Remote review of scanned invoices works well for pure service companies with cloud accounting. It falters when inventory is the largest asset on the statement.

Physical observation of stock counts remains one of the few procedures where presence changes the quality of evidence. Watching how counts are tagged, and whether goods in quarantine are excluded, cannot be replaced by a photo album.

Cash counts and surprise till checks likewise lose force when announced days ahead through a shared drive. For retailers and restaurants, a short on-site visit still belongs in the plan.

That said, we schedule document-heavy testing remotely whenever clients prefer: payroll recalculations, depreciation rolls, and contract reviews travel well as PDFs.

Agree the split during the kickoff meeting. Clients who assume everything is remote are surprised when we ask for warehouse access; clients who assume full on-site presence may over-prepare meeting rooms for work that could have stayed online.

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