Guide for Initial Audits

Upon Completion of Your Initial Audit

Release of Your Initial Audit Report
Once the audit is complete, the auditor will send the draft audit report and all audit working papers to ABC headquarters for review by our quality control and processing department (Technical Review and Report Processing—also known as TRRP). They will review the audit within five business days of receiving the documents from the auditor and construct a final draft (proof copy) of the Audit Report.

This proof copy will be sent via e-mail to the person at your magazine listed as the primary ABC contact. This person is responsible for proofreading the final draft and responding to ABC; either confirming it is acceptable or noting any changes that are necessary. Once you, the member, approve the final draft of the audit report, ABC releases this document in its final form to the marketplace (posted to the ABC Web site). Any print copies you order are shipped within seven business days.

Membership
With the release of your Initial Audit Report, the ABC membership application process is complete and your membership in ABC is official. Once your membership is official:

• You will receive a certificate of membership from the President and Managing Director of ABC.
• A copy of your Initial Audit Report is sent to ABC advertiser and advertising agency members with a bulletin announcing your membership.
• You may begin using the ABC logo and small space ads to promote your membership. As a reminder, you must comply with all ABC Publicity Rules and Policies when publicizing any data extracted from your Initial Audit Report. See ABC’s Bylaws & Rules, Chapter A: Publicity.
• You will gain access to our online database of all Publisher’s Statements and Audit Reports.

Access to e-Data Online
Access to ABC’s electronic online database (referred to as “e-Data”) is a unique member benefit. It provides electronic files of your reports to download and reproduce as well as three years of electronically archived Publisher’s Statements and Audit Reports for all ABC members.

You will need a user name and password to access e-Data. Upon the release of your Initial Audit Report, you will receive a letter from our marketing and sales department containing information about your membership, as well as your user name and password to access e-Data. You may also purchase additional e-Data products such as the electronic FAS-FAX report and eMagTrends report. You can visit the ABC Web site for a complete listing of all e-Data products and pricing.

Accounting
When you submitted your application for ABC membership, you were required to pay an initial audit deposit. This deposit was an estimate of the cost for ABC to conduct your initial audit based primarily on total circulation size.

As the auditors conduct your initial audit, the hours they spend working on the audit tests are charged to your account based on the current hourly rate. As our TRRP department reviews the audit report and working papers for quality and accuracy, the hours they spend are also charged to your account based on the current hourly rate. These are applied to your account against the initial deposit you paid in advance.

Once ABC officially releases the initial audit into the marketplace, our accounting department reconciles the account and determines if the initial deposit you submitted with your application was sufficient to cover the actual time and expenses incurred to complete and release the audit.

Regardless if you have a credit on the account or a balance due, you will receive an “excess/rebate” invoice.

• If the initial deposit was sufficient, the excess/rebate invoice will note that it is a “credit memo” and show a credit balance. If you do nothing after receipt of this memo, the credit will be carried forward to your next annual audit.
• If the initial deposit was not sufficient, the excess/rebate invoice will show a balance due for the additional cost (above the original estimate) that was necessary to complete and release your initial audit. Timely payment of this invoice is expected. If you have questions about audit costs, you may contact your audit manager to discuss.

In addition to any excess/rebate invoice, you will begin receiving quarterly invoices for your membership, as ABC requires advance payment for membership and audit services. There are two elements in these quarterly invoices:

1. Access Fee:
   This consists of the cost to maintain membership in ABC (membership dues) and the fee to access e-Data to download and reproduce ABC member’s Publisher’s Statements and Audit Reports. The access fees are based on your circulation size. You can visit the ABC Web site to view the Access Fee chart for the U.S. and Access Fee chart for Canada.
2. Advanced Audit Costs:
   Just like your initial audit deposit, this is an estimate of how much the next audit will cost for us to complete and release. The audit manager determines this estimate, after reviewing the actual costs ABC incurred to complete your Initial Audit. The audit manager also determines if any obstacles or efficiencies existed in the initial audit process and incorporates those decisions into any budget they set for the future audit.

Both of the above costs are annual costs. However, for ease of invoicing and payment by our members, ABC divides the total cost of each by four and invoices you on a quarterly basis.

Filing Your First Publisher’s Statement
Once your initial audit is completed and released into the marketplace by ABC, the primary contact ABC has on file for your publication will receive a letter from ABC advising of any Publisher’s Statements that are now due or will be due in the near future. Therefore, you will need to begin filing Publisher’s Statements. You can view prototypes of the Publisher’s Statements on the ABC Web site.

For consumer magazines, Publisher’s Statements must be filed twice a year for the six-month periods ending June 30 and December 31. A Publisher’s Statement consists of circulation claims by you, the publication, for the six-month time period. ABC provides you with the templates and worksheets you will need to compile the Publisher’s Statement information. To file the Publisher’s Statement, you can either:

1. Complete and submit the information online. You will need a username and password to file online. This information will be sent to you via a letter once your initial audit is released. If you cannot locate it, you may obtain it by contacting our technical review department at (847) 605-0909.
2. Complete and submit hard-copy filing forms to ABC. These forms are available for download from the ABC Web site.

The time period covered by the first Publisher’s Statement you file will depend on the time period covered by the initial audit. If your initial audit period ended with the month of:

• June: The first statement you file will be for six-months ending in December of the same year.
• December: The first statement you file will be for six-months ending in June of the following year.
• January – May: The first statement you file will be for six-months ending in June of the same year. This will encompass all issues with a cover date of January through June of the same year, including those that may have already been audited as part of the initial audit period.
• July – November: The first statement you file will be for six-months ending in December of the same year. This will encompass all issues with a cover date of July through December of the same year, including those that may have already been audited as part of the initial audit period.

Submitting your first survey
In combination with filing your Publisher’s Statement, all consumer magazine members are required to complete and submit a standardized survey and worksheet packet to ABC at the time of the Publisher’s Statement filing Instructions for completing and submitting this information is available online at ABC’s Web site. (NOTE: A survey is not required for any magazine whose distribution is 100 percent non-paid bulk.)

Two methods are available for obtaining and submitting the survey and worksheet materials.

1. File your survey information directly online via ABC’s Web site (preferred)
2. Obtain electronic survey and worksheet forms (spreadsheets) from ABC’s Web site. Send completed forms via e-mail (as attachments) to

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