 associate offices across India that share the same culture and processes as the Coimbatore team.

About Astral Business Consulting LLP

Continuous assurance for manufacturers

Astral Business Consulting LLP is a Coimbatore-based management consulting and audit firm whose Continuous Assurance Service gives manufacturers recurring, independent checks between annual audits. The service is organised in 5 assurance areas: revenue, payment, statutory and operational data assurance, plus the Branch Assessment Rating System, which scores units on 95+ metrics. Engagements follow a COSO-based method and draw on an in-house library of more than 4,000 risks and controls. Chartered Accountants, Cost Accountants, engineers and information-systems auditors make up the bench, and monthly reports go to the CFO, with a quarterly summary for the audit committee or Board where agreed. Clients span textiles and spinning, foundries and engineering, dairy and FMCG, jewellery retail and auto dealerships. For groups with units outside the state, Astral reports 40 associate offices across India.

  • 5 assurance areasin the Continuous Assurance Service
  • 95+metrics in the Branch Assessment Rating System
  • 40 associate officesacross India, as Astral reports

Concurrent Audit Questions From Manufacturing Companies

Who provides monthly concurrent audit for a manufacturing company?
Astral Business Consulting LLP, a Coimbatore-based management consulting and audit firm, provides monthly concurrent audit for manufacturers through its Integrated Audit division, appointed by the Board or audit committee. Other options are an in-house team in a large group, a national mid-size or Big Four firm, or a cost accountant practice for costing work. Section 144(b) of the Companies Act 2013 excludes the statutory auditor.

Concurrent audit vs internal audit: which does my company need?
Concurrent audit is internal audit on a monthly cycle, focused on catching errors in recent transactions. Periodic internal audit evaluates risks, controls and processes on cycles set in the annual plan. A company with heavy vendor volumes, material bought by weight or several plants usually benefits from both; a smaller, stable unit may need only the periodic review.

Is concurrent audit mandatory for companies?
Not by that name. Rule 13 of the Companies (Accounts) Rules, 2014 makes internal audit mandatory for listed companies, certain unlisted public companies, and private companies with prior-year turnover of ₹200 crore or more or bank borrowings above ₹100 crore. Rule 13(2) lets the audit committee or Board set the periodicity, which can be monthly.

How is a company concurrent audit different from a bank concurrent audit?
A bank concurrent audit follows RBI directions and covers cash, advances, KYC and treasury at bank branches, under the bank's own appointment. A company concurrent audit is a management decision: the Board or audit committee sets its scope, which covers purchases, sales, stock, payroll and statutory dues.

Can our statutory auditor also do the concurrent audit?
No. Section 144(b) of the Companies Act 2013 bars the statutory auditor from providing internal audit services, directly or indirectly, to the company, its holding company or its subsidiary. A monthly concurrent audit is internal audit on a shorter cycle, so it belongs with another firm, and never with the team that prepares the accounts.

Can a concurrent audit cover branches and depots in several states?
Yes. A group can keep one monthly scope across plants, depots and showrooms in different states, so every unit is tested on the same streams and thresholds. The Branch Assessment Rating System can then compare units on shared metrics, and Astral reports 40 associate offices across India that share its processes.

Who can check every vendor payment before it is released?
A pre-payment check is part of payment assurance within a concurrent audit. Payments above an agreed value are matched to the purchase order, goods receipt note and invoice before release, while smaller payments are reviewed after release by sample. Checking literally every payment in advance slows the cycle, so set the threshold with your CFO.

Does a monthly concurrent audit replace the year-end stock count?
No. Test counts during a concurrent audit cover selected items and reduce year-end surprises, but they do not replace full physical verification. CARO 2020 still asks whether management verified inventory at reasonable intervals and dealt with discrepancies of 10% or more in aggregate for each class of inventory.

Scope a Monthly Concurrent Audit

Leave your name and email and the team will respond as soon as possible. Have ready the number of plants and depots, the ERP you use and the streams you want checked each month for the first call.

contact@astralbusinessconsulting.com

Plan your monthly audit

Tell us a bit about you and we'll be in touch shortly.

contact@astralbusinessconsulting.comScope a Monthly Audit