Completeness procedures that go beyond the rent ledger
Lease identification still misses car parks, antenna licences, and embedded leases inside service contracts.
A rent expense reconciliation is necessary and not sufficient. In Hong Kong portfolios we repeatedly find car park licences booked to “building management,” rooftop antenna agreements sitting in marketing, and warehouse handling contracts that convey the right to use dedicated bays.
Sources worth scanning each period
- New vendor master entries tagged as property, facilities, or logistics
- Capex requests for fit-out in premises not on the register
- Legal’s contract log for licences and exclusive-use clauses
- Board minutes mentioning site openings or relocations
What “good” looks like in an audit file
A completeness memo that lists the sources checked, the exceptions found, and why items were included or excluded. Vague statements that “management confirms all leases are recorded” do not survive a sceptical review.
Linking to readiness work
If your statutory auditors arrive in six weeks and the register has not been refreshed, a lease portfolio readiness review is usually a better use of time than hoping fieldwork will be gentle.