Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable

The following steps indicate the general pattern of work performed by the auditors in the verification of accounts payable. Selection of the most appropriate procedures for a particular audit will be guided by the nature of the controls that have been implemented and by the results of the auditors' risk assessments.

A.

  

Use the understanding of the client and its environment to consider inherent risks, including fraud risks, related to accounts payable.

B.

  

Obtain an understanding of internal control over accounts payable.

C.

  

Assess the risks of material misstatement and design further audit procedures.

D.

  

Perform further audit procedures—tests of controls.

1.

  

Examples of tests of controls.

a.

  

Verify a sample of postings to the accounts payable control account.

b.

  

Vouch to supporting documents a sample of postings in selected accounts of the accounts payable subsidiary ledger.

c.

  

Test IT application controls.

2.

  

If necessary, revise the risks of material misstatement based on the results of tests of controls.

E.

  

Perform further audit procedures—substantive procedures for accounts payable.

1.

  

Obtain or prepare a trial balance of accounts payable as of the balance sheet date and reconcile with the general ledger.

2.

  

Vouch balances payable to selected creditors by inspection of supporting documents.

3.

  

Reconcile liabilities with monthly statements from creditors.

4.

  

Confirm accounts payable by direct correspondence with vendors.

5.

  

Perform analytical procedures for accounts payable and related accounts.

6.

  

Search for unrecorded accounts payable.

7.

  

Perform procedures to identify accounts payable to related parties.

8.

  

Evaluate proper balance sheet presentation and disclosure of accounts payable.

Figure 14.2 relates the objectives of the major substantive tests of payables to the primary audit objectives.

A.  Use the Understanding of the Client and Its Environment to Consider Inherent Risks, Including Fraud Risks, Related to Accounts Payable.

After they obtain an understanding of the client and its environment, the auditors are in a position to identify and assess inherent risks of accounts payable. Many of these risks arise from business risks faced by management, such as the risk of payment of unauthorized payables, and the failure to capture all accounts payable for financial reporting purposes.

 

Use the understanding of the client and its environment to consider inherent risks (including fraud risks) related to accounts payable.

   If any of the inherent risks identified by the auditors are related to fraud, the auditors will make certain that they understand the programs and controls established by management to control the risk. They will also determine that the controls have been implemented. Finally, the auditors will design appropriate responses to these fraud risks and all other risks of material misstatement.

B.  Obtain an Understanding of Internal Control over Accounts Payable.

One approach used by auditors in becoming familiar with a client's internal control over accounts payable is to prepare a flowchart or to use flowcharts prepared by the client. In some engagements, the auditors may choose to prepare a narrative description covering such matters as the independence of the accounts payable department and the receiving department from the purchasing department. The auditors might also use a questionnaire to obtain a description of accounts payable controls. Typical of the questions are the following: Is an accounts payable trial balance prepared monthly and reconciled to the general ledger controlling account? Are monthly statements from vendors reconciled with accounts payable ledgers or unpaid vouchers? Are advance payments to vendors recorded as receivables and controlled in a manner that assures that they will be recovered by offset against vendors' invoices? Are debit memos issued to vendors for discrepancies in invoice prices, quantities, or computations? Are debit balances in vendors' accounts brought to the attention of the credit and purchasing departments?

 
Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
(K)
p. 567

FIGURE 14.2   Objectives of Major Substantive Procedures for Accounts Payable

     
  

Obtain trial balance of payables and reconcile with the ledgers.

  
  

Vouch balances payable to selected creditors by inspecting supporting documents.

  

Existence, occurrence, and obligations Valuation and accuracy Cutoff

  

Reconcile liabilities with creditor’s monthly statements.
Confirm accounts payable.
Perform analytical procedures.

  

Completeness
Existence, occurrence, and obligations
Valuation and accuracy Cutoff

  

Search for unrecorded accounts payable.

  
  

Perform procedures to identify accounts payable to related parties.
Evaluate financial statement presentation and disclosure.

