Guide for Initial Audits

Prior to the Initial Audit

Once you have filed your application with ABC and submitted your initial deposit, our marketing and sales department sends you a letter confirming that ABC has received both items.

• Our accounting department opens an account for you and places your initial deposit as a credit into that account. As a reminder, the initial audit deposit is not an application fee, but rather an estimate of the actual cost of conducting the initial audit. Your total average distribution volume determines the amount of your initial audit deposit, unless your publication is primarily non-paid bulk distribution.
• A copy of your application is forwarded to your Publisher Relations manager.

Your Publisher Relations manager will send you a letter regarding the publicity rules governing your application status. See also the section of this guide on Publicizing your ABC Status.

He or she will also review your application and contact you via phone to:

1. Confirm or clarify your distribution practices and quantity of circulation distributed.
2. Discuss the qualification requirements for your circulation types.
3. Discuss how your various types of circulation would be classified on the ABC initial audit, based on your current practices. See also the section of this guide on ABC Reporting Classifications Defined.
4. Confirm whether you use in-house or a third-party fulfillment operation.
5. Confirm whom you use for single-copy distribution (if applicable).
6. Briefly discuss the types of documentation you will need to maintain for the audit.
7. Discuss any questions about the types of circulation you have and the audit process.
8. Ask what time period you would like covered in the initial audit.
   • What issues are to be audited for your first audit? (Cover dates)
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   • Must be no less than two issues (unless you are an annual or bi-annual publication)
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   • Must cover a period of no less than three months.

Your Publisher Relations Manager will send you a letter confirming the time period you chose for your initial audit, a prototype of a consumer magazine Publisher’s Statement (same format as Initial Audit), and a copy of this guide.

All the information acquired by the Publisher Relations manager obtained regarding your distribution practices is then passed on to the audit manager. The audit manager will develop an audit plan for your publication and assign an auditor to begin the audit.

The auditor will contact you to discuss audit preparation. The auditor will inform you of the type of documentation you will need to have prepared, the audit process for your publication, when the actual audit work will occur, and approximate the amount of time they will be visiting your publication to conduct the audit. If you use a third-party fulfillment operation, the auditor will not likely need to physically visit your offices to conduct the audit. However, they will still request some documentation that will need to be mailed to their location.

The timing of when the auditor contacts you will depend on the initial audit period you select. The type of documentation you need to prepare (or ensure your fulfillment operation prepares) is dependent on the type(s) of circulation you distribute. See also the section of this guide on Preparing for Your Initial Audit.

Continue to "During the Initial Audit" >>

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