Changes after the client approved the draft
What to do when figures change after a client approved draft statements: when fresh approval is needed, sending a new link and keeping the trail.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Accountants & audit firms in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya
The client approved the draft on Tuesday. On Thursday the bank confirmation arrives with a loan balance that does not agree, or the client remembers an invoice that belonged to last year, or the reviewer finds that the leave pay accrual was never posted. The figures have to change. The question is what that does to the approval you already hold.
It is a common situation and an easy one to handle badly, either by issuing a set the client never saw or by sending everything back for approval over a typo. This article explains why approval is tied to a frozen copy, how to decide whether a change needs fresh approval, and how to keep a clean trail.
Why approval is tied to a frozen copy
In Achekam, the client receives a link to a frozen copy of the draft statements, where they can comment, confirm or ask for changes; their decision moves the set on or back. The link goes only to the client's authorised review contact.
The frozen copy is what gives the approval its meaning. The client approved those figures and that wording, not "the statements" in general. Once the team changes the draft, the approved copy and the current draft are different documents. The approval still exists and is still evidence, but evidence about the earlier version.
Deciding whether a change needs fresh approval
Not every change after approval needs the client again. A sensible firm policy separates three kinds:
| Kind of change | Examples | Fresh approval? |
|---|---|---|
| Presentation corrections that do not change meaning | A typo, a page break, a note reference | Usually not, but tell the client what changed |
| Changes to figures | An adjusting entry, a late invoice, a reclassification between lines | Yes |
| Changes to the client's own facts or judgements | Going concern wording, events after year end, related parties, the directors' report | Yes |
When in doubt, ask whether the client would want to know before the set goes out in its name. Anything that changes a figure, a disclosure the client gave you, or the overall message of the statements passes that test.
Write the policy down, so the decision does not depend on who happens to be finishing the job. A one-page note in the firm's methodology, naming the kinds of change that need fresh approval and who decides in borderline cases, saves an argument at the busiest time of year. It also gives a reviewer something to check against: if a figure moved after approval and there is no second approval on file, the policy says why that is a problem.
Two situations deserve particular care. The first is a change that improves the client's position, such as a lower tax charge; clients rarely object, but they still approved different figures. The second is a change that alters a ratio a lender watches, where even a small reclassification can matter more to the client than its size suggests.
Late changes are often caused by events after year end that surface in the final stages. The ACCA's article on subsequent events uses a case study to show how such events affect financial statements under IAS 10 and what auditors must do under ISA 560, a useful refresher when deciding whether a late fact changes the figures or only the notes.
Sending a new review link
Make the change in the normal way. Figure changes go through the trial balance or a year-end adjusting entry, and the Studio rebuilds the draft with every figure calculated in code. Blocks of text a person edited survive the rebuild, which means they need re-reading: a sentence written for the old figures may now be wrong. Rebuilding a draft after the trial balance changes covers what moves and what stays.
Then send the client a new review link to a new frozen copy. In the covering message, say plainly what changed and why, for example: "An accrual for the December electricity account has been added; it increases expenses and trade payables by the same amount; no other figures changed." Clients approve faster when they do not have to hunt for the difference.
Keeping the trail of what the client approved
Do not overwrite the history. Each approval relates to a specific frozen copy, and the record of the earlier approval is useful: it shows when the client first agreed the figures and what changed afterwards. If an adjusting entry turns out to be wrong, it is reversed with a record of who and why, never deleted, so the reasons for every movement stay visible.
A short note on the engagement file pulls it together: the date of the first approval, what changed after it and why, and the date of the second approval. A reviewer reading the file later should not have to reconstruct the sequence from e-mails.
Issuing only the version that was approved and signed
The final control is easy to state: issue only the version the client confirmed after the last change.
In Achekam, each set names a preparer, a reviewer and an engagement partner; only a user with a partner role can sign, and the person recorded as preparer or reviewer cannot issue it. Issuing stores the final PDF with a fingerprint and locks that version. Before the partner signs, check that the version on screen is the one the client last confirmed and that no adjusting entry has been posted since.
A late change is not a failure of the process; it is the process working. What matters is that the client's approval, the partner's signature and the issued PDF all relate to the same figures. The approval step itself is described in getting the client's approval on draft statements.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