  

Presentation and disclosure

   After the auditors have prepared a flowchart (or other description) of internal control, they determine whether the client is actually using the controls described to them; that is, they determine whether the controls have been implemented. The auditors will typically perform a walk-through of several purchase transactions and observe the implementation of the various controls. Figure 14.3 (pages 568-569) illustrates the documents and accounts that the auditors typically encounter in their consideration of controls over purchase transactions.

   As the auditors verify their understanding of internal control, they will observe and inquire about the segregation of duties for purchases and cash disbursements. They will also inspect the various documents and reconciliations that are important to the client's internal control over accounts payable. For example, the reconciliations of monthly statements from vendors to the payables ledger will be inspected. Budgets for cash disbursements will be inspected and the auditors will review the evidence of the follow-up on variances from budgeted amounts of disbursements. These procedures may serve as tests of controls that provide the auditors with sufficient evidence to assess control risk for certain financial statement assertions about accounts payable as being at less than the maximum.

C.  Assess the Risks of Material Misstatement and Design Further Audit Procedures.

Based on their understanding of the client and its environment, including internal control over accounts payable, the auditors develop their planned assessed levels of the risks of material misstatement for the assertions about accounts payable. To support these assessments, the auditors may need to obtain additional evidence of the operating effectiveness of various controls. This evidence is obtained by performing tests of controls. In designing these tests, the auditors must decide which ones will result in sufficient reductions in substantive procedures to justify the time spent performing them.

 

Obtain an understanding of internal control over accounts payable.

p. 568

FIGURE 14.3   Overview of the Purchases Cycle—Documents and Accounts Purchases

Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
(K)

   The auditors' assessment of control risk, along with their assessment of inherent risk, will be used to plan the nature, timing, and extent of substantive procedures for accounts payable. In designing planned substantive procedures, the auditors will consider potential misstatements that may occur and the weaknesses in control or other factors that make the misstatements more likely, as illustrated in Figure 14.4 (page 570).

D.  Perform Further Audit Procedures—Tests of Controls.

Tests directed toward the effectiveness of controls help to evaluate the client's internal control and determine whether the auditors can support their planned assessed levels of the risks of material misstatement for the assertions about accounts payable. A number of tests of controls relating to accounts payable have already been discussed in Chapters 10 and 12. In this chapter, we briefly recap several significant tests.

p. 569

1.  Examples of Tests of Controls.

a.  Verify a Sample of Postings to the Accounts Payable Control Account.

The validity of the amount in the general ledger control account for accounts payable is established by tracing postings to the voucher registerA journal used in a voucher system to record liabilities requiring cash payment in the near future. Every liability recorded in a voucher register corresponds to a voucher authorizing future payment. and cash disbursements journal. This work is performed before the balance sheet date as part of a general test of postings to all records. At the same time, the auditors should scrutinize all entries to the control account for the entire period under audit and should investigate any unusual entries.

b.  Vouch to Supporting Documents a Sample of Postings in Selected Accounts of the Accounts Payable Subsidiary Ledger.

Testing the voucher register or the accounts payable ledgers by vouching specific items back through the cash payments journal, purchases journal, and other journals to original documents (such as purchase orders, receiving reports, invoices, and paid checks) is necessary to determine the operating effectiveness of certain controls. If the functions of purchasing, receiving, invoice verification, and cash disbursement are delegated to separate departments and controls appear adequate, the vouching of individual items from the ledgers to the original records may provide the auditors with sufficient evidence to assess control risk for certain assertions (e.g., existence) related to accounts payable as being at a low level.

p. 570

FIGURE 14.4   Potential Misstatements—Accounts Payable

 

Description of Misstatement

     

Internal Control Weaknesses or Factors that Increase the Risk of the Misstatement

Inaccurate recording of a purchase or disbursement

Fraud:
   A bookkeeper prepares a check to himself and records it as having been issued to a major supplier.
Error:
   A disbursement is made to pay an invoice for goods that have not been received.
Inadequate segregation of duties of record keeping and preparing cash disbursements, or check signer does not review and cancel supporting documents
Ineffective controls for matching invoices with receiving documents before disbursements are authorized

Misappropriation of purchases

Fraud:

   Goods are ordered but delivered to an inappropriate address and stolen.

