Accounting due diligence is frequently merged into financial due diligence and asks a different question. Financial diligence asks what the business earns. Accounting diligence asks how those numbers were produced: which policies, which judgements, which close process, and whether the same policies applied across the period being examined. Most surprises in a mid-market deal come from this list rather than from the other.
Revenue recognition, where most surprises are
When revenue is recognised, how multi-element contracts are split, and whether the policy has changed during the period. In a small company the policy is frequently whatever the bookkeeper has always done, and a change in the middle of a three-year period makes growth look different from what it was.
The close process and who reviews it
How long the month-end close takes, what is estimated rather than counted, and who checks. A close that takes three weeks and is reviewed by the person who prepared it is not a control failure to report, it is a reason to look harder at everything the close produces.
Accruals, provisions and the judgements inside them
Bad debt, warranty, stock obsolescence and any other estimate. Each is a judgement, each moves profit, and each is worth asking about the basis rather than the number. A provision that has not moved in three years while the business grew is a judgement nobody has revisited.
Consistency, which is the point of the whole list
Whether the same policies applied across the whole period presented. Comparability is what makes a trend meaningful, and a policy change part way through is the single most common reason a growth story does not survive quality of earnings.
Questions people ask about accounting due diligence checklist
How is this different from financial diligence?
Financial diligence asks what the business earns. Accounting diligence asks how those numbers were produced and whether the policies were consistent.
Where do most surprises come from?
Revenue recognition, particularly a policy that changed part way through the period being presented.
Is a slow close a problem?
Not in itself. It is a reason to look harder at what the close produces, especially where estimates replace counts.