Ineffective controls for matching invoices with receiving documents before disbursements are authorized

Duplicate recording of purchases

Error:

   A purchase is recorded when an invoice is received from a vendor and recorded again when a duplicate invoice is sent by the vendor.

Ineffective controls for review and cancelation of supporting documents by the check signer

Late (early) recording of cost of purchases—“cutoff problems”

Fraud:

   Purchases journal “closed early” with this period’s purchases recorded as having occurred in subsequent period.

Ineffective board of directors, audit committee, or internal audit function; “tone at the top” not conducive to ethical conduct; undue pressure to meet earnings target

   The auditors may also perform tests by following the audit trail in the opposite direction. By tracing a representative sample of entries from the source documents to the accounts payable ledger, the auditors can verify that accounts payable are completely and accurately recorded on a timely basis.

c.  Test IT Application Controls.

When the client has established effective IT application controls for purchase transactions, the auditors may find it more efficient to test these controls rather than to test a sample of purchase transactions. Batch processing controls might be tested by inspecting evidence of the reconciliations of batch control totals by the control group. In addition, a sample of the exception reports printed by the computer when the vendors' invoices do not match purchasing and receiving information might be inspected, as well as evidence of follow-up on these exceptions.

2.  If Necessary, Revise the Risks of Material Misstatement Based on the Results of Tests of Controls.

Completion of the above audit procedures enables the auditors to perform a final assessment of the risk of material misstatement for each of the major financial statement assertions about accounts payable. The auditors use the reassessment of control risk to determine whether it is necessary to modify their planned program of substantive procedures.

p. 571

   An assessment of low control risk for accounts payable often means that the auditors have found that serially numbered receiving reports are prepared promptly by the client for all goods received, that serially numbered vouchers are prepared and recorded in the voucher register, and that payments are made promptly on the due dates and immediately recorded in the cash payments journal and accounts payable subsidiary ledger. Finally, at the end of each month, an employee who does not participate in processing accounts payable compares the individual accounts in the accounts payable subsidiary ledger with vendors' statements and also compares the total of the subsidiary record with the general ledger control account. This strong internal control would enable the auditors to minimize substantive procedures for accounts payable.

 

Assess the risks of material misstatement of accounts payable and design further audit procedures, including tests of controls and substantive procedures, to address the risks.

   On the other hand, an assessment of high control risk for accounts payable often means that the auditors have found that the subsidiary record of accounts payable is not in agreement with the general ledger control account, that receiving reports and vouchers are used haphazardly, that purchase transactions often are not recorded until payment is made, and that many accounts payable are long past due. In this situation, the auditors must undertake extensive substantive work if they are to determine that the balance sheet amount for accounts payable includes all liabilities in existence at the balance sheet date.

E.  Perform Further Audit Procedures—Substantive Procedures.

1.  Obtain or Prepare a Trial Balance of Accounts Payable as of the Balance Sheet Date and Reconcile with the General Ledger.

One purpose of this procedure is to determine that the liability figure appearing in the balance sheet is in agreement with the individual items comprising the detailed records. A second purpose is to provide a starting point for substantive procedures. The auditors will use the list of vouchers or accounts payable to select a representative group of items for careful examination.

 
Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
(K)

   The client company usually furnishes the auditors with a year-end trial balance. The auditors should verify the footing and the accuracy of individual amounts in the trial balance. If the schedule of individual items does not agree in total with the control account, the cause of the discrepancy must be investigated. In most situations, the auditors will arrange for the client's staff to locate such errors and make the necessary adjustments. Agreement of the control account and the list of individual account balances is not absolute proof of the total indebtedness; invoices received near the close of the period may not be reflected in either the control account or the subsidiary records, and other similar errors may exist without causing the accounts to be out of balance.

2.  Vouch Balances Payable to Selected Creditors by Inspection of Supporting Documents.

The vouching of selected creditors' balances to supporting vouchers, invoices, purchase orders, and receiving reports is a substantive procedure that addresses the existence and valuation of accounts payable. For companies that use a voucher system, the verification of the individual vouchers is made most conveniently at the balance sheet date, when the vouchers will be together in the unpaid voucher file. The content of the unpaid voucher file changes daily; as vouchers are paid, they are removed from the file and filed alphabetically by vendor. Consequently, it is important that the client maintain a list of year-end unpaid vouchers. This listing should show the names of vendors, voucher numbers, dates, and amounts.

3.  Reconcile Liabilities with Monthly Statements from Creditors.

In some companies, it is a regular practice each month to reconcile vendors' statements with the detailed records of payables. If the auditors find that the client's staff regularly performs this reconciliation, they may limit their review of vendors' statements to determining that the reconciliation work has been satisfactory.

   If the client's staff has not reconciled vendors' statements and accounts payable, the auditors may do so on a selected basis. When the risk of material misstatement for accounts payable is high, the auditors may control incoming mail to assure that all vendors' statements received by the client are made available to the auditors. Among the discrepancies often revealed by reconciliation of vendors' statements are charges by the vendor for shipments not yet received or recorded by the client. Although conceptually all goods on which title has passed should be included in inventory (thus items shipped FOB [free on board] shipping point as of year-end and not yet received should be included), normal accounting procedures often do not provide for recording invoices as liabilities until the merchandise has been received. In-transit shipments on which title has passed should be listed and a decision reached as to whether they are sufficiently material to warrant year-end adjustment.

 
Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
(K)
p. 572

4.  Confirm Accounts Payable by Direct Correspondence with Vendors.

Although confirmationDirect communication with vendors or suppliers to determine the amount of an account payable. Represents high-quality evidence because it is a document created outside the client organization and transmitted directly to the auditors. of accounts payable is a widely used procedure, it is generally considered less necessary than is the confirmation of accounts receivable. One reason is that for accounts payable the auditors will find in the client's possession externally created evidence such as vendors' invoices and statements that substantiate the accounts payable. Generally only limited external evidence (e.g., the customer's purchase order) is on hand to support accounts receivable.

 
Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
(K)

   Another reason for the difference in significance attached to confirmation of accounts payable is that the greatest risk in the audit of liabilities is the possibility of unrecorded amounts. While confirmation can provide evidence about completeness, it is a more effective procedure for establishing existence and valuation of an item. To make the confirmation procedure more effective at addressing the completeness of accounts payable, the auditors will often use a blank form, as illustrated by Figure 14.5. This form asks the vendor to fill in the amount of the liability rather than to confirm a recorded amount.

   Also, accounts payable confirmation requests should be mailed to vendors from whom substantial purchases have been made during the year, regardless of the size of their accounts at the balance sheet date (even to suppliers whose accounts show zero balances). These substantial suppliers may be identified by reference to cash disbursement records or computer printouts of purchase volume by individual supplier, inquiry of purchasing department personnel, and examination of the accounts payable subsidiary ledger. Other accounts that often are confirmed by the auditors include those for which monthly statements are not available, accounts reflecting unusual transactions, accounts with parent or subsidiary corporations, and accounts secured by pledged assets.

5.  Perform Analytical Procedures for Accounts Payable and Related Accounts.

To gain assurance as to the overall reasonableness of accounts payable, the auditor may compute ratios such as purchases divided by accounts payable and accounts payable divided by total current liabilities. These ratios are compared with ratios for prior years to disclose trends that warrant investigation.

   The list of amounts payable to individual vendors should be reviewed to identify any companies from which the client does not ordinarily acquire goods or services. The amounts owed to individual creditors should also be compared with balances in prior years. By studying yearly variations in purchases and other accounts closely related to accounts payable, the auditors may become aware of errors in accounts payable. Finally, the portion of accounts payable that is past due at year-end should be compared with corresponding data for previous years.

 
Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
(K)

   The auditors may test purchase discounts by computing the ratio of cash discounts earned to total purchases during the period and comparing this ratio from period to period. Any significant decrease in the ratio might indicate a change in terms of purchases, failure to take discounts, or fraudulent manipulation.

6.  Search for Unrecorded Accounts Payable.

Throughout the audit, the auditors must be alert for any unrecorded payables. For example, the preceding three steps of this program—reconciliation, confirmation, and analytical procedures—may disclose unrecorded liabilities. In addition to normal trade payables that may be unrecorded, other examples include unrecorded liabilities related to customers' deposits recorded as credits to accounts receivable, obligation for securities purchased but not settled at the balance sheet date, unbilled contractor or architect fees for a building under construction at the audit date, and unpaid attorney or insurance broker fees.

 
Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
(K)
p. 573

FIGURE 14.5   Accounts Payable Confirmation

Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
(K)

   In addition to the prior audit steps, when searching for unrecorded accounts payable the auditors will examine transactions that were recorded following year-end. A comparison of cash payments occurring after the balance sheet date with the accounts payable trial balance is generally the most effective means of disclosing unrecorded accounts payable. All liabilities must eventually be paid and will, therefore, be reflected in the accounts at least by the time they are paid. Regular monthly expenses, such as rent and utilities, are often posted to the ledger accounts directly from the cash disbursements journal without any account payable or other liability having been set up. Therefore, the auditors will often examine all cash disbursements over specific dollar amounts that are made by the client during the subsequent periodThe time extending from the balance sheet date to the date of the auditors' report..

p. 574

   The auditors should also consider potential sources of unrecorded payables such as the following:

a.

  

Unmatched invoices and unbilled receiving reports. These documents are called work in process in a voucher system. The auditors should review such unprocessed documents at the balance sheet date to ascertain that the client has recorded an account payable where appropriate.

b.

  

Vouchers payable entered in the voucher register subsequent to the balance sheet date. Inspection of these records may uncover an item that should have been recorded as of the balance sheet date.

c.

  

Invoices received by the client after the balance sheet date. Not all vendors send invoices promptly when goods are shipped or services are rendered. Accordingly, the auditors' review of invoices received by the client in the subsequent period may disclose unrecorded accounts payable as of the balance sheet date.

d.

  

ConsignmentsA transfer of goods from the owner to another person who acts as the sales agent of the owner. in which the client acts as a consignee. The consignee assumes liability for consigned merchandise when those goods have been sold to third parties. Those sales, especially shortly before the year-end, may not have been set up as a liability to the consignor. While the auditors' overall knowledge about the accounting for such consigned items will dictate the appropriate procedures, those related to the revenue cycle, such as tests of sales transactions around year-end, may reveal such sales.

   A form of audit working paper used to summarize unrecorded accounts payable discovered by the auditors is illustrated in Figure 14.6.

   When the auditors discover unrecorded liabilities, the next question is whether the omissions are sufficiently material to warrant proposing an adjusting entry. Will the adjustment cause a sufficient change in the financial statements to give a different impression of the company's current position or of its earning power? As previously indicated in the discussion of the reconciliation of vendors' statements with accounts payable, auditors may choose not to propose adjustments for the purpose of adding shipments in transit to the year-end inventory unless the shipments are unusually large.

   As a further illustration of the factors to be considered in deciding upon the materiality of an unrecorded transaction, let us use as an example the December 31 annual audit of a small manufacturing company in good financial condition with total assets of $3 million and preadjustment net income of $100,000. The auditors' procedures bring to light the following unrecorded liabilities:

a.

  

An invoice of $1,400, dated December 30 and bearing terms of FOB shipping point. The goods were shipped on December 30 but were not received until January 4. The invoice was also received and recorded on January 4.

   In considering the materiality of this omission, the first point is that net income is not affected. The adjusting entry, if made, would add equal amounts to current assets (inventories) and to current liabilities; hence it would not change the amount of working capital. The omission does affect the current ratio very slightly. The auditor would probably consider this transaction as not sufficiently material to warrant adjustment.

b.

  

Another invoice for $4,000, dated December 30 and bearing terms of FOB shipping point. The goods arrived on December 31 and were included in the physical inventory taken that day. The invoice was not received until January 8 and was entered as a January transaction.

   This error should be corrected because the inclusion of the goods in the physical inventory without recognition of the liability has caused an error of $4,000 in pretax income for the year. Since the current liabilities are understated, both the amount of working capital and the current ratio are overstated. The owners' equity is also overstated. These facts point to the materiality of the omission and constitute strong arguments for an adjusting entry.

c.

  

An invoice for $1,500, dated December 31, for a new office safe. The safe was installed on December 31, but the invoice was not recorded until paid on January 15.

   Since the transaction involves only asset and liability accounts, the omission of an entry does not affect net income. However, working capital and the current ratio are affected by the error since the debit affects a noncurrent asset and the credit affects a current liability. Most auditors would probably not propose an adjusting entry for this item.

d.

  

An invoice for $3,000, dated December 31, for advertising services rendered during October, November, and December. The invoice was not recorded until paid on January 15.

   The argument for treating this item as sufficiently material to warrant adjustment is based on the fact that net income is affected, as well as the amount of working capital and the current ratio. The adjusting entry should probably be recommended in these circumstances.

p. 575

FIGURE 14.6   Search for Unrecorded Liabilities

Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
(K)

   The preceding examples suggest that a decision as to the materiality of an unrecorded transaction hinges to an important extent on whether the transaction affects net income. Assuming that an omitted transaction does affect net income and there is doubt as to whether the dollar amount is large enough to warrant adjustment, the auditors should bear in mind that about one-third of the effect of the error on net income may be eliminated by corporate income taxes. In other words, an adjusting entry to record an omitted expense item of $10,000 may reduce after-tax income by only $6,500. If the adjusting entry is not made, the only ultimate effect is a shift of $6,500 between the net incomes of two successive years. Unless the client requests all adjusting entries, the auditors should avoid proposing adjusting entries for clearly inconsequential errors in the year-end cutoff of transactions. However, it should be borne in mind that a number of insignificant individual misstatements may be material in their cumulative effect on the financial statements. Therefore, the auditors will accumulate the effects of the adjusting entries not proposed (passed) to consider them with misstatements detected in other accounts, as discussed in Chapter 16.

p. 576

7.  Perform Procedures to Identify Accounts Payable to Related Parties.

Payables to a corporation's officers, directors, stockholders, or affiliates require particular attention by the auditors since they are not the result of arm's-length bargaining by parties of opposing interests. Here the auditors should consider the possibility that these payables relate to purchases of inventory or other asset items for which there may be valuation questions.

 
Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
(K)

   The independent auditors must search for such payables. All material payables to related parties must be disclosed in the financial statements.

8.  Evaluate Proper Balance Sheet Presentation and Disclosure of Accounts Payable.

Proper balance sheet presentation of accounts payable requires that any material amounts payable to related parties (directors, principal stockholders, officers, and employees) be listed separately from amounts payable to trade creditors.

 
Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable
(K)

   Debit balances of substantial amount sometimes occur in accounts payable because of such events as duplicate payments made in error, return of merchandise to vendors after payment has been made, and advances to suppliers. If these debit balances are material, a reclassification entry should be made in the audit working papers so that the debit balances will appear as assets in the balance sheet rather than being offset against other accounts payable with credit balances.

   If the client company acts as a consignee of merchandise, it is possible that sales of consigned goods shortly before the year-end may not have been set up as a liability to the consignor. An accurate determination of any amounts owing to consignors at the balance sheet date is one step in the proper balance sheet presentation of liabilities.

   Accounts payable secured by pledged assets should be disclosed in the balance sheet (or a note thereto) and cross-referenced to the pledged assets.

Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable could the auditor delegate entirely to the entity's employees?

Which of the following procedures relating to the examination of accounts payable could the auditor delegate entirely to the entity's employees? Prepare a schedule of accounts payable.

Which of the following audit procedures is best for identifying and recorded accounts payable?

Which of the following audit procedures is best for identifying unrecorded trade accounts payable? Reviewing cash disbursements recorded subsequent to the balance sheet date to determine whether the related payable applies to the prior period.

What is the primary audit procedure the auditor performs to test the completeness of accounts payable?

During the audit, the auditor should test for the completeness of accounts payable. The primary method for testing the completeness of accounts payable is to search for unrecorded liabilities.

Which of the following procedures would an auditor least likely perform before?

Correct Answer: Option (a) confirmation of accounts payable is the correct answer because accounts payable are items due after the year end, and these would not be known prior to that date.